Tales of Grandeur (IC, OPEN, FT)

[Solisian Union]

Henry 5

On the Henry 5, the guards did not ask their guests for their weapons. They let them in and instead escorted them to a large room which seemed to be the mess hall because of the long tables, the long stools and the smell of food as it was cooked by several cooks. There, it seemed that the pirate officer that greeted them first was already waiting for them. He smiled as he encouraged them to sit with them and share a meal.

Colony Ship

The pirates that came towards the ship started to lay down some heavy fire as they wanted to buy time and support their fellows who were inside the ship. One frigate and the destroyer went after the Petz ships while the other frigates concentrated on the ground forces, hammering them mercilessly with cannons and with missiles.

Inside the colony ship though, the two pirate captains were waiting for the perfect time to trap the Petz who were stealing their booty. When they saw the Petz pour in and loot, they waited until so many were inside. Then came the orders, Spanish orders and cries being made as

Elici

The presence of the Elici was detected by some of the listening space buoys that were out there. Unfortunately, they belonged to the communist allies of the pirates. Once this was reported to the communists, three communist controlled corvettes were sent out to meet them.

Staiunerth Invaders

Just as Beta Company went after the pirates, a curious creature was observing them since they arrived. To the creature, the company was a curious set of things. It kept observing until it decided, due to the support lasers hitting their targets and the Beta Company troops firing, to intervene.

It did so by releasing itself from the great vines that kept it. With the permission of its mother plant, it went out on full speed on its four legs, the creature which was as large as a school bus releasing a great sharp howl that could interfere with communications within two miles. It kept howling as it ran and ran towards the invaders of Saiunerth and towards the pirates too.

Unwanted Ships

TO: Unidentified Alondrian Commanding Officer, UWA Expeditionary Force
FROM: Fleet Admiral Lucas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
ENCR: None

Your administrative efforts have been found lacking, and we have been dispatched to replace them with an improved version under a better equipped administration. Was our previous broadcast not clear enough? We would be happy to revise it to a version which would be more easily understood by your people. If this is not the case, and you are attempting to reinforce your previous assertions of system ownership, I must strongly advise you to reconsider.

To this message, the UWA expeditionary force did not reply. Instead, the officer forwarded this message to the nearest UWA headquarters. He waited for their reply as he ordered his ships to stop and to paint the foreign ships with their own targeting lasers. They then released a message to the FWOS Arroyo Seco

TO: Fleet Admiral Lucas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
FROM: UWA Expeditionary Force, Commander Stephanie Noboa

That is a kind offer. However, we have been sent by the UWA not to possibly assert control over this system again but to inform you that you have come too close to UWA borders without official permission or notice. I also suggest that you deactivate your targeting lasers from my ships and I will deactivate mine and we may consider pulling away.

Merciful Intrusion

ATTENTION ALL PARTIES. BE ADVISED THAT YOU ARE ADDRESSING FORCES OF THE EXPEDITIONARY STARFLEET OF THE FEDERATION OF ELLIAN DORADUS. OUR MISSION IS THE HUMANITARIAN RESCUE AND RETRIEVAL OF CIVILIANS OF THE UNITED WORLDS OF ALONDRA. DO NOT OPPOSE US.

That came as a surprise to the Commander. She sighed as she sent her subordinates to identify who they really were and where their ships were while she got a message to them as well

This is the UWA Expeditionary Force. We are willing to allow you to conduct humanitarian rescue and retrieval of survivors from the crashed colony ship but there is a situation developing between us and the Solarians. We urge you to be careful.

[The Sol System And Extra Solar Colonies]

Colonization Region 1, Sector Two, Planet 2 (Rock 2)
The Spiderweb Sector
Orbit Guard Ranger Isra Daoud, Ensign
Code Name Fisher King
Scouting Mission #333,876

Isra watched the unfolding battle below through a pair of binoculars, her elbows propped on her pack. She kept herself as hidden as was possible, overlooking the battle around the colony ship below from an elevated position, nestling herself back into a little thicket of weeds and bushes and rocks, and wrapping herself as well as she could in her Active Camouflage Cloak. Next to her rested a Wouter Gort Directed Energy Rifle, within easy reach of her at all times. When she was sent out on her first real mission after being selected, going through the long and arduous training as an Orbit Guard, getting her genetic augmentations, having her Psionics implanted, and being paired with Samson, her AI, she had not really expected it to go down as quickly as it had. She expected routine, something that she secretly had even hoped for, rather than having to be thrown right in with the shit. Scouting out a planet for potential colonization, checking its atmosphere, soil composition, and various other things. Searching for intelligent life, watching and waiting for humanity, not going to war. But instead, after being dropped off by the command ship, she had hardly had a day on this little planet before a colony ship came crashing down from the sky, with pirates and mercenary's coming fast after it.

"Isra," said a voice in her head, deep and calming and serene as always. "If we are going to act, we cannot wait for our compatriots to arrive, we need to do what we can now to better understand the situation." It was Samson, the AI who had been implanted directly into her head. At first Isra had been uncomfortably with his presence, always there. But she had grown used to it, and now would even go so far as to call him a dear friend. It was a little hard not to be when he knew literally every facet of her life.

"I dont know how to do that Samson," she said, her eyes flicking around as she searched for an opening. It was clear that it would be some time before the Command Ship returned, bringing with it the strength of the Guardians and other Rangers aboard it. Right now it was just Isra, wanting desperately to help the crashed colonists, but not knowing how to by herself. Sure, she could do pretty well on her own, all Orbit Guards could. With her genetic augmentation and psionics, she was of roughly the same strength as an entire platoon. But there was much more than a platoon down there, and she could only do so much on her own.

"The pirates are weaker behind the ship Isra," said Samson. "By making your way around this ridge line, you can enter the ship from an aft breach with minimal resistance, and make your presence known to the colonists inside."

In Isra's vision Samson painted the route he meant in a thick red line, snaking around the crash and down behind its engines, where there was a large breach just barely visible. He tagged all of the visible pirates as well, but who knew who else was out there. There was no way the 20 or so in her direct line of sight was all that was out there, especially not with the amount of fire being traded back and forth.

Isra breathed in an out through her nose, trying to calm herself. She reminded herself that she was as good as it got, hand picked by Caesar, trained for two an a half years for this job. She was in it or life now, and this was what the job was. "I can tell you are afraid," said Samson in her head. "Just know that I am here, and that I believe in you."

Right at that moment, Isra simply adored Samson. A friend who was always with you certainly had its perks, and despite the fact that she was the Sol System Alliances elite, it still felt good to know that at least one person understood that she was a sensitive soul inside.

"Thank you Samson," she whispered, sliding herself backwards down the ridge, her arm looped around her pack and the strap on her rifle.

"I am only doing what I would hope you would do for me," said Samson.

A shell rocked the earth as Isra stood up, throwing her pack over her other shoulder and throwing her cloak over herself as much as possible, so only her arms and face stuck out, the rest of her being a slightly shimmering mass indistinguishable from the environment unless one looked very closely. She began to pick her way across the ridge, keeping low at a slight crouch, never cresting it but instead always staying behind it. Occasionally she would peak over to study the battle unfolding, and Samson would mark in red any hostiles who were visible. Rounds rattled as she went, and twice she saw bullets streak over her head, but they were clearly just wild shots, not meant for her. She was more concerned with drop ships coming in and detecting her from above than she was of the soldiers already on the ground seeing her. She felt fairly confidant that she would be able to get the drop on them as she made her break for the aft breach, not it being the other way around.

When she reached her destination, she pressed her body back against the ground again, crawling to the lip of the ridge to look down again. She could see people inside of the ship, and they were in turn marked by Samson, but she could not tell if they were friendly or hostile. Isra watched them for a bit, hoping they were friendly, just trying to protect the ships weak point, and not hostiles already inside. She studied, waiting and watching, weighing her options before she acted. In her head, Samson hummed softly to himself, a marching tune from her time in the Marines, before being picked for the Orbit Guard. Pressed against her hip from its pouch she could feel her journal, and Isra knew that she was going to have a good entry in it tonight.

"You will not know the outcome if you do not go," said Samson. "If you are going to try and do your part as we wait for the others, then it is now or never."

Isra breathed out through her nose again, but did not respond. She steeled herself, gathering her rifle closer and cinching the straps on her pack, before standing and throwing herself down the hill. She slid, keeping her right leg tucked underneath herself and her left leg straighter, controlling her slide with her left hand out behind her. At the bottom of the hill, she stopped herself with her foot, putting herself back upright and jogging forward a little bit before bringing her rifle up to her shoulder and twisting around, clearing the position. The figures inside the ship were gone now, and she felt her heart sink some. She hoped still that it wasn't the pirates, but she wasn't sure.

Isra ran forward, across the open area between her and the breach, jumping through the hole as she reached it. Down the little always she found herself in, five men in haphazard armor, painted up like the thugs they were turned and looked at her in mild surprise, before raising their weapons. Isra acted first, flicking her wrist and throwing the lot of them against the wall with her psionics, before raising her rifle as they all attempted to get up. Before they could stand, she pulled the trigger, and with a quick stream of laser fire she cut them down in a hail of sparks and fire and boiling blood. DEW rifles certainly were effective, but they also created a disgusting smell afterwards, cooking flesh hanging in the air.

Isra sniffed and gagged, before electing to breath through her mouth instead. She felt bad, she hated violence. It was counter intuitive, considering that she was technically a soldier, but she wasn't exactly the same as the Guardians or ASSOG operators. She was a scout and an explorer, violence was supposed to be her final option. As she walked by the newly dead she had killed, she looked down at them with pity, and whispered a quiet "Im sorry," before continuing on.

At the end of the hallway she crouched down, asking Samson to search for any signals coming from inside of the colony ship, and for him to work out which one seemed the most likely candidate to be the command signal. He searched a moment, and quickly came up with two that he felt were possibly the signals of the Colony Ships command. Once found it, Isra had him open a comm channel between the two, before speaking.

To: Colony Ship Command
From: Isra Daoud, Sol System Alliance Orbit Guard, Ranger Section

Hello, I am Isra Daoud, a member of the Sol System Alliances Orbit Guard. I was deployed to this planet on a colony scouting mission when your ship came down, and I made my way to you to try and assist in any way I can. There are more like me a few systems over, who I have contacted in the hopes they will come to assist us, but for now it is just me. I am currently near an aft starboard breach in your ship, and I am hoping you can put me in contact with whoever is in charge, so I can help in any way I can.

[Equalsun Empire]

Shield World Xelitia
Bridge of the ECNV Inconvenient Truth

“Hey, Vedais?”

“Yeah, Quila?”

“You ever wonder why we’re here?”

“Well, that’s one of the great mysteries of life, now isn’t it? After all, if we ourselves are products of the galactic consciousness, then how were we originally created? After all, Eldenians are alone in our home galaxy, and there’s no evidence that there ever was another species present further back in its creation. It’s a bit of a catch 22, if you ask me.”

There was a lengthy silence before Admiral Vedais sighed, glowing eyes turning to meet the exacerbated stare of his second in command. “You know we’re en route to investigate reports of large Biotic congregations, Quila. Why even ask? You absolutely deserved that.”

“I’m just reaffirming our orders, sir!” Had Eldenians been capable of blushing the Truth’s first officer would be beet red, matching the indignation in her voice. “You don’t think it’s at all weird how many Biotic deployments the Navitas has been ordering lately, or the fact that we’re going in with barely any intel? There’s no need to be unprofessional when I have valid concerns!”

Vedais laughed lightly, the thought bouncing around in a psionic wave and echoing in Quila’s consciousness. “Quila, why would I be so concerned with the Navitas’ wishes? I just assumed that it knew something that we don’t. Speaking of accomplishing its wishes, is the fleet ready for transition?” Having talked with Veldethor of the Forward Thinking on the topic and knowing the true answer, the Admiral would much rather get off this topic then let something slip before NavCom was prepared.

Quila glanced at the screens before them, mechanical eyes gliding over the displays as she actually checked the fleet’s status psionically. “They will be shortly, sir- the last few frigates just transitioned in from their patrols and are joining formation. We’ll be go for egress in a few moments.”

“Excellent. Inform the fleet to sync Navitas Cores and prepare for Transition. Let’s see what we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

Spiderweb Sector
Into the Fire

Space is a tranquil, almost beautifully still medium when analyzed over a small area. This beauty is quickly shattered when over thirty interstellar warships glowing with interdimensional electricity arcing over their hulls claw their way from the Navitas. Massive explosions of light heralded their violent arrival from the galactic background energy and pinged sensors throughout the system with readings akin to setting off two dozen antimatter bombs. Only once the ships had completely reconstructed from their components did the storm reside, the background energy falling to its inactive state and returning to the still blackness it was at before.

On the bridge of the Inconvenient Truth Vedais stood, stretching non-existent muscles to celebrate having a physical form once again. Even for a being made of energy Navitas transportation was not an enjoyable experience, and the one time the Admiral had seen a Biotic endure the process the poor soul had spewed organic matter across three command consoles before being sedated by the Biotic Specialist present. Shaking off the memory he took a seat once again, drawing up his display as information began filtering in from the sensors. Immediately he thought out a low whistle of appreciation. “Quila, are these ship numbers accurate?”

“Yes, sir, they are. The Thendia and Zevitia have been on station for the past few planetary cycles, watching them come in. From what we can tell, they’re all obsessed with a crashed Biotic colony ship.” Quila then did a double-take, glancing at the readings once again. “Oh, you will not believe who else is here, sir.”

Vedais rose to his feet, crossing the bridge to his second’s station. Glancing through the analysis he raised an eyebrow- well, rather, he would have if he possessed one. It was more as if he both imagined that he had an eyebrow and raised it at the same time subconsciously, causing Quila to gain a psionic imprint of his intrigue at the screen he was not actually reading, instead sensing. An entire article could (and should) be written on the ridiculous body language of a species that lacks bodies.

“Irentons, Olimpiadans… We have limited intel on those civilizations, correct? I believe that last time our Sentinels went near either they claimed for the glory of the respective empires. That name, however,” He pointed to where he knew the name “Ellians” was written upon the screen, identifying a cluster of two dozen vessels heading full tilt towards the planet. “Pull up the files on the Chanveer system from the Navitas- if I’m not mistaken, they’ve been cooperating with Eldenian forces as of recently. Any other notable players?”

“Not that I can tell, sir,” with a swipe of her hand Quila closed the interface, turning to face the Admiral. “There’s a significant number of Biotic factions present, however, and they are not all friendly. My analysis is that this place is a powder keg getting ready to blow.”

Vedais nodded, agreeing with the Custodian. Biotics were unpredictable and volatile at the best of times, let alone when there were both significant amounts of material wealth and a host of warships nearby. As he was debating the course of action for the fleet a chime sounded within his mind, signalling a message waiting for him at his station. Excusing himself and leaving Quila to sort the data with his sensor tech Vedais returned to his station, accessing the Navitas Core’s FTL transmitter and playing the message.

Meet and Greet

Greetings, Vedais. Your mission prerogative has changed from observation to interaction. With so many Biotics in one place, this is a perfect opportunity to gather intelligence on those races which have proved difficult for our Sentinels to scout. Oh, and additionally, attempt to rescue the poor souls within that colony transport- they each have a soul, after all. My Sentinels tell me that the Ellians may help you with that.

Sincerely,
N.

Shaking his head Vedais closed the message, sighing to himself. Though he’d suspected something like this to occur, it still didn’t change the fact he was using an Eldenian battlefleet for glorified hellos. C’est la vie. “Yusila, tell the fleet to vector for the crashed colony ship and engage engines.” Rolling nonexistent eyes, he added in a slightly exasperated tone “let’s go give a warm hello to an entire system of armed-to-the-teeth Biotics.”

[PetzConfederation]

---

Spiderweb System
Planet of Staiunerth
Colony Ship crash site

---

The damaged corvette received a few direct hits by Beta Company's support lasers from the orbital escorts. Subsequently pirate reinforcement ships opened fire on the vessel as well, thus overloading its already damaged shields. The penetrations caused several critical hits that resulted in a chain reaction. The corvette exploded above the colony ship and large pieces, along with many smaller debris, scattered on top and around. The helicopters that were firing at visible pirates on the ground were quickly targeted by other pirate frigates, as well as Zipper Squadron's fighters, since they were the only vehicles that were left in the open in the area. The other Cartel vehicles had all entered the Clouds of the Night and used it as protection from air attacks.

Petz Cartel Pilot (radio): "CHIEF ! A large number of new enemies is approaching the..." - the transmission ended as the chopper was downed

Hester: "Say again, what's happening ?" - at the same time he heard the sounds of the falling pieces of the corvette above the colony ship - "What was that ?"

Petz Cartel Militiaman: "It sounded like something exploded above."

Hester: "Yeah, I heard that, but...oh shit. Fuck ! That was one of our ships. The damn device just got updated. Their signal is lost."

Petz Cartel Militiaman: "Mahle ! That's bad. Where are our other ships, weren't we supposed to..." - he was interrupted

Hester: "Yes, yes, we were. They are on their way, but the other fuckers that were here went chasing the pirates. We need to know what's happening outside." - he grabbed the radio and contacted the group leader of the group that was left to guard the entry point - "Send a few men to check what's going on outside. I want regular reports !"

Petz Cartel Group Leader: "You got it, chief !"

[Olimpiada]

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
Beta Company, 1024th Light Infantry Division, Legio IL Gaia

---

The plant monster caught Iovinus somewhat unawares. The tangle of sensors and computers the good folks at BlueSky Industries had somehow managed to squeeze into his helmet beneath its armor plating was meant to spot incoming hostiles as one of its functions, and then mark them for simplified dispatching. Unfortunately, it seemed to be having some trouble with aggressive plant creatures. When Private Podromus decided to fall flat to the ground and fly away kicking and screaming not ten meters away, it was something of a shock.

Being a plant, the monster’s infrared and millimeter radar silouhettes were rather difficult for the helmet to make out. However, he could see Podromus quite well, and adjusted his aim a little for the fact that friendly fire was unacceptable. Bullets slammed into the creature, incendiary packages exploding inside. At this point, Podromus had the opportunity to draw his gladius, hack off a tentacle, and stumble away until it turned into a sprint back toward the ship.

“Liquid Actual, we’ve got a flora problem. Seems to be some hostile plants around here that like snagging our people.”

“Copy Eight. Sending a search and destroy request up the line, over.” Well that was a relief. Next problem: Pirates.

Some oddly shaped xenoi had emerged from the ship, looking to do some reconnaissance. Iovinus fired a burst at one, an action mimicked by his fireteam and independently conceived of elsewhere across the field. If they couldn’t force the enemy out into the open, they could at least keep them in one spot.

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi

---

“We’ve got incoming on the battle, sir.”

“Great. Details?”

“About forty seconds ago, the Holodeck Blues spotted thirty ships entering realspace. They’re headed on a vector down toward the planet, near the Clouds of the Night.”

“Origin?”

“Eldenian Empire. We’ve had some limited contact in the past, enough to translate.”

“Hail them.” Comnenus disliked this job, so far. He was acting more as a diplomat than an administrator or admiral. Leave that to some prick from Triumvirate, not him.

TO: Unidentified Eldenian ships
FROM: Fleet Admiral Lucas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
ENCR: None

You seem to be on a vector toward an operation of ours on Staiunerth. I don’t particularly like violence as a first option in orbit. Would you mind informing us of your intentions so that we don’t need that nasty business?

“And another from the UWA.” He cut off his radio from the ship’s comm system to curse for a bit. Thirty years in the Federal Navy, and he winds up a diplomat! The insanity!

TO: Commander Stephanie Noboa, UWA Expeditionary Force
FROM: Fleet Admiral Lucas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
ENCR: None

As unfortunate as that lack of warning is, we are presently unable to leave. Our current rescue operation is much too important for that to be an option. As such, we shall remain in place. If you have a problem and would like to see a diplomatic resolution, feel free to submit an official report with the presidential offices on Triumvirate.

"Turn off the targeting beams, we can reacquire them pretty quickly with passives."

“Got it. The Ellians are here too. They’d like to think they’re in charge of the rescue operation.”

“How droll.”

TO: Unidentified Ellian Commanding Officer, FED Fleet
FROM: Fleet Admiral Lucas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
ENCR: None

A pleasure to see other forces doing their best to help in these trying times. We have already begun a search and rescue operation on the ground, and since you seem to wish to help, you have our full permission to assist.

[Lotrabme]

[align=center]Henry 5

On the Henry 5, the guards did not ask their guests for their weapons. They let them in and instead escorted them to a large room which seemed to be the mess hall because of the long tables, the long stools and the smell of food as it was cooked by several cooks. There, it seemed that the pirate officer that greeted them first was already waiting for them. He smiled as he encouraged them to sit with them and share a meal.

The Lord Commander and the High Captain sat and accepted the hospitality provided for them on the station. They appreciated the size of the hall and the Malluman members of the party above all others could identify the different types of food being cooked. They informed the others that it was mostly safe to eat.

The Lord Commander Dumaz asked the pirate officer "So, what kind of agreement can we come to sir? Or are you the man we should be talking to?"

"We can provide much" High Captain Triln said with a snort. "Let us know and we can provide, for a price..."

[Ella2 6]

Mercy Mission II

Deep Space, The Spiderweb Sector
FED-0002 King-Emperor Athanaric
The Bridge, The Command Deck
Admiral Genovefa

"Incoming transmission from an external source," one of the many signals officers aboard the bridge of the King-Emperor Athanaric reported, "They're identifying as expeditionary forces of the United Worlds of Alondra." He replayed the message a few times before turning in his chair. "They're warning us of potential hostility with these... "Olimpiadans.""

His superior, a blonde-haired girl in her late forties and chief signals officer, nodded. She took a look at the message herself, now forwarded to and displayed on her computer tablet. "We've got an external message," she told her own superior in turn; a brunette some years her senior, handing her the device.

Chlotichilda, the Chief of the Strategic Department nodded as well, quickly skimming through the contents of the message. "Verify." The blonde acknowledged with a quick 'aye' and distributed the message around the bridge intranet for analysis. "Navigation, take a look at those fleets for us."

"The issuing fleet matches our database from known UWA hull configurations," the Chief Observer reported at length, "Database entries end there, however. We have limited information on active UWA vessels and formation commanders. There are two other fleets in the system, neither of which we can identify."

"External transmission," another signals officer announced. She paused hesitantly before continuing. "I'm not quite sure who the sender is. My guess is it's the Olimpiadans. They're bidding us goodwill, and appear to be engaged in rescue operations of their own." She turned to the Chief Signals Officer, her expression uncertain. The blonde shrugged helplessly.

The Chief of the Strategic Department refreshed the glass display and read through the new transmission, sceptical. "Commander Aenor," she called eventually, rising from her seat with the tablet in hand, "We have inbound messages from the other fleets present in the system." An upwards flick of the screen sent the message from her tablet to the Chief Officer's. "This one's identified themselves as an expeditionary force of the United Worlds of Alondra." She transferred the second message over with a swipe. "We're not sure about this one, but we think it might be the Olimpiadans."

"Admiral, you might want to take a look at this," Aenor said, passing her tablet to the flag officer. Genovefa scrolled through the two messages briefly before leaning back into her chair, rubbing her forehead wearily. "Is something wrong, Ma'am?"

"Why are hostilities being declared if both parties have the same goal?" The redhead sighed. She closed her eyes for a while before sitting back up. "Which one's the Olimpiadans?" She asked, gesturing towards the tactical map on the main screen. Presently, only the UWA fleet and the pirate vessels were marked and two other unlabelled formations. Solid lines traced their current trajectories towards the planet Staiunerth whilst dotted lines showed a series of tactical manoeuvres which Genovefa planned to execute - a grand pincher manoeuvre to secure high orbit around the planet and trap the pirates planetside.

"We... Don't actually know..." the orange-haired girl admitted, "But we have reason to suspect that it's this one." She selected the fleet that sent them the message and typed in the label 'Olimpiadans.' "Should we ask them for identification?"

"No reason not to," Genovefa replied, "Just ask nicely. I don't want a fight breaking out over this."

"Of course," Aenor agreed. She turned to the strategic department located on the starboard side of the bridge. "Lieutenant Chlotichilda, please send an identification request to the approaching fleets." The Chief of Strategic touched her temple in an informal saluted and relayed the order down the line. It did not take long before the signals officers had mustered together a polite request and sent it to the Olimpiadan and Eldenian fleets.

Code: Select all

ATTENTION UNIDENTIFIED FLEET. THE EXPEDITIONARY STARFLEET OF THE FEDERATION OF ELLIAN DORADUS INVITES YOU TO PLEASE REAFFIRM YOUR IDENTITY AND PURPOSE. THANK YOU.

[Solisian Union]

The Sol System And Extra Solar Colonies

The survivors in the colony ship were hiding together, trying to stay alive as munitions and screams from the fighting pirates and the invading soldiers rocked the ship and deafened those inside. The survivors, who were only around 349 of them, were all in the bridge of the ship. It was the only part of the ship that wasn't touched by the pirates yet. There, they have been transmitting their emergency signal but nobody bothered. The pirates were there for loot, not people.

Then came their savior. When they noticed the words of Isra Daoud, the officers among the living hurried to reply. They tried for moments until finally, they were able to get one of their last working communicators to express:

Hello! We're survivors! We're......We're trying to get out! But someone's fighting out there! Our sensors are down and we can't see who's out there. We're around 349. We're the only ones who survived. We're trapped here!

PetzConfederation and Olimpiada

The plant monster struggled and fought with the Olimpiadans for a while before finally screaming at them and fleeing into the wilderness after it lost a tentacle and suffered some bullet wounds. However, it was a sign of something coming. Something terrible.

Far away, on the bleak horizon, great storm clouds were forming too quickly, the colors being unnatural. Green, blue and black mixed to form these clouds, thunder clapping every moment here and there. A great rush similar to a waterfall was becoming louder. It was still far from them but it was approaching. Fast.

Lotrabme

The pirate officer listened then paused to think about it before saying "Name your price. If it is not too great, we may consider it, my dear friends. On the other hand, would you like some food or drinks before we discuss some more?"

[Lotrabme]

The pirate officer listened then paused to think about it before saying "Name your price. If it is not too great, we may consider it, my dear friends. On the other hand, would you like some food or drinks before we discuss some more?"

"Yes please some food would be delightful" Commander Dumaz agreeably replied. His crew who came on board agreed as well. The Lord Commander added: "Please, offer us whatever you have, we are very willing to try local varieties."

As they sat and enjoyed what was already available and awaited more food and drink the High Captain Triln pulled out a data-slate and began reading from it. He informed the pirate officer about the offer from it:
"We have five Galleon class vessels and thirty six corvette class vessels, and serving on them about two thousand mercenary soldiers. Most have training in military academies or fleet schools. You will need to provide us with a strategic plan of action, nothing too fancy" he chuckled "just a basic plan which our group leaders can reference while completing assigned tasks."

Lord Commander Dumaz chimed in regarding the price "Put simply, we want both a guaranteed commission price, and access to the wreck."

High Captain Triln continued "the Commission can be negotiated, but 5 million standard credits would be an ideal median range. As for the wreck, we know its the reason so many have come to this system. We don't want to take everything, we just want shared access, and the ability to select a portion of the loot."

[Equalsun Empire]

ECNV Inconvenient Truth
Bridge
Admiral Vedais Tril

The psionic ding of a message receipt swept through the bridge of the Truth as the newly-renovated Biotic Communications station registered a non-Eldenian message. Then another. And… Well, Vedais was a little surprised when only two messages were registered. Judging by the number of separate factions surrounding the planet his fleet should have been pinged with four identification requests, at the least. Shrugging, he swept his hands across the monitor before him to transfer the communiques to his station.

“We have incoming FTL communications, sir- origin point are a couple of the downwell fleets, flagged by the Navitas as Olimpiadan and Ellian. Navitas has almost finished translat- you know, it is my job to filter those for you!” Quila was glaring at Vedais from the BC station, to which she had just painstakingly walked over and begun to read the preliminary analysis by the ship’s consciousness. Beginning to sift through the information in his head, Vedais turned and smiled at the fuming 2-meter tall killing machine.

“Given the fact that there are exactly two messages waiting and a veritable host of Biotic factions present in system, Quila, I do believe I can accomplish that task myself. Now,” The console before him flashed as the ship’s Core spat information directly into Vedais’ consciousness, the stream of data uninterrupted while he remained connected to the interface. In turn the admiral quickly digested the messages inbound from what had been tentatively labelled as Ellian and Olimpiadan fleets. Grunting in disappointment Vedais glanced at Quila, who was just finishing the communications herself.

“For being willing to fight over scraps of colony vessels and single solar systems these Biotics are surprisingly peaceful, Quila. It’s aggrav-” Vedais managed to stop himself before expressing the negative thought, seeming to chew on his next words before groaning them out. “It certainly makes our job significantly easier. Draft a standard response and broadcast it on the radio transmitters, we don’t want to set them off with a Navitas communication.” Quila nodded in affirmation, turning to the Biotic Communication statifffon and waving her hand across the interface. Immediately her thoughts were read, translated into two new languages, sent to an out-of-place silver antennae haphazardly nailed to the underside of the vessel, and beamed downwell towards the planet of Staiunerth.

This transmission is addressed to all Biotics within the Spiderweb system, particularly those within orbit of the planet Staiunerth. We are the Eldenians, the will of the Navitas. We came to this place because you are collectively making quite a commotion, and we were curious. Having arrived and assessed the situation, we will be attempting to learn more about your civilizations while our away teams rescue as many civilians from the wreckage as possible. Anyone who attempts to interfere with away team operations shall be exterminated. We look forward to working with you in these endeavors.

Quila, First Officer of the ECNV Inconvenient Truth

Disconnecting from the system Quila turned back to Vedais, who was currently involved in a fun game of ‘what if the Biotics all turn out to be bloodlusting barbarians we get to kill?’. “Message sent, Admiral. Now, shall I perhaps do something to piss them off and start a war so you get your fun?”

“Don’t tempt me, Quila,” Vedais sighed, watching as a simulated frigate winked out of existence under focused fire from the other factions. “I have my orders, and I’ll be damned if they aren’t followed to a T. Just watch out for responses, and scrounge up a flash-learning session on Biotic diplomacy for me. The Navitas sent us out here without a Biotic Specialist, so I’ll be dealing with them personally.” Considering the statement for a second, he added, “And add to the log that each fleet should really have a Biotic Specialist with them in the future- it seems like somebody versed in the illogical nature of these meatbags would be a valuable asset for any Eldenian expedition. Replace the word meatbag with Biotics.”

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
Fleet of Inconvenient Truth

As the host of Eldenian vessels passed through the outer orbits of the system dozens of fabricators glowed to life, coalescing energy from consciousness itself into a corporeal hull atop metallic engine blocks. These constructs detached from every ship in the fleet and kept pace with their motherships, swarms of fighters gathering about the fleet in preparation for a potential action. Once these ceased spawning from the fleet great sheets of energy coated the vessels themselves, a glowing carapace of solidified energy creeping from hardlight projectors across each vessel to cover all but the weapons hardpoints and engine block. Though they were now here under the guise of a peacekeeping force, there was no reason to be incautious. With their fighters in play and armour at full strength the Eldenian fleet continued their crawl downwell, cruising acceleration falling further and further from the maximum of 200gs as more and more energy was directed from maneuvering to defenses.

This crawl did not translate into a later arrival of the away teams, however. From the bellies of the three Assault Carriers thirteen metallic landing craft issued forth, engines briefly flaring into several thousand gravities worth of acceleration and shooting them downwell. Following those swarmed dozens of hardlight fighter craft, their own engines flaring in an explosion of energy in order to catch the fleeing away team crafts. Aboard a dozen of the landing craft a company of Eldenian Paladins double-checked their weapons and gear, eyes burning with otherworldly blue flames as pre-battle speeches by their sergeants were blasted through their thoughts. Aboard the final lander the scene repeated itself, though the lone soul aboard received the thoughts remotely, from the Promises itself.

[PetzConfederation]

---

Spiderweb System
Planet of Staiunerth
Colony Ship crash site

---

The few cartel members that were sent to check the surroundings of the Clouds of the Night were quickly forced back inside as one of them was struck several times in the chest and head. They did manage to take a glimpse at the newly arrived enemies, though.

Petz Cartel Group Leader: "What happened ?"

Petz Cartel Militiaman: "I don't know, Gramurd got shot and there were too many shits outside."

Petz Cartel Group Leader: "Too many shits ? What do you mean, what shits ?"

Petz Cartel Militiaman: "Uuh...guys, some mechanized guys, a bunch of fighters and ships in the air."

Petz Cartel Militiaman 2: "Ah, and a storm is coming, I think."

Petz Cartel Group Leader: "A storm ?! What STORM ?"

Petz Cartel Militiaman 2: "Some dark greenish clouds."

Petz Cartel Militiaman: "And thunders, as well."

Petz Cartel Group Leader: "For fuck sake ! I'll have to tell the chief about that. We have to GET OUT OF HERE !"

Hester was informed about the atmospheric anomaly that was as of now the biggest threat for the entire ground unit and he decided to contact his boss.

Gravo Nerdago: "Yes ?"

Hester: "Boss, a storm is approaching us. Also a third party is now involved in this. We managed to loot a portion of the ship's valuables, but I don't think we will be able to make it with the rest. It's a damn warzone here. I suggest that we load everything we have so far in the ships that are going to arrive soon and head back to The Refinery."

Gravo Nerdago: "Hm...How big is that storm ?"

Hester: "It looks deadly, and it's fast."

Gravo Nerdago: "You better be right about this. Proceed with your plan, then. I want to see the loot as soon as possible here !"

Hester ordered the two groups that were advancing through the colony ship's interior to head back and regroup with the third group. In the mean time the Cartel reinforcements arrived at the scene. The three frigates and five corvettes opened fire on the pirate corvettes with their missiles and cannons, while approaching for a landing vector on the other side of the crashed colony ship. The task unit of two frigates and two corvettes that were chasing the first pirate vessels were recalled back. As they turned they were intercepted by a destroyer and a frigate, resulting in an immediate engagement.

[Olimpiada]

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
1024th Light Infantry Division, Legio IL Gaia

---

Resistance at the entrance to the crashed behemoth seemed to have stopped. Iovinus took this as a moment to take a break. He checked his rifle, quickly scrubbing the rails free of mud, and checking the battery connectors in the magwell. He reloaded the rifle, slipping in another magazine of armor piercing incendiaries. As he was sipping a thick nutritional liquid from inside his suit, another soldier came sauntering over through the muck, similarly unoccupied for the moment.

“Shitty weather we’re having, yeah?” The tag projected in Iovinius’s HUD above his head identified the soldier as one PFC Leontinus Cantacuzene, part of Knight squadron.

“Suppose so. Reminds me of home, actually.”

“That so?”

“Yeah, Triumvirate. I was up toward the poles, actually not far from where the Nya Stockholm refugee fleet passed with the Tadow. Family sent me pictures.”

“Huh. I suppose it gets stormy up there a lot.”

“Oh yeah. Smoke from the Aurikawa hull printers tends to mess with local weather patterns. Storm clouds are a bit brownish. But this is different. Too much green.”

“Probably got the same source, too. This place’s ecology is fucked.”

“Then why we gotta die over it?”

“You signed up, smart one.” Iovinus pondered this for a moment, then supposed Leontius was correct. Fortunately, this rare moment of introspection was broken by a divisional announcement from the major.

“Attention all ground forces. There’s a storm incoming, and orbital support isn’t in the right location to divert it. We’ll be breaching the ship in three minutes. Be sure to check targets before eliminating them, and do your best to assist the civilians inside. Our goal here isn’t to slaughter, it’s to aid. Keep on your toes, aerial and orbital support are pulling out.” As the transmission ended, Iovinus could see the planes leave, turning toward the sky and accelerating at full throttle, their single burn orbital return rockets gleaming for an instant as they left the atmosphere and headed home. He envied them.

Iovinus whistled a short tune, summoning his Cataphract to aid him. He hauled open a nearby airlock door with his suit’s enhanced strength, readied his gun, and stepped inside. Around the ship, a thousand others were doing the same.

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi

---

“We’ve got more comms.”

“I should really get a secretary.”

“That’s most of my job.”

“Fair enough.”

TO: Unidentified Ellian Commanding Officer, FED Fleet
FROM: Fleet Admiral Lucas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
ENCR: None

We are OFN Nautikos V Delphi, hailing from the Federated Worlds of Olimpiada. Our purpose here is to provide humanitarian aid and improved administration for the system, particularly the crashed Clouds of the Night. As stated previously, your assistance is welcomed.

TO: First Officer Quila, ECNV Inconvenient Truth, Eldenian Fleet
FROM: Fleet Admiral Lucas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
ENCR: None

We are OFN Nautikos V Delphi, hailing from the Federated Worlds of Olimpiada. Our purpose here is to provide humanitarian aid and improved administration for the system, particularly the crashed Clouds of the Night. Your assistance is welcomed.

“They’re bots,” said the communications officer.

“I suppose so. Hopefully with more Phoenexi leanings than the Collective had.”

“You’re being awfully calm about the sheer volume of xenos in this system.”

“Can’t say I have many issues with them, yet.”

“That’s a great way to get tried for heresy, you know.”

“We’ll burn that bridge when they try to burn me.”

[United Worlds of Alondra]

Rianna Agosto was an admiral of one of the larger fleets controlled by the UWA. The fleet was composed of 79 corvettes, 32 destroyers, 21 frigates, 11 battle cruisers, 7 light carriers, 3 heavy carriers and 2 battleships. The dreadnought Gunther's Arrow was not with the fleet because of repairs. It would not see action for several days. But that didn't matter to Rianna. What mattered was her mission and she wouldn't be alone. Because of that, she was happy and relieved that the mission would not be too difficult, too much for her and her men.

The person in charge of all these ships and the men that cared for them was not a human being. Technically, she had human genes. She had their hair, their eyes, their limbs and all the rest. But the admiral was also gifted by birth the genes of a Syran. Her color was like the blue oceans of Alondra and her eyes had solid colors. Her eyes were like the bark of a Sierra tree. If that could not let people imagine her color, they simply were like mud.

She however was not known for her looks. She had a good figure which she always maintained with daily exercises and monthly contests with other admirals. But she excelled more at search and rescue, blocking operations, assaults and interceptions. She too was better than the other admirals at one thing: Pure naval combat.

Every free time she got that wasn't spent on exercising, reading, sleeping, eating or sharing her bed with a lucky teen she snatched from visiting universities or from hanging out in bars was used on simulations, war games on her personal computer or phone, making maps and plans as well as discussions with other officers or simple seminars.

Rianna wasn't decorated for nothing.

With her an admiral named Larue Arnasade, a true human who graced herself with an artificial intelligence as well as a personal targeting implant.

Larue was a junior to Rianna. But they were still good enough. They had experience in dealing with rare foreign intruders as well as search and destroy operations, counter insurgency, long distance patrols and of course standard naval combat. What kind of admiral would not be great at such things? Anyway, they did have their limits and quacks. If neither, they simply were issues. If not that, then problems.

One, Larue neither identified as just a man or a woman. It turned out that they went through a curious set of medical procedures that transformed them well enough that they received (without delay or issue) sexual organs from both sexes. Larue was born with no such organs and for a time of their life they were simply a human being but deserving no title. No identity sexually. Now they got both. It confused others to various extents.

Two, Larue was more or less jealous of Rianna. Their senior was accused of earning her superior rank by either bedroom affairs or deals touched by money.

Three, Larue was from the Spiderweb system. Turns out that Larue was old. Older than Rianna surprisingly. With that in mind, the High Command thought, with the grace of the Administration and most of all President Karaza, that sending an officer from the system in jeopardy was appropriate. For a day it wasn't as Larue was forced to seek the help of Riannas personal doctors when it was discovered that they went on a binge of drinking and cursing various sailors and much junior officers.

But Larue was important. Like Rianna, she commanded a large fleet. She had to be there to help her anyway.

---------------------

The storm was approaching. Closer and closer it came, despite the distance that kept it far from the ship, the survivors and the forces fighting over it. Pirates and marines...plants and creatures. Soon enough though, the effects of the storm were starting to be felt. Electronic interference was one of the them. Gradually, whenever the storm appeared to intensify, the sound of rain becoming greater or the fog becoming denser, anyone who was operating electronic would start seeing minor errors or glitches on their screens.

To make matters worse, the howls of creatures hidden by the suspended air and water particles combined with the chemicals produced by the plants of this world became greater in volume. If one tried to listen through the din of battle, they could probably guess that a great horror was coming to consume them all.

And so, within the crashed ship, the survivors continued to cry out, to seek help. They banged on the doors that trapped them inside and sent out more distress calls, more signals for even more forces outside to respond to.

[Ella2 6]

Mercy Mission III

Deep Space, The Spiderweb Sector
FED-0002 King-Emperor Athanaric
The Bridge, The Command Deck
Admiral Genovefa

"Broadcast received from the unidentified fleet," Aenor reported, crossing the room from the navigation department to her commanding officer's chair, "They are identifying as the Eldenians and have something to do with the Navitas - we're still unsure about what that means. Presumably some sort of leader or diety. They're here to rescue the colonists and they seem to be awfully aggressive about it."

Genovefa sighed almost explosively and rubbed her forehead. "This entire thing has got to be a massive joke." She recalled being rather excited at the prospect of deployment, even if the nature of the expedition in question was not a combative one. It was far too easy to get bored of regular patrols. But now, she was not entirely certain if this excursion was preferable to a full month of aimless wandering.

"To be fair, we were rather passive aggressive ourselves," Aenor gently reminded, handing her a tablet, "What, with the whole "do not oppose us" ordeal."

"Keyword there being "passive,"" the redhead pointed out, "We haven't threatened extermination yet. That should cast us in a comparatively better light."

The orange-haired commander merely shrugged at that. "Passive or not, it was still aggressive, and that might have rubbed a few people in the entirely wrong way."

Genovefa opened her mouth to argue but found herself in an unargumentative mood. She sighed instead and slumped back in her chair. "Any other recent occurrences?"

"Yes, Ma'am. The Eldenians appear to be deploying to the ground," The Chief Tactical Officer observed, "There's also a large storm brewing on the planet and it looks nasty."

"How nasty are we talking?" The Admiral inquired.

"We're talking a high category cyclonic storm level of nastiness," he replied, "The eggheads are running the numbers on it, but it looks big."

"We've got acidic rain and toxins in the air as well," the Chief Engineer added, "The numbers suggest that we should begin rescue efforts sooner rather than later. This isn't one to be left up to chance."

"If that's the case then tell the Brigadier to deploy his men," Genovefa concluded, "How long do we have before the storm hits?"

"Current projections say around six to eight hours," the Observer reported, "It's a big storm. Might take up to twelve hours to fully pass overhead. Can our dropships fly in that storm?"

"Our dropships can definitely fly in that storm," the engineering department replied, "It won't feel very nice for the passengers, but we can get on and off the ground in any weather."

---

Spiderweb, The Spiderweb Sector
Colony Ship Crash Site, Staiunerth
The Messenger
Major Mahthildis

The landing could almost be described as leisurely in comparison to what the Federation troops were trained for. It did not take too much effort to clear a suitable area to land large amounts of troops and equipment. A quick strafing run cleared a forward deployment zone not far from the crashed colony and dissuaded anyone from trying their luck, allowing infantry and fighting vehicles to quickly disembark and secure a small perimeter. Some distance behind them, a much larger dropzone was cleared out and fortified using the dropships and personnel carriers themselves as barricades. Within this area, hastily erected tents established a temporary battalion headquarters.

The crimson banner of the Lamont Regiment hung lazily in the air as Mahthildis disembarked her shuttle. More dropzones were being coordinated around the headquarters area, landing troops company by company or platoon by platoon until the entire Battalion was assembled around one side of the colony ship. The plan was to bring the entirety of the Lamont Regiment planetside to assist in rescue operations with Mahthildis' Battalion spearheading the operation. The Marines were to reinforce her position and take to the starship interior as well as provide dropships for the evacuation effort. All the while, the Expeditionary Starfleet would keep the skies clear for them.

The first wave of these naval light infantry descended from orbit now, burning entry trails through the sky behind her as she entered her command tent. Battalion command staff had already assembled themselves and were in the process of working through the various reports that came flooding in. She permitted them a cursory glance. Minor casualties and contact reports which involve little above the section level, she saw. Everything was progressing smoothly and ahead of schedule. If they could maintain this rate, she judged, they would be gone well ahead of the storm.

[Solisian Union]

Hearts of Iron

---

Deep Space, The Spiderweb Sector

Rianna and Larue arrives...

79 corvettes, 32 destroyers, 21 frigates, 11 battle cruisers, 7 light carriers, 3 heavy carriers and 2 battleships entered the sector quickly. After several measures of time spent travelling from their point of origin, they made it. However, for now, only 30 of the corvettes, 10 of the destroyers, 5 frigates, 2 battle cruisers, 1 light carrier and a battleship could go first. The rest would catch up.

Meanwhile, in addition to Rianna's fleet were 65 corvettes, 34 destroyers, 5 frigates, 4 troop ships, 9 battleships and a dreadnought named The Atanasija. For now though the only ships that made it to the sector were 14 corvettes, 9 destroyers, 3 frigates, 3 troop ships, 3 battleships and the dreadnought.

---

Sometimes, things were not allowed to go as planned and as quickly as people wanted them to. And the one who would ruin their days was the world itself.

It did so by first allowing the ground to shake. Trembling violently, it was like the world was rejecting the visitors it welcomed involuntarily. Against its own will, it allowed these intruders to set their feet and their vessels and their machines and tools of war upon its body. Now, with a fierce storm of poisonous death coming their way in just hours, the world decided that it must meet the challengers more quickly until the storm comes to end their time upon its body.

It did so by giving permission to the lord of this part of the planet, the one named Corinal, to show itself.

The hive mind made its first move against all the intruders that made their way to this planet by coming up from the ground. Great and small vines broke the topsoil and lunged at their targets indiscriminately. It didn't matter if they were men in armored suits, tracked vehicles or low flying aircraft. What mattered to them was the destruction of those on the surface by crushing them or by slamming themselves against their targets.

Then what followed were spear-like appendages. They behaved like the front legs of dangerous insects. Against any target, they attempted to impale any living target. If the target they wanted to stab was not living (a tank, for example) then they attempted to at least tip it to its side.

What came next was the appearance of beasts similiar to the one that came before. This time, however, these things were smaller, faster and as they charged at the foes, a volley of needles oozing with toxins were let loose against them. Their four legs and bodies were covered in semi-thick carapace and their heads were protected with tough skulls and sharp horns. They came in the dozens followed by six larger beasts that rampaged over the surface of this part of the planet with two gigantic blades close to their jaws.

Whatever was going in their path was subject to a swift swing of those blades as if they were axes.

And as this was happening, a voice that came to the ears and sensors of those who intruded upon this world. It sounded disembodied. And it said

"Leave...This...Place..."

Half a moment passed. And then it spoke again

"This is...my territory."

---

At the same time that this was happening, the fresh fleets that arrived in the sector started to encounter the foreign ships that were present. They ignored the pirates for now, focusing on the ones that technically overextended themselves into UWA territory.

A warning came out from the flagship of Admiral Rianna

"Welcome to the United Worlds of Alondra. These are the fleets of Admiral Rianna and Admiral Larue. You are not supposed to be here unless your true intentions are to save those who have crashed upon the face of this planet. Leave now if your intentions are other than that noble cause or else you will face the wrath of the Alondran fleets and a defensive declaration of hostilities to ensure that you would leave or die here."

[Olimpiada]

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
1024th Light Infantry Division, Legio IL Gaia

---

Iovinus could clearly hear screaming outside as straggling troops were stabbed and dragged into the ground. Oil sprayed from destroyed Praetorian actuators and blood poured from Cataphract synthmuscle alike as the ground itself pulled at wires, hamstrings, fabric, anything it could get a grip on. He winced. Horrific and unexplainable displays of violence weren’t exactly unusual for the federal army, but he was still fresh enough that it meant something. He whistled a short command and the Cataphract’s railgun swivelled around to face the entrance. There was a tremendous crack as it discharged, shattering chitin and throwing plant flesh across the doorway.

“Come along Kerberos, let’s go.” They walked in silence, the drone’s footsteps echoing around the metal hallways in tandem with Iovinus’s own metallic ones. It was too dark to see, but millimeter radar outlined the metallic walls in a dull blue, while thermal searched for any heat signatures to outline in orange and red hues. Finally, he came across three of them that were slumped against a wall, either dying or dejected. He pounded on the door once. “Hey, anyone in there?” he asked in Greek.

“¡Socorro! ¡Ayudanos! ¡La puerta esta roto!” Well this was splendid. His translator had taken a hit. He tried to run a quick diagnostic on it, and then percussive maintenance. Finally, it seemed alright. He considered asking his question again, and then decided it was redundant and he was going to come in anyway so what was the point? Thermals showed that the group was standing away from the door, so he slung his rifle, drew his gladius, and stabbed. The monofilament edge cut through the steel easily, and he quickly cut an outline large enough for his armored body to walk through. He stepped in from the hall.

Inside were two middle aged people, a man and a woman, as well as a young child, who immediately started hacking and coughing. His nice air conditioned suit had made him forget that the air outside was poisonous. Shit. He pulled three nanofiltration masks from a pouch on Kerberos’s back, and then passed them out. They were common enough devices on the dirtier ecumenopoli like Joki, but they also proved useful in situations like these. “You all alright?”

“Gracias, señor,” said the man. Maybe the translator was still a little broken. “You have saved us! Who are you?”

“Corporal Iovinus Prodromus, Olimpiadan Federal Army, with the 1024th Light Infantry. Spaceborne. I’m here to get you out. You got names?”

“I am Emilio Navarro, this is my wife Josefina, and my daughter María. We are forever in your debt.” The man bowed. Iovinus wondered if the smoke had gotten to his head.

“Don’t thank me too much yet, alright? There’s pirates in here, and some plant critters outside. You’re not home yet, but you’re getting there.”

“...plants?” asked Emilio.

“Plants,” agreed Iovinus.

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi

---

“And you mean to tell me that the plants started talking.”

“And pulling troops down to the ground, sir.”

“I was hoping that was radio distortion,” said Comnenus, knowing full well that his connection was wired and crystal clear at all times.

“Shit.”

“Aye, sir.”

“I want laser strikes to burn them out, and napalm bombing runs as often as possible. Alert Fire Ant, Haikuesque, and Theta-12 to get on it. We’ll assign more shortly.”

“Incoming message from the Alondrans again.” Comnenus took a moment to listen to it.

“Do you think they ever talk to each other? We’ve been over this a few times now.”

“I suppose not, sir.”

“Right. Let’s get them another message, shall we?”

TO: Admirals Rianna and Larue, Alondran Fleet
FROM: First Admiral Lukas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
ENCR: None

We’ve already discussed this matter before with Commander Noboa, you can contact her for an archive of our discussions. I do sincerely hope that your ships are lacking in violent intentions here.

[Lotrabme]

ABOVE THE ELLIPTICAL PLANE OF THE SPIDERWEB SYSTEM

The larger vessels of the Nemo Company fleet accepted the return of their Nimloth Corvette with the silent machine grace of centuries of engineering. Once berthed in the hold of their B-3, Commander Dumaz and Captain Triln passed through the entrance way and into the habitat modules of the vessel.

Dumaz twisted the hairs on his moustache and brushed them of some unseen dust as he spoke to his Ombroj companion "That went better than we could have hoped. I'm glad we were able to ask for such a good price."

"Good enough certainly" Triln grizzled "enough to recompense any losses we might incur getting a hold on our portion of the loot."

"Speaking of which" Dumaz said "shouldn't we assign a first away team to go down to Staiunerth and observe the crash site?"

"I've been chatting with Gylksa and Conal via radio while we were en route back. They've been monitoring planetside activity and I have to say, it's looking kind of grim."

"Oh dear" Dumaz sighed.

"We better assign someone we trust with the job. Do you think Gylksa should go?" Triln asked. Dumaz could tell he sincerely meant this.

"While I do trust Gylksa wholly, I think she is better left on the ship. Who is one of your better thugs?"

"Riik and Skevern are the first two I would suggest" Triln replied.

"Good, did Gylksa or Conal tell you HOW things were getting hairy down there?" Dumaz said with some relief but a still palpable concern.

Triln shrugged "more fleets entering the system, and the parties currently down there sound like they were getting cornered by some local lifeforms. At least, thats what chatter we could pick up from the open channels. Anything with higher encryption is too high for us to detect."

Dumaz silently let out a breath of resignation. He knew he risked the loss of crew here. But they were in it for the loot. He'd better offer them something substantial.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 HOURS LATER: ABOVE STAIUNERTH

A pair of Seraphim dropships had detached from the Nemo and were making a fast approach to the planet of Staiunerth. Their intended course would place them 500 meters away from the crash-site and put the Nemo Company troop's base of operations in a, hopefully, strategic location from which to examine the sight.

The dropships themselves were like large globes with a 30 meter diameter. They would release troops from the bottom with large folding doors, and could stand on landing gear which deployed from the "south pole".

On board one of the dropships the Ombroj Riik, a tall member of his kind with tall pointed ears and a silver and brown striped coat of fur was donning his atmospheric armor. Ombroj could survive almost every atmosphere humans could, though they were used to subterranean and artificial atmospheres the best. Knowing the atmosphere was cloudy, Riik and his kin would not need shades to protect their eyes, but the toxicity might be a concern, so they enabled their suits re-breathers. The Haman crew did likewise, the few Mallumans among them however only equipped lighter breathers since they were bred to breath more noxious air.

Riik's favor had paid off, he thought. The captain had saved him from the drunken abuse of a Malluman brave, and now he was permitted to lead the away team to the surface. Captain Triln had informed him however to be on guard. The planet appeared dangerous by all reports. Between the two dropships, which would land near each other, Riik had 348 mercenaries, and he intended to use them to full effect.

The pilot of his dropship radio'd his comm-link. "Sergeant Riik, we are making landfall in T-minus one minute."

"Thank you Polling" Riik said to the pilot, before turning to his personal squad, composed of 10 Ombroj, 2 Malluman, and 5 Haman mercenaries. "Fellas, we are about to touch down on what the locals call the "Drug Planet" Staiurneth. This world has toxic clouds, and according to our recent spying, a native group who is hostile on sight. I don't plan to dilly-dally here, I plan to grab as much from that wreck'd ship as we can and high tail it out of here."

His squad nodded in affirmation.

"Good, you will pass it down the line and let everyone know the plan. We aren't staying for a picnic. Grab what you can and scram."

And with a loud metal thud, the dropship touched down.

[Ella2 6]

The Restless Earth

Spiderweb, The Spiderweb Sector
Colony Ship Crash Site, Staiunerth
Mahthildis' Battalion Headquarters, Mahthildis' Gully
Major Mahthildis

The earth was restless and it seemed that the very world pitched and rolled against some unseen tide. Those on the surface could have easily mistaken it for an earthquake were it not so localised. This was then that something abominable began rising from the ground. Within minutes, the field was scattered with the remains of men and equipment. Armoured vehicles were tossed aside or simply crushed, their light, plasteel hulls giving way without much resistance. All told, some three thousand souls were lost in those fleeting moments of time.

A cry rang out. "We're under attack!"

The command tent had been uprooted from where it was planted and collapsed in a ragged heap, burying those that were inside. Mahthildis drew her knife and cut her way through the heavy material. Around her, others were doing the same, emerging from underneath in a manner similar to the attacking vines. The major stood erect, staggered, fell and cast her gaze around the battlefield.

Countless creatures sprang from the soil and charged the Ellian positions, shrieking murderous intent. Behind them, a gargantuan presence interposed itself between the rapidly darkening horizon, tendrils radiating from its repulsive mass. The surviving artillery - be they anti-tank cannons, anti-aircraft lasers or even Ellian rocket artillery - from all three affected drop zones turned to face the monstrosity and opened fire, their heavy ordnance steadily pounding away at the towering form.

The infantry broke and fled from the sudden assault, but regrouped themselves around the armoured vehicles and established defensive positions. Infantry carriers were placed into a semi-circle where possible and the occupants stuck their automatic rifles out of the various gunports to fire upon the enemy, in addition to operating the turret-mounted autocannon.

A soldier from the administration platoon helped his commanding officer to her feet and half-led, half-dragged her behind the cover of a nearby universal carrier (which was also being used as a bunker by its occupants). "What's going on?" the Major demanded.

"We don't know, Ma'am!" The trooper roared back, clutching his service pistol fearfully, "They just came out of nowhere!"

Another man dove behind the carrier as well. Judging by the antennas sticking up from the side of his helmet, he was a signaller - likely from the signals platoon that was attached to battalion headquarters. Normally, these soldiers operated much larger and more powerful communications units than those installed in their helmets, but much of their heavy equipment was lost when the command tents came down.

"Major," he called urgently, "I just got word from the other Battalions. Major Bruno has been wounded and Major Akiyama is dead."

"Someone get me a map," the major ordered eventually, "I need to see what's going on."

"Major, there is a computer inside the U-C," an infantry corporal informed her, "You should have everything you need in here." She nodded and clambered aboard the armoured vehicle. The soldier was right, of course. The universal carrier had everything from a basic computer to a radio set. The perfect mobile command vehicle. Currently, the radio was buzzing with orders from various company-level officers, directing their troops in the defence of the drop zone.

"U-C's, lay down suppressive fire on the southern sector. Company, fix bayonets!"

Mahthildis moved herself to the tank commander's seat where the computer was located, discharging the squad corporal from the potion. She quickly pulled up a map on the interactive display and examined the situation. "We should try to withdraw onto that hill," she eventually reasoned, "The high ground should offer us more an advantageous position and we can fall back into the colony ship itself if we need to. Tell Major Akiyama's Battalion to make for the hill as well."

"Major, our scouts report hostiles advancing along our flanks and up the hill," the signaller outside reported, shouting through the open gunport to reach her, "They're right between the southern dropzones." Mahthildis rubbed her forehead. The news was not surprising, but it was an inconvenience. She considered her options quickly, but her administration had not recovered from the critical disruption it suffered from the sudden attack yet. As such, she had no idea of which units she had left and their relative strengths. She would have to make a gamble.

"Have the recon century deploy onto the hill and evacuate our artillery there," she decreed.

The signaller relayed her orders but was met with complications. "Major, Lieutenant Friederike says that she has lost most of her U-C's."

"Then tell her to commandeer the ones that are left," she snapped, "Reorganise the battle lines, I want us to pull back into a crescent shape at the base of the hill and free up a company to advance up the hill and support the recon century."

"Relocating at any speed would prove difficult," a lieutenant claimed, clambering aboard, "We've more men than we have carriers for and we've lost most of our armour. We lost most of our supplies too, so at least we don't have to worry about that until we start running out of ammunition." He settled into one of the passenger seats in the back and brought two extended fingers to his temple in an informal salute. "Lieutenant Dan reporting in, Ma'am. Sorry I kept you waiting."

"Is that all?" Mahthildis asked, knowing her subordinate likely had more to say.

"Not quite," Dan replied, pausing for some time, "We must have lost at least half the Battalion back there. Rumour is that the other drop zones are in a similar condition. I suspect that if we withdraw too quickly, we'll expose the flank of Bruno's Battalion, which may make it difficult for them to withdraw to our position as well."

"Well, we can't wait for them to move first, nor can we stretch the line any further," the Major argued. The lieutenant made a helpless shrug. She was right, of course, but then again, so was he. She slammed her fist onto the vehicle's hull. "If only we had more air support. What are the those blasted planes doing?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to compromise," he concluded.

Mahthildis reexamined the map, figuring that there must be an alternative approach. That was when the signaller notified her of a vital piece of information. "Major, I've managed to reestablish contact with Major Bruno. He says he's attempting to withdraw North and has sent Doom Company forward in an attempt to link up with us. His scouts have forced a gap through the enemy forces and are attempting to pass through. He has much of his artillery left, but no ammunition."

"Well, he's out of luck there," Mahthildis sighed, "We haven't any munitions left either. But do tell him that we'll offer him our full support." She turned back to the map with this in mind, and she saw her opportunity. An immense debris field of shattered landscape and broken starship lay to her east. If she could lodge an infantry company in the ruins and support it with artillery fire from the hill, she could link up with Bruno's Battalion and form a solid defensive line. What happens from then onwards, however, was anyone's guess. "Radio, tell Alia's Company to advance into the ruins to the east and dig in. Raginald's Company will advance up the slope of the hill while Thunder Company held this position. Cloud Company will assist our recon century and defend our artillery."

The Battalion galvanised into action. A determined roar rose up from the east as Alia ordered her company forward. Raginald's Company and Cloud Company advanced up the hills relatively unopposed (moving parallel to the swarm of plant creatures), though their progress was slowed due to a lack of infantry carriers. The battered Thunder Company held the centre, having suffered more casualties than all the other companies combined due to its proximity to the rear when the viny leviathan broke the topsoil.

To Mahthildis' West, the now-deceased Major Akiyama's Battalion slowly attempted to force their way to the hill. Their munitions stores were still largely intact but they had lost over half of their vehicle garage, slowing movement to a comparative crawl. Worse still, Union Company was close to their breaking point but could not withdraw as they anchored themselves in the Akiyama's southernmost flank. Morale crumbled quickly and the depleted formation was at risk of being overrun. Bruno faired far better. This ground fleet was undamaged, but he lacked the supplies necessary to make a stand. As a result, he was forced to abandon his assigned drop zone.

North of them, on the other side of the crashed colony ship, the dropship pilots saw that the Southen dropzones were not clear of enemy activity and were diverted to land their troop complement in the Northen drop zones. Swanahilda's Battalion and Aenor's Battalion subsequently bolstered by a company of marines each. Assisted by the light naval infantry the two battalions moved southwards. Aenor's Battalion captured the unnamed hill before them while Swanahilda's Battalion opted to manoeuvre around the forest near their landing zone.

In the heavens, the Ellian fleet suspended ground support operations in anticipation of an orbital battle.

[Lotrabme]

Sergeant Riik stood near the opening of his dropship. Atmosphere seeped out of the door with a loud his as his multi-species cadre of mercenaries stood at the ready.
The door clanged down on the soil of the planet. "Perimeter check" the Sergeant said silently to his men, and the forward squadron formed a spearhead of seven each facing outwards. They were within walking distance of the wreckage near the south end. As the dust settled all the mercenaries could hear the sounds of battle around. The leader of the spearhead said "we have live fire at six o'clock, three o'clock, and ten thirty. Proceed sergeant?"

"Affirmative, we need to get a look at the wreck" Riik said. "Double speed, forward all units from Dropship 1. Dropship 2, begin perimeter guard, and keep an eye out for enemies."

"Aye-aye" replied the chatter from the Junior Sergeant buzzed on the comm. Riik went at the head of the second wave of footmen from Dropship 1 toward the hull of the crashed colony ship.

Meanwhile, from Dropship 2, the Junior Sergeant was reviewing his surroundings. He stood on the dropship's command deck with crossed arms. He was a Haman of middle age who went by Yore Koseph. He looked over at one of his techies who sat at the bio-signature scanner station. "Whats it look like Donnie?" Koseph said to the techie.
"Well sir, its a mess." Donnie pulled up on the bigger side screen an image of the surrounding area with infrared scanners. "You can see a large but cooler mass? That, according to what I can see is floraform. Smaller signatures both human derived and floraform are running around to our northeast and our western sides. We are only safe to the south from what I can tell."

"Thats hairy as all can get" Koseph grunted. "Turrets" he chimed in to both dropships mounted guns, of which each had four. "I want you to have your scopes set far, keep a watch on our boys. We don't have many friendlies in this zone and it's hot. Copy?"

"Roger" they all replied.

Near the wall of the colony ship, Riik and his troops began to attack the hull walls themselves. Six of the mercenaries had brought high heat cutting saws that they engaged with the steel of the ship. The burn would take some time but would allow Riik's men to guard their sides. They watched for any sign of un-friendlies.

The mad dash for booty had begun.

[United Worlds of Alondra]

No more delay. No more bullshit.

The UWA finally decided to do one thing: Attack.

They started to act by releasing some of their transports. Those transports dove towards the planet, bringing within them hundreds of troops, dozens of tanks, trucks and armored vehicles and most of all, VTOL crafts and helos. They also were armed with multiple mass drivers, rocket pods and accurate lasers.

At least 6 were going towards the crash site.

At this time too, the UWA fleets were almost complete. Over time, ships have been coming into the system piecemeal or by small groups. It was dying down now in rate but it still happened and that would make the enemy realize they were being outnumbered.

Outgunned.

Then only when the transports seemed to have entered the planet did the UWA ships closest to the Olimpidians start shooting.

Five frigates, three destroyers and a cruiser were unleashing a ceaseless wave of firepower. Mass driver cannons, missiles, unguided rockets, laser cannons and more. The UWA shot first and they wouldn't dare miss. On the other hand, carriers were releasing bombers, dozens of bombers, towards the Olimpidians while others released fighters, at least at the start probably 50 of them, so the fighters could start engaging the smaller enemy ships.

But the carriers were not just mothers to their own.

They were armed. And they mercilessly shot at the Olimpidians with mass drivers while the UWA commanders decided to follow up; they were going to close the distance and drive the Olimpidians away from the planet.

Meanwhile, there was officially no declaration of war. The only fact that would come to pass into the UWA was that this was a border conflict.

And nothing more and nothing less would ever pass.

For the Alondrans were releasing one more fleet towards the system. That, however, would take much, much time.

------------------------------

Down there, the plants were going wilder. The monster that spoke roared as it unleashed a swarm of fast moving, four legged plantoids from the ground. They targeted the closest living things that were foreign to the planet, most especially the Olimpiadians and Ellians.

There were, for now, at least 60 of them. They were as large as horses, charging at the hostiles, using their speed and the jagged horns on their heads to pierce through anything caught by them. If their charge didn't work, they resorted to clawing the hell out of their targets.

Worse, the storm was getting closer. It was going to come in hours, yes, but the closer it got, the more clear the effects became. The air was getting thinner, there were increasing signs of radiation and toxicity and most of all, drops of rain was coming down on them. Acid rain.

The colonists, meanwhile, were trapped in the ship. They avoided the fighting that the pirates got themselves in but some were caught in the crossfires, getting shot and downed. Some lost limbs. Others never saw their faces being burned off or shot through. The rest bled out or got their breathers compromised, left to die in the toxic atmosphere of the planet.

At the same time, the arrival of a new player from the west was marked by the supersonic flight of three planes. Their wings were decorated by red roses or red hammers and sickles. The three planes circled once over the crash site before they flew away, turned around and started to drop bombs and fire rockets at the Ellians and Olimpiadans they saw. Then they tried to escape. If anyone wanted to shoot them down, it was the time.

For now, far off, those at the crash site battling the plantoids could hear the soft roar of hundreds of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. They could hear the howling engines of incoming syndicalist planes as they approached from the west and the south.

And above all, the entry of the UWA. They were descending into the planet from the north, their dropships and escorts entering the crash site's airspace. At this time, they concentrated on pacifying the area, using rockets and guns to eliminate Olimpiadans while avoiding fire on the Ellians if possible. It would not be totally avoided but discouraged at least.

[Olimpiada]

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi

---

If not for his helmet, Comnenus would have spat when he saw the fire from the Alondran fleet. The data took sixteen minutes to arrive from their distance of 2 AU, and hit at the same time as the lasers. Due to the dispersion over distance, the beams would have been enough to give someone a tan at worst, but it was still insulting. Blooms of flame in the distance indicated the launch positions of rockets, mass drivers, missiles, and fighter craft. The first two could be wholly ignored at this distance and dodged easily with slight adjustment burns of only a few millimeters per second, but the latter two were of some concern.

On his command display, he tagged fifteen of his strike cruisers, and sent them out for a fast picket line on the now enemy fleet. Their goal would be to intercept incoming missile and fighter strikes with lasers from three light seconds away from the enemy, while simultaneously slinging missiles at smaller ships. As they took off, he winced despite himself. Forty gees was a terrible thing for a human being to endure. Their crews would be fine, controlling the vessels from within virtual reality while their unconscious bodies rested in oxygen-rich gel, but it still made him shudder. They would arrive in roughly sixteen hours, firing lasers to intercept all the way there.

Next, he tagged his arsenal ships and gave them permission to fire at will. The Hwach’a-class vessels were equipped largely with fusion missiles, each taking off at a hundred gees to arrive in just under five hours. They were equipped with some countermeasures such as nuclear flares, anti-radar geometry and chaff, and laser ablative coatings. Most carried nuclear shaped charges as warheads, but several also would split apart into swarms of smaller nuclear weapons meant to strike at exposed sensors and weapons mounts rather than focusing on massive overall damage. The latter of these were primarily targeted at capital ships, so as to penetrate their necessarily higher point defense grids and leave them less able to fight when they were in range of his powerful battleships at a later time.

Finally, he took care of his issues in orbit. The traitorous Alondran transports were targeted without mercy from orbit, his ten remaining strike cruisers ordered to rain lasers and railgun shots on them midflight to the ground. Ideally, most if not all would explode en route to the ground. He tasked his escort vessels with taking an orbit which would put them between the enemy fleet and his transports as whatever missiles and strike craft passed his outgoing strike cruisers would be shredded by their powerful laser batteries. The arsenal ships and battleships could defend themselves well enough with this much warning prior to impact.

He took a moment to compose himself before giving them a message.

TO: Admirals Rianna and Larue, Alondran Fleet
FROM: Fleet Admiral Lucas Comnenus, FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi
ENCR: None

You have exactly fifteen minutes to call off your assault. If you fail to, I will make the remaining lives of you and your men short, swift, and to the point with no chance for mercy. I do not relish killing humans and must implore you to make the best choice for each and every one of their sakes.

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
1024th Light Infantry Division, Legio IL Gaia

---

Attention to ground forces, this is Major Porphyrius. Recent engagements in orbit and the sky have put us in a state of hostility with the Alondrans. Should you encounter any of their troops or vessels, you are encouraged to open fire on them should it not interfere with our primary mission objective of rescuing the colonists.

“Roger that, Major.”

“What was that?” asked Emilio, who could not hear the message.

“The Alondrans have elected to open fire on us while we’re busy rescuing you lot.”

“Mierda. Why would they do that? Your forces are in the ship, no?” The man looked frustrated, his daughter looked scared, and his wife looked worried.

“Most of them, yeah. Can’t say they thought it through too well. Fortunately, we’ve got eyes in the sky to cover us. We’ll need to get to the top of the ship to escape. You were a passenger here, do you know the way?” They stopped for a moment while Emilio thought. Iovinus scouted the hallway, millimeter radar and thermal sights lighting up the hall in false colors on his AR display. The internal communications system between the troops showed a steady movement by the troops inward and upward.

“I’ve got it, follow me,” said Josefina. That was different.

“Great!. We’re looking to get to the top outside to wait for dropship pickup. From there, we’ll head to orbit and get you home safe, okay?” Three nods of assent followed. They picked their way through the ship, Kerberos bounding ahead of them on an automated sentry program. Periodically, there was a distant thump as the drone would fire at something, and come back with scuffed armor and new cuts on its legs. They eventually broke through to the top, where several other soldiers had assembled with rescues of their own beneath some acid-resistant teflon tarps rigged up into crude awnings. He kicked over to a group channel with the other soldiers and began subvocalizing to them over the radio.

“So what exactly is our game plan here? It’s an absolute shitstorm outside, and as I understand it, the only thing keeping the plants off of here are the drones and men patrolling the rim with cheirosiphons.”

“We’re waiting for things to clear up enough to get out. In the meanwhile, major says we should keep the civilians nice and visible for the incoming dropships to steer clear of us.”

“Human shields? That motherf-”

“I know. But we follow orders here. That’s how this works. It’s only temporary.” Iovinus bit his lip hard enough to taste blood. Overhead, the sky cracked as Zipper squadron went to work once more.

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
Fighter Squadron Theta-12 “Zipper”, Legio IL Gaia

---

Hellion, more officially Zipper-7, even more officially Lieutenant Marcus Tsukamoto, streaked above the world at mach five, feeling the heavy hand of acceleration press him back into his gel seat. Jungles and fog passed beneath him in a blur of green and grey streaks as his machine gulped fuel into its nuclear scramjets and pushed him further toward the enemy.

“Zipper squadron, this is OWACS” came the message down from the Haikuesque several thousand kilometers above. “Spotted several hostiles on intercept courses for the colony ship. Marking local insurgents as Sierra-1 through 3, and Alondrans as Victor-1 through 6. You are cleared to engage both at will.” He grinned, and flicked on targeting for his missiles. Victor-5 and 6 were closest, so he tagged them and let fly with his rockets. Their high performance scramjets kicked in as they fell from his plane, sending leaving trails of condensation in the air as they pushed their small fusion warheads toward the enemy. Finally, a dogfight. Ground support was easy, but there wasn’t any skill to it. Certainly nothing befitting Olimpiada’s finest jet jockey. He primed his railguns off his plane’s reactor, watching the additional targeting information appear inside his helmet. He adjusted the angle of his plane slightly and then let it rip at Victor-5, self-guided HEIAP rounds flitting through the atmosphere to their target. He cut the throttle and peeled off at a tight angle, zipping away from the enemy to come back around for another pass from a different angle.

Acceleration pulled at him as he pulled the tightest curve he could manage, his augments and combat drugs keeping him barely conscious as he strained the limits of his airframe in a curve away from the fight. He passed through the clouds for a time, letting their bulk make up the last little bit of radar invisibility his plane’s geometry couldn’t while he moved to another angle. Then he struck again. If the planet was going to try to fight them, he’d just have to use that to his advantage.

[Equalsun Empire]

Staiunerth Orbit, Spiderweb system

“See, I told you they would!”

“Have they really? With the civilians still on the planet?”

“Yes, take a look! Oh, even more converging on the crashed ship as we speak, firing on one another as well as the fauna. What a brawl they have going on.”

“Are the Marialas’ Fists soldiers landed yet?”

“You can see them coming in now- see, there, near the large Biotic and on top of the hill.”

Vedais sighed as data from the new developments came pouring in. For awhile things had seemed quiet, as a group of strangers putting aside their differences to rescue civilians was expected to be. Now, though… The situation on the ground had very quickly escalated into a free-for-all between the factions present. It seemed like Captain Makias had things under control for the moment, but he doubted that would continue to be the case.

“Quila, please ensure that the soldiers on the surface have all the support they need.”

Over at her station his second turned, a quizzical feeling emanating from her. “Sir, the away company has reported no losses, and the Beacon hasn’t yet been completed. Are you sure-“

“The Biotics are bringing in a significant amount of heavy armour, due before it’s finished. At the very least, we can make that situation easier by providing air support. Much of the fleet’s resources are idle- is there any reason to change that?”

Quila sighed, rapidly typing a cocktail of orders into her console sending additional fighter craft rocketing downwell. “You know, sir, they are in absolutely no danger at the moment. Even if the Biotics shattered their matrices, there’s no Eldritch presence to seal them away permanently.”

“That aside… I’d rather make a good impression with the Biotics not actively attempting to rip us apart. When the dust settles, I’d rather have the impression of a valuable, intelligent potential ally then the overbearing abiotics who managed to get an entire company slaughtered by houseplants. Speaking of…”

He watched as the space around Staiunerth exploded into combat, Biotic vessels rising to meet their newly-arrived counterparts. With the Eldenian fleet still a few hours from orbit this wasn’t a pressing concern, but still… “Ensure the fleet is ready for combat by the time we achieve orbit. We’re diving into the middle of this mess.” A sinister feeling of glee was beginning to build deep within the admiral’s consciousness. A group of biotics, peacefully coexisting while weapons lay all about them? He didn’t know why he had even despaired that there would be no combat on this expedition. He pulled up the system map again, running calculations on when the various combatants would meet.

This was going to be fun.

Staiunerth Surface, Crash Site

The Eldenian dropships did not arrive at the most opportune of times.

With the roar of blue flames thirteen gleaming wedges broke through the cloud cover into what was best described as a vibrant green hellscape. Chlorophyll permeated the skies, tinting hordes of moaning, root-pierced humanity with its distinctive colouration. The roar of gunfire was omnipresent as various groups of humanoids fought against foes seemingly at random, lashing out at anything that moved with ferocity befitting such endangered mortal beings. Over it all loomed the dual forms of the crashed ship and the Hive Mind, the latter releasing deafening psionic screams as it spawned hordes of chitin and flesh monstrosities from its form.

The sight and sound of this caused the soldiers within the dropships to shudder uncomfortably, their previously unconcerned thoughts darkening. The infected swarms, the chitin monstrosities, the screams- had the scanners lied? These were all the attributes of the Enemy, an entity which put them in danger of not just reanimation, but death. The previously unconcerned and jovial atmosphere of the dropships hardened into determination as the Paladins refocused- this was no longer a simple rescue operation. This was what they had all trained, no, been created for.

With the roar of blue flames the dropships shot through the final stretch of airspace to the designated landing area- a hill, relatively close to the crashed vessel yet with a line of sight on the majority of the battlefield. There, as always happens in war, plans ended and execution began.

Captain Makias Lauri swore as his Company began final approach, eyeing the selected LZ. Clear only minutes before, it was now swarming with both humanoid and plantoid Biotics, with dozens more converging on it from all sides. A quick glance was enough to identify the former as establishing defensive positions against the latter, but by his reckoning was that they were struggling. Plantoid bioforms continuously tore into humanoids from below, slaughtering them right next to their comrades without warning
even as emplaced artillery and armoured vehicles ripped into those on the surface around them.

“You still want dropped here, Captain? LZ’s very hot, no info on whether those Biotics are hostile!” the pilot of his dropship yelled.

A quick glance at battlefield scans told him it was much the same everywhere, without the advantages the hill would grant them. It was either here or withdraw.

“Send a psionic message to the combatants on the hill that we’re here to rescue the colony ship occupants- we’ll deal with them if they’re hostile. Otherwise focus fire upon the plantoids and drop Platoons one, two, and three here as planned.” Those two sentences were all the time they had remaining. With a hiss of escaping atmosphere the dropship door dissolved, hardlight deconstructing and Eldenian Paladins jumping into the melee.

Nine dropships stood hovering twenty feet above the crest of the hill, their turrets swiveling towards various plantoids. The DEWs of each dropship flared to life, letting loose a pulsating beam of energy into the hordes at the bottom of the hill. Flesh, bone, and chitin alike sublimated from forms as they disintegrated beneath the light, and blackened trenches were left in the wake of the weapons. The dual hardlight turrets also sprung into action, seeking individual forms interspersed in the Biotic lines and shattering them with explosive hardlight matrix shells.

Beneath this rain of fire the first nine Paladins crashed into the ground, sinking slightly into the chlorophyll-soaked mud as they impacted. Immediately fleshy tentacles erupted from the ground beneath them, wrapping about armoured limbs and grabbing at weapons. Instincts kicked in immediately and the Paladins dropped their hardlight rifles, instead activating the hardlight blades upon their wrists. As the cold shine of the swords blinked into existence the Eldenian soldiers pivoted, tearing apart the tentacles around their comrades in a brief but deadly ballet of strikes. The ground thundered yet again as nine more soldiers joined their comrades, hardlight rifles flaring to life to strike plantoids in combat around the crest of the hill.

Captain Makias was one of the final Paladins to make planetfall, crashing to the ground in the center of the new Paladin formation. Over one hundred Eldenians now occupied the crest of the hill, the majority now pouring fire downrange while a few stalked between the ranks of the firing line, hardlight blades drawn and ready to dispatch any plantoids that erupted beneath their feet. Many of the soldiers now possessed dents and gouges in their armour where the chitin spines had attempted to pierce it, but thankfully their thick alloy armour had prevented any serious damage to the energy beings within. Waving to the less-battered Lieutenant of First Platoon Makias drew up the battle map in his consciousness, focusing upon the area around the hill.

It was chaos. Above the first wave of Eldenian dropships were pulling away, fire still streaming into the plantoid hordes approaching the hill all the while. They would withdraw to make high-speed passes over enemy forces as needed, avoiding becoming sitting targets in the process. Though their hardlight armour and energy shielding made the vessels relatively durable, it simply wasn’t wise to put that to the test. The hardlight fighters which had escorted the dropship convoy had peeled off early to engage various greater threats on the battlefield, buzzing around the hulking form of the Hive Mind and chasing after the now-hostile red planes which had buzzed fellow Biotics with explosives previously.

Speaking of engaging the hive mind… In his consciousness Makias witnessed massive energy beams arc from the Eldenian position, the cutting power of Directed Energy Weapons piercing into the mass of biological matter and chitin kilometers away. Withdrawing from his inner consciousness the Captain turned to see the forms of two Templars emerging from the thirteenth dropship, dual DEWs channeling energy downrange as their heavy hardlight repeaters cycled into active status. Above hovered six hardlight fighter craft, hardlight turrets adding to the volley as their space-rated weaponry tore into the behemoth across the battlefield. Almost unnoticed behind them walked a single other Eldenian, arms full of various glowing pieces of metal. Makias nodded to the individual before turning to the Lieutenant of First Platoon. As the Paladin approached the Captain activated the psionic link between them.

“LT, take a couple of your men and find someone in the Biotics in command. We’ll be better off coordinating with them in establishing a defense of the hilltop.”

“As you wish, Captain.” Breaking their link the LT turned, signalling two of his nearby soldiers and running off towards a nearby Biotic half-track and artillery placement.

With all immediate concerns taken care of, there wasn’t anything else left to do but fortify their position and wait for reinforcements. Grabbing his hardlight rifle from his back Makias stepped into the firing line, raising the pulsating alloy device to his shoulder and haloing hostiles downrange. It would be a long night on Staiunerth.

Crash Site, Atop the Colony Ship

As the Eldenian dropship formation broke through the cloud cover and started on their approach to the hill four of their number had peeled away, several fighters falling into defensive positions around them as they made a break for the colony vessel. Streaking through the air, as of now unopposed by an enemy air assets, they rained fire upon the swarming hordes of plants below, blue beams burning into the green masses as points of blue light exploded in their midst. Yet it barely seemed to make a dent- where one concentration of the fleshy monstrosities was erased two more crawled their way from the dirt. That was par for the course in the life of an Eldenian soldier, however- they would just have to keep going about these half-measures until orbital support could burn the infestation in an instant.

The four aircraft accelerated until the last possible moment before braking hard above the crashed vessel, coming to a stop near what appeared to be a makeshift camp set up by one of the Biotic factions. Lieutenant Yosia Trelli ran her mechanical gaze over the setup as the hardlight doors on the craft dissolved, deconstructing in the path of twelve heavily armed and armoured soldiers jumping to the surface meters below. With the acid rain currently sweeping across the planet’s surface, it was very convenient that the other faction had brought environmental gear capable of sparing fellow organics from environmental dissolution.

“Dropships, land upon the surface of the ship and prepare to take on passengers. We’ll see if we can begin the process of ferrying civilians to the orbiting vessels immediately.” In response to the order the hovering ships began to gently move towards the surface beneath them, preparing to test if the surface would support the heavy ships or if they would have to continue hovering. As this was happening the LT ordered Fourth Platoon to secure either side of the vessel, while gathering Fifth Platoon with her and walking towards the edge of the Biotic encampment. They advanced with weapons down and hands visible, trying to appear non-hostile as 2.15-meter-tall glowing suits of armour can be.

Upon reaching the encampment edge Yosia stopped, opening a general psionic and auditory communication directed towards the soldiers assembling on the edge of the camp the Eldenians had landed close to.

“Greetings, Biotics- we come in peace to you and your charges. I am Lieutenant Yosia Trelli of the Eldenian Imperium’s Marialis’ Fists Legion. We have dropships available to begin taking the civilians to orbit, and are willing to assist in the defense of this area.”
While saying this Lieutenant Trelli pointed to the dropships, which had successfully landed upon the hull of the crashed colony ship and were now waiting, pilots tense in their cockpits. It was always dangerous to be sitting still- the only saving grace were the fighters now hovering overhead, their hardlight constructs mindlessly searching for targets to be designated by their automated processes.

[Lotrabme]

Outside the Colony Vessel
Riik and his mercenary crew continued to saw through the portion of the hull which they now surrounded. The plasma saws burned with a heat like a furnace and made the Hamans sweat and gave the fur on the Ombroj soldiers a toasty smell.
Finally, *CLANG* as an oval shaped hole popped open in the wall. Riik said only “GO” to his company as they proceeded into the ship. They had one objective: grab loot and leave. They came armed as a precaution.
Riik signaled back to Koseph on dropship 2. “We’ve made a hole, proceeding with the mission. How does it look out there?”
Koseph radioed back as he was watching the absolute mess that was the battlefield. “We have several aircraft and troop contingents within visual and radar scope. None of them have come too close but I have the dropships’ turrets aimed at the vegetables if they come this direction. We should be able to hold out here long enough for you to grab some…” he paused “well, warning, it looks like some ships are touching down on part of the colony ship. I don’t know what they’re here for, but they are not friendlies. Tell your company to proceed with caution.”
Riik and his men heard the soft clangs from their position of the vessels touching down on the roof of the vessel. They were some length down from them but Riik acknowledged Koseph’s advice. He told his squad to proceed with caution, and weapons armed.

Colony Vessel Interior
It was about half an hour later, two hundred and eighty mercenaries now snaked through the crumpled and dislocated hallways of the colony ship. The rest of the company chose to stay on point guard outside.
Riik was investigating one of the water storage units with two Mallumans when he checked in on another Malluman Sergeant and her Haman lieutenant. “Jaksrya, come in, anything up there?”
“Not yet Sir” Jaksrya replied. She and the Haman named Rudloe were passing through a narrow hall almost too small for her broad shoulders about fifteen floors up from Riik. “The top levels suffered less damage, but they don’t seem well packed. We’ve only found trinkets, and nothing techwise that we can sell.”
“Roger that.” Riik said. “Howbout you Terk?”
Terk, another Ombroj, replied from five floors below “me and my crew found a hold with some nice computer processors. We can sell these to primitives and on the black market. I’m bringing what I can back up.
“Good, Roger.” Riik then contacted another Ombroj named Nurtkeg and a Haman named Ruggiero. Ruggiero was at a dead end and having his crew grab the wiring, while Nurtkeg had stumbled upon a fission waste container in the ship which he recommended extracting for the runoff elements.
As Riik organized his various teams, Jaksrya and Rudloe continued to move through the narrow halls. As they continue Rudloe froze. Jaksrya turned to her squadmate and with her eyes asked. He replied by nodding up. They could hear chatter. They realized they were underneath the dropships which had just landed.
Silently, Rudloe climbed up a ladder hatch near to the source of the noise, and peeping up the hole he could see figures who were clearly civilian. He slid back down to Jaksrya and said “survivors”.
She nodded and sent a text message to Riik which read:
“Survivors are on the upper levels, dropships are probably to pick them up. Proceed with caution.”

On Board the Nemo
Commander Dumaz and High Captain Triln were watching the incoming vessels on their bridge’s overhead screens. The system was becoming littered with various parties trying to claim the system, the lives of the other claimants, or something from the vessel as Nemo Company came to do. The privateers of Henry 5 were kind enough to allow them to take what they wished, but it seemed Dumaz and Triln had to aid in fleet combat.
“How should we proceed Threburn?” Dumaz asked. “We don’t have enough vessels on our own to go against these fleets. We need to coordinate.”
“Agreed” Triln nodded “I’ll patch in with Henry 5 and see where they need us.”
Triln ordered the bridge staff to patch a message toward Henry 5 station to ask for a stratagem.

[United Worlds of Alondra]

Syndicalists have been our friends at the first revolution against slavery...but after that revolution, they started to turn against us, and against our precious democracy, with the birth of more radical, more authoritarian forms of their ideals.

- Unknown Alondran Historian

---

In the air, leading the next wave of planes against the invading, intruding, and incoming forces of the foreign nations, and most of all, of the traitorous, and corrupt Alondran militaristic capitalists, was Captain Glauco Orellana, one of the only surviving top pilots of the Syndicalist forces who dared to stay in this system to challenge the Alondrans from their bases on this strange planet, especially with their victory against Alondran expansion with their latest colony ship, the one that just crashed into this world.

As he moved his plane down from above 5000 meters, towards a mass of naval light infantry, the ones that were supposed to be under the command of Major Mahthildis, at slow speed, just enough for a decent approach against ground targets, while his plane automatically locked on what it could see with its highly modified sensors and cameras. The plane quickly exposed two air to surface missiles, with high explosive warheads, and the pilot gave the command with a soft push with a finger, the missiles dropped, then their nose mounted sensors started to lock on the targets the plane told them to lock on via wireless, and finally they started flying towards their targets at speeds of Mach 3.3.

At the same time, the planes following behind his plane, two of them, added to his first attack on the ground with volleys of 20mm autocannon fire as well as the release of four similiar missiles along with the dropping of two 450 kilogram bombs on their heads.

And these planes, after conducting their attacks, immediately pulling up back into the sky, launching flares and other countermeasures to protect themselves from retaliatory fires.

On the other hand, exactly six other planes, the ones meant for air superiority, arrived, coming after any dropship or arriving ship from space, launching air to air missiles at them mercilessly before coming close enough to use their internal Gatling-style cannons to shoot them down if their missiles did not finish the job. Then, like their comrades, they fled into the safety of the sky, pushing their engines as hard as they could to get their planes to escape.

Meanwhile, on the ground, five whole companies of tanks, followed by ten companies of men riding their APCs, were advancing on the area, with extremely heavy fire support from artillery positioned at least 5 kilometers away from the area the Syndicalists were attacking. The artillery was firing from the southwest, while mortars, which were firing from a closer distance to the positions of the enemy.

---

The government forces landed close to the area instead of landing within; heavy enemy fire has forced them to do that, for they have lost so many of their own. At this time, reinforcements were requested desperately by the surviving UWA officers on board the ships as they vomited their understandably shocked cargo.

In answer, another wave of ships filled with troops and vehicles went out from their motherships, down into the waiting planet. To cover them, more fighters and bombers came out of the UWA carriers to keep the Olimpiadians busy, all as more and more UWA warships entered the system to improve the odds in favor of the UWA. At that time too, the UWA warships — the ones already approaching the enemy fleet — engaged the rest of their engines, pushing themselves faster, closer against the enemy, just as their weapons energized and began to engage.

It was also understandable for them to go for the enemy's ships — the ones capable of orbital bombardment. They didn't know which ones exactly, but they understood that without their fleet, the enemy's forces on the ground will be left without their most valuable fire support.

---

The storm came.

With it, a long series of howls, moans, and uncomfortable noises escaped the green clouds that either hugged the ground as a child would cling to their mother's skirt or embraced the sky as a distant cousin would hold on to their relative's letters.

And deep in the storm, hidden by the acid-filled raindrops or by the distance, the depth of the coming violence, there was a great crowd; a vast army of the dead and the dying. Unattached to their former wills, unaware of their lost hearts, all as one, they came.

Shambling, as shattered as they are now, they came.

[Olimpiada]

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
1024th Light Infantry Division, Legio IL Gaia

---

They watched the dropships fall from the skies, anxious the whole time. Porphyrius was insistent on trying to get anti-air coverage from the fleet, while the captains on the ground were holding fast and focusing their weapons on them, careful to not actually fire until the order was given. Tension in the air was palpable, like a string on the verge of snapping.

“Hold on, these aren’t Alondran craft.” Iovinus had accidentally spoken his realization aloud, and winced as soon as he had. However, he was right. The craft on an intercept toward their camp weren’t shaped like the falling dropships from the Alondran forces.

“You sure?” asked their captain, Pachomius.

“Positive. Not the right shape.” He was more certain now that he had actually taken a moment to do more thinking than aiming.

“Copy,” she replied. “Hold your fire, men.” They lowered their rifles, and watched with anticipation as the dropships landed. They touched down, opened up, and disgorged a number of tall machines which glowed with some unnatural energy. Immediately, each and every soldier raised their weapons once more.

“Greetings, Biotics-” The voice sounded in their helmets and heads simultaneously, causing many to shift with discomfort at the perceived invasion of privacy. “We come in peace to you and your charges. I am Lieutenant Yosia Trelli of the Eldenian Imperium’s Marialis’ Fists Legion. We have dropships available to begin taking the civilians to orbit, and are willing to assist in the defense of this area.” It pointed back at its dropships, as if the intent was not already obvious enough.

It was hard to tell what Captain Pachomius was thinking. Her faceplate was a matte jungle camouflage pattern, painted over with a roaring tiger, revealing nothing of the woman inside. She stood for a moment, rifle unwaveringly leveled at the interlopers.

She lowered it.

“Fine. You can take them. But if you actually care about their safety, the Alondrans don’t seem to have any qualms about bombing us. Theta-12 is overhead trying to take them on, but we really could use the assistance here.” As she spoke, the rest of the soldiers lowered their guns in turn, a collection of painted faceplates staring blankly at the xenos in their midst.

---

Staiunerth, Spiderweb
FWOS Arroyo Seco, Nautikos V Delphi

---

“Sir, there’s another thirty-five warships dropping into their main force.” Well, that did it. No chance of them wanting peace. “They’re advancing on us. Two hours until we’re in optimal range.” Definitely gone. Fuck ‘em.

“Move our advance wing of strike cruisers to intercept and destroy their strike craft, full burn.” It would be a long time before the obnoxious little bugs were in range of their main fleet, but it was worthwhile to keep them off of the planet. He reached over to a free floating glass tablet and made a few adjustments to the orbits of the ten strike cruisers with his fleet. They would be in a better position to intercept the enemy’s transport ships with their railgun and laser batteries well before they would reach the planet, this way.

Lastly, he tasked a pair of his escort craft with weather control, of all things. Wide dispersion red beams would be used to heat the upper atmosphere, increasing pressure on the storm below so as to disperse it and take heat off of the ground forces which operated below.