Elementary Imperialism (FT/Closed)

[Naretion]

The Aleandro drone began to buzz and make some strange sounds before speaking in it's usual robotic voice, seeming to switch languages as it spoke. This made a message pop up on the Minrozians' visual transmitter that alerted "Unknown language being spoken, accuracy of translation, unable to process. Lingual anomalies shall be marked off." and then the voice switched back to the Aleandro who was saying, "This is unsuspected...Processing....you are also from 'outside'. But are 'unknown' to 'be'. Processing....final question...Are you from 'above' or 'below'?" It asked, buzzing a bit more as if some form of feed was being transmitted to it. "And then, which 'above'...and which 'below'...in accordance to your answer?"

Rareonce, Naretion

Resoula had just told the AI what question to ask, being quite familiar already with how little anyone from this dimension seemed to understand their language. However he in all honestly just needed their reaction to the question to determine where they were from, in accordance to sectors of dimensions determined by the Weavers who had first discovered spaceflight. A system which was also taken up by the Tovunten as well, as they had previously lacked any from of interstellar organization. He smirked when Rageus and Käend walked in, each looking somewhat out of breath. "So how as your spar?" He asked them, "How does Käend's new angel perform in battle?"

Rageus opened his eyes wide open and collapsed onto the nearest place to sit. "I could never beat a RageWeaver without an angel Resoula. Now the RageWeaver gets an angel stronger than both of YOUR angels combined? Just kill me now." He said, exhaling.

Käend rolled his eyes, "First of all, I'm a DarkWeaver, I just have a slight amount of RageWeaver essence in me after activating that orb. Second of all, Resoula this is insane. Every RageWeaver must have one of these by now. So now we have a breed controlling daemons and angels? The only reason RageWeavers ever got daemons was because civil war was threatened at the proposal of letting them have any of the angels we already knew of."

Resoula nodded, "Should have expected it. DarkWeavers weren't even allowed angels a long time ago before even I lived, thats why they can control demons and imps in addition, and why AngelWeavers can still control all the excess angels."

Käend walked up to Resoula and stood right in front of him. "You are our leader. You need to share the equal power of this." He said. "You need some RageWeaver essence in you so that you can get one of these too. It is truly...amazing I am telling you, you must try this."

Resoula raised his eyebrows curiously, "I am a HalfWeaver, I was the thing that stopped the war between AngelWeavers and DarkWeavers. What would I be now if I indulged in RageWeaver essence?"

Käend shrugged, "The same as myself. I am nothing but a DarkWeaver. See, I was alive to see certain things occur before you, and when multiple Weaver races roamed this planet, groups of friends would share their essence with each other, to grant others powers beyond their own. If a now-extinct MistWeaver held onto some DarkWeaver essence? They'd simply gain the powers of a DarkWeaver, the MistWeaver would still be who they are. The main idea between sharing powers was originally to make one master race, just Weavers, beings that shared all powers, kind of as you would be if AngelWeavers and DarkWeavers were the only types in existence. It'd just be a standard lowered greatly." He said with a laugh. "I got my RageWeaver essence from an orb, I chose to amplify it a bit rather than let it sit quietly, which is why my wings have the glowing cracks of red. I can share with you a small amount if you wish. You will then gain A RageWeaver's angel, and the powers of a RageWeaver." Käend said, putting his pointer finger in the air as a small amount of red essence floated around it. "Interested?" He asked.

[The Fedral Union]

TAS New York SSC-02

Capitan Hastings had been waiting for about two and a half hours, yet there was no reply from the other party on the message they had scent, this was rather concerning. Long range scanners had recorded the movements of the fleets in the area, this was even more disconcerting. The CIC was silent of all but the blips and beeps of consoles, the ambient white light emphasized the black and gold uniforms of the officers at their stations, hastings himself gazed to the central holomap, it was giving a live feed of fleet movements, both allied and unknown. The New Yorks avatar appeared in a shimmer to the right side of the command chair Hastings was sunk in, the captain looked over to AI and furrowed a brow sensing in his gut by the look of the avatar that something had come up, indeed he was right more than ever. The Avatar spoke with a cool nonchalant tone.

“Capitan hastings, I'm receiving a message from fleet command and the state department, I'm patching it through to command officers digital telepathy links now..”

It took but a second before Hastings began to flip through the texts of orders downloaded in to his mind, he placed a hand to his chin and then gave a sharp exhale before sitting up in his chair placing his arms upon the armrests. In essence, the Alliance due to detecting the usage of what it considered weapons of mass destruction combined with the wanton imperialistic nature of these events has decided to commit it self to an armed assault to oust the elementals from republic space and if need be drive them back to their systems, the idea of an armed conflict did not sit well with him he like most Terrans wanted to avoid conflict as much as the next man, but orders were orders and there was a clear and present danger that the nation faced if such deeds were to go unchecked in the area. Blue silhouettes began to appear around the cluster of Terran ships, they were more Terran vessels. From destroyers, to frigates, to command cruisers, what ever could be mustered from patrol and what ever could be deployed from local fleet stations were starting to filter in to this rally point. Eventually there would be up to one hundred and twenty ships deployed on this mission, hopefully enough to push back the marauding invaders and restore order or at least make a point.

Hastings called out his order to every man woman and sapient in the slowly forming fleet.

“All hands this is the captain of the TAS New York and commander and chief of task, force enigma, we've received new orders from fleet command instructing that we press an assault in to the terminal system and remove the elemental presence I cannot underline how important our mission is here they cannot be allowed to hold that system it is too close to vital routes for our shipping and it could be used as a base to strike our colonial assets in the neighboring sector. I don't know whats gotten in to these peoples minds or if they've gone mad but all I do know is that our mission now holds such an importance to the start of a grater operation of liberation that we cannot fail. With that, all hands prepare to jump in to Terminal system space and man general quarters.”

With his final words the CIC of the room went slightly darker klaxons and alarms rang for a bit to get crew to their stations, consoles lit up with contrast to allow for better viewing, power was transferred to the ships defense fields and weapon systems and the high pitched electrical wining of the hyper drive engines could be heard echoing through the ship. Hastings placed his hands on his lap folding them upon it, he sunk back in to his chair, the formed fleet began to one by one poof out of normal space particle baths around their hulls showing a colorful aura like outline that lasted like many times before for a split second around the ships leaving behind a mere snapshot of what was once there before dissipating in to utter nothingness.

Terminal system space mid system area.

Local sensors and Elemental scanners would pick up the Terran ships as group after group jumped through hyper space popping back in to existence high energy waves of EM energy discharging in to space making loud “splashes” upon any scanners in the area, the formation was a standard assault wing with each fleet ship able to cover their comrades flanks, command cruisers lead the center the New York was at the spear tip of the fleet. The Terran fleet while small in comparison to the other fleets by other powers being deployed was by far no less dangerous and it would be obvious from this encounter. The ships didn't slow to a crawl as they usually did but began a pattern of random maneuvers but the fleet elements always stayed together. The entire fleet was not present, as a hundred and twenty ships took time to get ready, a sum of that was only deployed so far and others slowly filtered in with time, but they went in with what they had enough to start the point of the battle.

Panels along the hulls of the ships opened as turrets popped up , the once sleek ships were now bristling with well placed weapon emplacements, while part of the primary armament of the Terran ships , their missiles remained hidden behind the armored silo doors they were housed in. The ships had taken care to appear at least three light seconds away from any contact in the system,frigates split off from flanks of the fleet seemingly starting to run random walking gauntlets in a spherical pattern around the core fleet elements by doing this they randomized where they moved or accelerated towards hopefully confusing the enemy.


Hastings gazed over the hologlobe in the main CIC of his ship, he stood from his chair his eyes averting from his own fleets silhouettes to detailed scans of any enemy formations if they were any, and if their high powered sensor beams could penetrate their shielding. He looked over to the Avatar who was without delay starting to manage the battle sequence.

“All ships are locking up any targets we could find, I'm ordering the command cruisers Lexington , Ranger, Wasp leading destroyer groups and frigate groups five through twelve and three through fifteen to begin movements along the flanks of what ships we can find, core group one will begin an assault on the primary cluster of their defensive lines, and us and core group two will flank from the top and bottom. Core group three will stay in reserve..”

With those words the plan was set in motion of course it would be subject to change if need be but the primary objectives were clear, the ships of the Terran fleet began to use their powerful sensors to lock up any and all elemental and hostile ships, the core groups targeted the larger and more powerful ones, and the ships assigned to their tasks began to move post haste using their powerful gravatic engines to swiftly move in to striking positions as quickly as they could. Arrays and turrets charged to fire, missile doors opened tension filled the air. The crew was tense, men women drones and other sapients manned their stations waiting for the final moment where thins would start. Talk amongst the crew slowed down to mere whispers in their digital telepathy links, they all knew they had to expect causalities and losses and facts that some of their shipmates and friends weren't coming back. Drones deployed by the fleet began to use their powerful sensors boosted by the ships sensors to blind selected targets and to gain as much data about the fleet positions in the area as possible.

Sweat was beading upon Hastings forehead as he watched everything unfold , they wouldn't give them a second to think about what just happened, he gave as nod to the avatar who then ordered the ships to open fire. Any useful orbital infrastructure that wasn't civilian related or under the control of republican forces were fired upon in the first wave of missiles as much as any of the elemental ships in the area were fired on. Lunging out of missile tubes RKM,s Point singularity missiles and high yield anti matter missiles maneuvered and crisscrossed their con trails of hot gravaticly contained plasma exhaust lighting up the darkness of space where they went, the large wave of combined missile strikes was supplemented by a second simultaneous , followed by arcing white hot and dark blue gamma ray laser and displacer beams. The Terran fleet had come in shooting the ships advanced as they fired only halting at a certain distance at least one and a half light seconds before they split off in to random patterns, beams of energy weapons lanced through the night sky slower missiles followed behind....

The battle had begun.

(OOC CW I hope this wasn't too much, I did want to get in to the action quickly please tell me if you have no forces in the system you never made it clear.. otherwise I'll change it to another system I'm not looking to dog pile here just a piece of action, I think my government has IC justification, anyway threads moving quicker than I thought so here it is lets make this a hell of a show! As things progress I intend to add more characters on my ships and such.)

[Sszthul]

Cyinthael sat aboard his warship in the Ilix'ith System, carefully reading reports of the countless raiding operations they had going on, in addition to the forces they had sent to the conflict in the Alpha Quadrant. It was a calming experience, especially after their contact with that strange being in this very system. The encounter had shocked the mind flayer, showing that the galaxy still held beings who could put them into check, for now. The raids had been plentiful, many slaves had been attained and technology acquired; it wasn't anything special to them, but it was useful, if reduced to its basic elements or given as prizes to their thralls. His attention was distracted, however, when the light shifted, the elder brain indicating that his Thrall, Brooks, wished to speak with him. He gave his mute assent and watched as the psionic image of the man kneeling came before him.

The psionic links were capable of much, linking between the elder brains throughout the empire to bring them together, however the distance between them made the connection slightly patchy and hard to make out. There was a slight delay in the noise coming from Brooks communication center, amongst other things.

'Greetings, my Thrall. I assume you are updating me on the operation?'

He nodded his head, remaining kneeling but speaking. "Yes, although I have more bad news; the situation at Republica Galactica has become far worse than we previously anticipated."

Cyinthael was silent for a moment before waving a hand. Brooks continued speaking.

"After the meeting on Ilix'ith, we detected movements from other powers. The Coalition has moved a force outside Galactica space, a force known as the Terran Alliance also began to move ships towards Terminal, intent on halting the Coredian advance. These we planned for and continued to watch, as we gather our forces. However, the situation escalated when an unknown empire deployed a fleet ranging in over five thousand vessels in the Gamma Quadrant."

Garth fell silent, which Cyinthael appreciated as he needed a moment to center himself. Five thousand vessels, all focused on the Gamma Quadrant and most likely the fight going on in Galactica. The only way this made sense would be a power trying to expand from outside Gamma, and intending on carving out a large chunk for itself. This was something they could not ignore, and something they could not merely strike from the shadows against. As much as he loathed it, the illithid would need to make a strong play, ensuring that they got what they wanted and kept the playing field restricted to the ones already in play.

'Continue.'

Brooks took a breath, having been nervous about his Lord's long silence, and resumed talking. "It appears to have mostly stopped at the entry point, with over one thousand vessels moving towards Galactica. The situation deteriorates further here, as we detected a wave of many FTL missiles being deployed at the fleet, dealing heavy damage. All told, they lost forty-nine percent of the thousand ship force. We are unsure of who deployed them, but the location indicates the Republic or the Coredians, and considering how easily they repulsed the Republic counter attack, I believe it was the Coredians. This does give us a bright point, as it shows the force that deployed the invasion force are using vessels that are not exactly very powerful.

Finally, Alliance forces have finally taken the plunge and engaged Coredian forces at Terminal. It's a smaller force, but we are seeing a direct challenge to their movements. So, we have war between two powers already and a massive invasion force that is somewhat blunted in play. What is your will, milord?"

Cyinthael leaned back into his throne, thinking very carefully of what to do. The situation had changed dramatically; Terminal was a battleground between the Coredians and another power, which should slow their expansion down, if it didn't manage to kill the effort entirely. And the other powers had to have noticed the large force that had come to their area of space, and they were not going to be very keen on having such a large, hostile force. They could be rallied, perhaps, to deal with it. However, the situation was clear: they were going to put a full force of effort behind this; they could not entertain this game behind a mask.

'Your orders are thus: finish gathering the fleet that is being sent to your command, but it shall be doubled, and you will no longer be in command, for I shall be arriving with my forces to take over. The situation requires a direct hand at the reins; the gloves are off.'

Brooks looked up, shocked, but quickly bowed his head. "I-Of course, milord. As you will. I shall prepare for your arrival."

'See that you do and keep in contact with our spies; we need as much information as possible on this situation.'

The channel closed and Cyinthael reached out towards the planet; another meeting would need to be called about this, but he already knew the result. If left unchecked, Coredia would grow strong or another power would enter the game, and both of those outcomes were unacceptable.

*******

Terminal, Republica Galactica

A man sets down the comlink, easing himself away from a complicated set of machinery and presses a button, causing it to vanish into a wall and be replaced by the previous wall of various items and decor that was his home. 'Manny' was a merchant of antiques and used wares, selling to those who needed or wanted them and buying such items off people in turn. No one was suspect of this man who came out of the blue to Terminal, seeking a new life, not knowing that he was one of many agents of the Empire, embedding themselves in Galactica and keeping an eye on their neighbors. As events progressed on Terminal, they would be relayed eventually back to the ears of those most keen on altering the course of this expansion...

[Minroz]

-snip-

Looking over at the console screens that said "Unknown language being spoken, accuracy of translation, unable to process. Lingual anomalies shall be marked off.", Rulung is bit worried about the possibility of cultural miscommunication. He doesn’t want to provoke war between his Empire and this mysterious species. But the later question is very confusing.

“To be honest, I do not know the answer for that question,” Rulung admitted “All I know we’re from the another dimension with its own Milky Way system,”

Meanwhile at Murong’s flagship, the Fleet commander is not pleased with the recent news from Captain Yunnan’s fleet.

“What! 49% of his Fleet lost, this is outrageous,” he barks “Fine, fulfil his request, send in five-hundred ships to joined with his fleet,”
“Yes sir,” the Operator affirms
“Gods,” Murong massage his temples “Who dared challenges the might of the Empire in this system,” he wonder. The five-hundred Minrozian warships left the main group to joined up with Yunnan’s fleet as they’ve slowly entered the territory of the Galactica Republica. However the Admiral changes his mind and yet orders another set of two-hundred fifty warships to assists Yunnan’s forces. Murong wants to make sure and understand what kind the enemy the Minrozians are facing, he doesn’t want to send in the invasion force until he determines it’s all clear.

-snip-

“Sir, we’ve reported signs of the Terran Alliance entering Terminal System, Republica Galactica, engaging the unknown enemy,” the operator announces

“Terrans,” Murong said, intrigued by the revelation “What are they doing here? They are our allies, are they not? I failed to see what’s wrong with it,”

“Well sir, we can observe this unknown enemy for Intel reasons, so we can relay information to the rest of the expedition to prevent another disaster,”

“Very well, keep them posted,” the fleet commander hums in understanding “We’ll contact with them if they’re not busy in the battles they are conducting right now,”

[CoreWorlds]

TAS New York SSC-02

Capitan Hastings had been waiting for about two and a half hours, yet there was no reply from the other party on the message they had scent, this was rather concerning. Long range scanners had recorded the movements of the fleets in the area, this was even more disconcerting. The CIC was silent of all but the blips and beeps of consoles, the ambient white light emphasized the black and gold uniforms of the officers at their stations, hastings himself gazed to the central holomap, it was giving a live feed of fleet movements, both allied and unknown. The New Yorks avatar appeared in a shimmer to the right side of the command chair Hastings was sunk in, the captain looked over to AI and furrowed a brow sensing in his gut by the look of the avatar that something had come up, indeed he was right more than ever. The Avatar spoke with a cool nonchalant tone.

“Capitan hastings, I'm receiving a message from fleet command and the state department, I'm patching it through to command officers digital telepathy links now..”

It took but a second before Hastings began to flip through the texts of orders downloaded in to his mind, he placed a hand to his chin and then gave a sharp exhale before sitting up in his chair placing his arms upon the armrests. In essence, the Alliance due to detecting the usage of what it considered weapons of mass destruction combined with the wanton imperialistic nature of these events has decided to commit it self to an armed assault to oust the elementals from republic space and if need be drive them back to their systems, the idea of an armed conflict did not sit well with him he like most Terrans wanted to avoid conflict as much as the next man, but orders were orders and there was a clear and present danger that the nation faced if such deeds were to go unchecked in the area. Blue silhouettes began to appear around the cluster of Terran ships, they were more Terran vessels. From destroyers, to frigates, to command cruisers, what ever could be mustered from patrol and what ever could be deployed from local fleet stations were starting to filter in to this rally point. Eventually there would be up to one hundred and twenty ships deployed on this mission, hopefully enough to push back the marauding invaders and restore order or at least make a point.

Hastings called out his order to every man woman and sapient in the slowly forming fleet.

“All hands this is the captain of the TAS New York and commander and chief of task, force enigma, we've received new orders from fleet command instructing that we press an assault in to the terminal system and remove the elemental presence I cannot underline how important our mission is here they cannot be allowed to hold that system it is too close to vital routes for our shipping and it could be used as a base to strike our colonial assets in the neighboring sector. I don't know whats gotten in to these peoples minds or if they've gone mad but all I do know is that our mission now holds such an importance to the start of a grater operation of liberation that we cannot fail. With that, all hands prepare to jump in to Terminal system space and man general quarters.”

With his final words the CIC of the room went slightly darker klaxons and alarms rang for a bit to get crew to their stations, consoles lit up with contrast to allow for better viewing, power was transferred to the ships defense fields and weapon systems and the high pitched electrical wining of the hyper drive engines could be heard echoing through the ship. Hastings placed his hands on his lap folding them upon it, he sunk back in to his chair, the formed fleet began to one by one poof out of normal space particle baths around their hulls showing a colorful aura like outline that lasted like many times before for a split second around the ships leaving behind a mere snapshot of what was once there before dissipating in to utter nothingness.

Terminal system space mid system area.

Local sensors and Elemental scanners would pick up the Terran ships as group after group jumped through hyper space popping back in to existence high energy waves of EM energy discharging in to space making loud “splashes” upon any scanners in the area, the formation was a standard assault wing with each fleet ship able to cover their comrades flanks, command cruisers lead the center the New York was at the spear tip of the fleet. The Terran fleet while small in comparison to the other fleets by other powers being deployed was by far no less dangerous and it would be obvious from this encounter. The ships didn't slow to a crawl as they usually did but began a pattern of random maneuvers but the fleet elements always stayed together. The entire fleet was not present, as a hundred and twenty ships took time to get ready, a sum of that was only deployed so far and others slowly filtered in with time, but they went in with what they had enough to start the point of the battle.

Panels along the hulls of the ships opened as turrets popped up , the once sleek ships were now bristling with well placed weapon emplacements, while part of the primary armament of the Terran ships , their missiles remained hidden behind the armored silo doors they were housed in. The ships had taken care to appear at least three light seconds away from any contact in the system,frigates split off from flanks of the fleet seemingly starting to run random walking gauntlets in a spherical pattern around the core fleet elements by doing this they randomized where they moved or accelerated towards hopefully confusing the enemy.


Hastings gazed over the hologlobe in the main CIC of his ship, he stood from his chair his eyes averting from his own fleets silhouettes to detailed scans of any enemy formations if they were any, and if their high powered sensor beams could penetrate their shielding. He looked over to the Avatar who was without delay starting to manage the battle sequence.

“All ships are locking up any targets we could find, I'm ordering the command cruisers Lexington , Ranger, Wasp leading destroyer groups and frigate groups five through twelve and three through fifteen to begin movements along the flanks of what ships we can find, core group one will begin an assault on the primary cluster of their defensive lines, and us and core group two will flank from the top and bottom. Core group three will stay in reserve..”

With those words the plan was set in motion of course it would be subject to change if need be but the primary objectives were clear, the ships of the Terran fleet began to use their powerful sensors to lock up any and all elemental and hostile ships, the core groups targeted the larger and more powerful ones, and the ships assigned to their tasks began to move post haste using their powerful gravatic engines to swiftly move in to striking positions as quickly as they could. Arrays and turrets charged to fire, missile doors opened tension filled the air. The crew was tense, men women drones and other sapients manned their stations waiting for the final moment where thins would start. Talk amongst the crew slowed down to mere whispers in their digital telepathy links, they all knew they had to expect causalities and losses and facts that some of their shipmates and friends weren't coming back. Drones deployed by the fleet began to use their powerful sensors boosted by the ships sensors to blind selected targets and to gain as much data about the fleet positions in the area as possible.

Sweat was beading upon Hastings forehead as he watched everything unfold , they wouldn't give them a second to think about what just happened, he gave as nod to the avatar who then ordered the ships to open fire. Any useful orbital infrastructure that wasn't civilian related or under the control of republican forces were fired upon in the first wave of missiles as much as any of the elemental ships in the area were fired on. Lunging out of missile tubes RKM,s Point singularity missiles and high yield anti matter missiles maneuvered and crisscrossed their con trails of hot gravaticly contained plasma exhaust lighting up the darkness of space where they went, the large wave of combined missile strikes was supplemented by a second simultaneous , followed by arcing white hot and dark blue gamma ray laser and displacer beams. The Terran fleet had come in shooting the ships advanced as they fired only halting at a certain distance at least one and a half light seconds before they split off in to random patterns, beams of energy weapons lanced through the night sky slower missiles followed behind....

The battle had begun.

(OOC CW I hope this wasn't too much, I did want to get in to the action quickly please tell me if you have no forces in the system you never made it clear.. otherwise I'll change it to another system I'm not looking to dog pile here just a piece of action, I think my government has IC justification, anyway threads moving quicker than I thought so here it is lets make this a hell of a show! As things progress I intend to add more characters on my ships and such.)

Terminal

The Battlecruiser Judgement hovered in orbit over the planet Terminal when its sensors detected a hyperspatial incursion into realspace by what appears to be a rather large and menacing fleet. The Judgement's current commander, Ryo Yanagi was just entering the bridge to hear the sitreps when the enemy fleet opened fire.

"The hell?!" He yelled as the ship rumbled slightly, green hexagons flaring to life to absorb and redirect the enemy fire into the dimensions beyond. "Sitrep!"

"Sitrep incoming." Intoned the voice of the Navigator, the Cybernetics Corps member who functions as the ship's living AI. In fact, one could say that the Navigator is the ship, being in touch with all its aspects, including sensors and firing controls. "Sitrep complete. It is the United Terran Alliance. About eighty...no...one hundred and twenty ships of the UTA, of frigate, cruiser, destroyer and command cruiser classes. They are firing disruptor weaponry, antimatter torpedoes, gamma ray projection weaponry and singularity weaponry. They are also using drones. They are approaching quickly in a type of spear formation. I also believe I may have detected the flagship of this fleet at the tip of the spear."

"Antimatter and singularity weapons this close to a planet? Are they crazy?" The Lieutenant asked, almost rhetorically before shaking his head. "Never mind. Point-defense phase guns are to engage the missiles and drones. Main Phase Cannons, Skipper Missiles and Quantum Torpedoes are to engage the cruisers and destroyers. Deploy the Creation Cannons target the command cruisers, priority target to be the flagship. Also, initiate Option Theta. We won't be able to take this fleet down ourselves -it's too many for even the Judgement to handle- but calling in the Crossell Battlegroup should make them think twice about messing with the Elemental Nations. Engage at will, Navigator!"

"Engaging..." The Navigator intoned...

---

The space around the Judgement glowed bright green, with the occasional yellow and orange as the enemy fleet advanced upon it, the Spacetime Displacement Shields working like a charm to absorb, deflect, reflect, and shunt the incoming firepower into alternate dimensions (annoying the eldritch abominations in those dimensions). But it would only be a matter of time before shield segments started to glow red, unable to take such punishment from an entire fleet forever.

But it's moments like these where the Elemental Nations' Naval forces really shine. The Judgement seemed to fall silent for an eerie moment...and then it unleashed the full firepower of a fully armed and operational battlecruiser.

Thin red beams stabbed out for the enemy missile weaponry and drones, slicing them apart before they got too close for comfort. They were quickly followed up by a massive wave of blue-white spears as the Phase Cannons targeted the enemy's smaller ships, followed closely by small blue and white stars that slipped under the surface of reality and popped back up to detonate in a wave of devastating shipkilling firepower.

As for the larger ships...that's what the main Creation Cannons were for. Targeting the flagship and a secondary and tertiary command cruiser, the forward Creation Cannons warmed up, absorbing energy from the very vacuum of space itself...and let loose massive ten-second-long streams blue energy wider than frigates that were powerful enough to core a dreadnought or even battlestation.

As an aside, such power was contained in the main cannons that only the Cruisers, Battlecruisers, Battleships/Carriers and Dreadnoughts of the Elemental Nations could unleash them without blowing themselves up...

For visual reference, the Phase Cannons are the smaller blue beams while the Creation Cannon is the big beam

But even one ship can't kill a whole fleet, even if it can bloody it. So within moments of the Judgement engaging, a series of what appears to be shining white lights appeared to surround the enemy fleet, resolving themselves into the Elicoorian battleship Crossel and her battlegroup, a fifty-ship strong force that was one of the three battlegroups of the Secret Corps assigned to the Republica Galactica Theater. The Crossel, named after the powerful 1200 year old dragon Marquis Crossel of the Urssa Lava City on Elicoor, was actually a Katana-class Battlecruiser, but had its own design changes that reflected its owners, not to mention gold-brass paint that made it shine like a golden sun.

The battlegroup, consisting of a mixed bag of Cruisers, Destroyers, and Battlecruisers, formed up a classic claw pincer formation to create a deadly crossfire between them and opened fire with everything they had, which were the weapons seen above, plus something a little extra: Runological Cannons, cannons that utilize Elicoorian symbological technology, known as runology to the locals, to deliver nasty packets of runological weaponry to the enemy, everything from plasma fireballs and shield-wrecking lightning bolts to dark spheres that consumed whatever they touched, to devastating laser beams that crisscrossed the black sky in bursts of colorful light. It was a magical menagerie that slashed into the ranks of the UTA...

And finally, three Naginata-class stealth destroyers, the ninja escorts of the Judgement that hail from the Stealth Corps, slipped underneath the reality as we know it like gigantic sharks using their Eldritch Cloaks, and picked off wounded prey with volleys of stealthy Quantum Torpedoes, leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake...and all they left was a very quiet, very tiny signature, easily lost in the chaos and din of battle, marking their dark presences.

(OOC: Think submarines, but in SPAAACE! )

---

Captain Yunnan’s fleet
“Sir! We have incoming missiles coming from everywhere targeting our fleets!” the operator shouts looking bewildered

“WHAT!” Captain Yunnan hollers “What’re you waiting for?…shields up!” earning Yes sir as a reply. Too late, the warships that’re not within the group did not have time to react, getting hit by the missiles; the fleet witnesses the sheer whiteness of the explosions, much to Yunnan’s horror. Thankfully some of the ships have time to use their shields deflecting the enemy missiles rendering their explosions useless; about 49% of the fleet have been destroyed.

“By the gods, whoever this enemy is? We should not underestimate them, they’re like Omaskans, and I don’t think they’re Republicans,” the fleet commander utters “Call for reinforcements from the main fleet!”

“Affirmative, my lord,” the operator affirms as he’s hailing the main fleet. Meanwhile Captain Yunnan is pondering about the enemy.

“Hmph! You think your flashy missiles can destroy our forces, fat chance,” he growls “Our faith in God will not be wavered by such pitiful attacks, you will destroy our fleet. But two more will take our place, if not four more will take our place,” he knows he has to eliminate this mysterious enemy; otherwise the planetary invasion is useless.

It was then that the Minrozians detected another threat: dozens of Republican star cruisers, destroyers and escorts that lept out of hyperspace to surround them, commanded by an admiral who happened to be a Paladin aboard a Republic battleship. They immediately took one look at the enemy forces and opened fire, throwing volley after volley of turbolaser and ion cannon fire at the enemy, followed by concussion missiles, proton torpedoes, and the alphabet soup of starfighters that made up the Republic's Starfighter Corps. They were strong forces, to be sure, but would it be enough to save the Republic from their enemies? Only time...and the Light...will tell...

Battlecruiser Aquaelie, just outside the Denton System

"Commodore Kenni. We have decimated 49% of the enemy forces so far, and the local Republican forces have begun engaging them." The Commodore's Executive Officer, a Fellpool named Jason, spoke as he received the reports from the bridge crew and digested it in a form easily given to the Commodore.

"Good. Our enemies will be occupied for some time, then." Commodore Kenni smiled nastily. "We'll engage with our forces once our enemies are exhausted in this theater. That reminds me...have we found that main force of the Minrozians yet?"

"Well, sir, the Stealth Destroyer Netherworld reports that it's tracking a very large force just outside the Republic's space. It's believed to be the main Minrozian force, but it will report back to us within the hour."

"Very well, Jason. Keep me updated, then, for this planet must be ours by the end of the week. We do have a schedule to keep, after all."

"Sir, yes sir. Popcorn, sir? The crew are even taking bets on the outcome of this fight."

"I'll pass on the bet. It's clear that the Minrozians have the numbers in this fight, but thank you for the popcorn." The Commodore grinned as he took the bag from his subordinate's hand and devoured a handful. "Still, it appears that their numbers mean little in the face of our own firepower. It'll be all over but the fireworks, believe you me."

---

Meanwhile at Murong’s flagship, the Fleet commander is not pleased with the recent news from Captain Yunnan’s fleet.

“What! 49% of his Fleet lost, this is outrageous,” he barks “Fine, fulfil his request, send in five-hundred ships to joined with his fleet,”
“Yes sir,” the Operator affirms
“Gods,” Murong massage his temples “Who dared challenges the might of the Empire in this system,” he wonder. The five-hundred Minrozian warships left the main group to joined up with Yunnan’s fleet as they’ve slowly entered the territory of the Galactica Republica. However the Admiral changes his mind and yet orders another set of two-hundred fifty warships to assists Yunnan’s forces. Murong wants to make sure and understand what kind the enemy the Minrozians are facing, he doesn’t want to send in the invasion force until he determines it’s all clear.

Stealth Destroyer Netherworld

Little did the main fleet of the Minrozians know that something was quietly tracking them. Something that slipped underneath the three-dimensional reality as we know it into the weirder and eldritch horror-filled dimensions of Subspace, protected from all but the most exotic of sensors by an Eldritch Cloak, a special cloak that mimicked an eldritch abomination's ability to slip between dimensions to attack helpless planets (and annoy people with cold calls at odd hours to hawk their ichor-filled wares). Developed as a result of the Eldritch War 250 years ago, it is the cornerstone of the Stealth Corps' nature as a silent and deadly force, capable of sneaking right into an enemy's most heavily defended areas, destroying their target, and leaving silently without anyone noticing.

Ninjas are like that.

The Commander of the Netherworld wasn't even remotely human. Kthulu was, instead, a Cthulhoid, a race of beings with a squid's head and tentacles for a head, a dragon's body and wings, and claws like a lobster. A member of the Eldritch Races that were forced to bend the knee (or tentacles or abdomen) after the Eldritch War, Kthulu took pride in his command over humans and allied races. It allowed him to lord it over them without having to eat them. Not that he liked the latter part, but the Treaty of Ise laid out very specific rules about what is allowed and what is not allowed if the Eldritch Races are to interact with the races of this dimension.

Still, needs must when the victor vanquishes the loser...

"Commander. The enemy force is breaking off. I think they're heading towards Denton. Seven hundred and fifty ships in total." A crewmember spoke.

The Commander gave a curt nod, his tentacles wiggling slighty in the affirmative. He then spoke in an incomprehensible, grating tongue that was nevertheless somehow comprehensible to the Elemental Nations' citizens. Logical paradoxes are a staple when near an Eldritch Race member. "Very well. Comms, alert Aquaelie that the enemy is sending reinforcements to Denton, and don't forget to note the numbers. And please inform me when the Netherworld can strike at will! I have had the enemy's main ships in my sights for the last half hour! I don't want to lose it!"

"Yes, Commander!" A tiny data packet was packed into a message torpedo with the notice and query. It was then shot off towards the Aquaelie. It was the only way (besides the Eldritch sensors, which bathed the bridge in an eerie green monochrome light) for a ship under Eldritch Cloak to communicate with three-dimensional space, as all known communications would get eaten or lost (sometimes both) in the weird negative dimensions of Subspace.

About half an hour later, a message torpedo came back. It was short and to the point.

Code: Select all

Message acknowledged. Engage at will. Good hunting, Commander.

The Commander looked rather pleased with himself. His tentacles quivered with excitement as he rounded himself and pointed dramatically at one of his crew. "Very well. Firing Command. Load tubes one through sixteen! Mark your targets! Four torpedoes for the flagship. Two for each of the major battleships. Then we'll evade and strike again while the chaos is good!"

"Loading tubes one through sixteen, aye! Marking targets! Four torpedoes for the flagship. Two for each of the major battleships."

The Commander took one last look at the targeting screen, ensuring that everything is as it should be. "Prepare to fire on my mark..."

Three tentacles were raised in the air. "Three..."

One tentacle went down. "Two..."

A second one went down. "One..."

And then... "Fire and begin evasive action!"

A slight shudder resounded throughout the ship as the torpedoes were launched. They sped towards the enemy like racing barracuda, scattering the minor horrors in their way. As the Commander clenched his fist in anticipation, the ship began to...well, not quite move, but there was a forward sensation that was like moving, but not quite. Moving in directions that no man could naturally detect is weeeeird! But to the Commander, it was just like taking a step to the left.

As the ship moved to evade any response (not that it was likely unless one had some kind of dimensional weapon that could penetrate through the sub-realities), its sensors watched as the torpedoes sped for the enemy.

At about one light-second from their targets, the torpedoes broke through into three-dimensional space, computed the last measures to be taken before it struck, and then with what looks like a silent grin on their warheads, the torpedoes entered terminal velocity, aiming for their targets while evading any return fire.

And then...

[Naretion]

Looking over at the console screens that said "Unknown language being spoken, accuracy of translation, unable to process. Lingual anomalies shall be marked off.", Rulung is bit worried about the possibility of cultural miscommunication. He doesn’t want to provoke war between his Empire and this mysterious species. But the later question is very confusing.

“To be honest, I do not know the answer for that question,” Rulung admitted “All I know we’re from the another dimension with its own Milky Way system,”

The Aleandro drone buzzed some more and it's red light flashed a few times before re-stabilizing. "Finalization......Encounter, peaceful. Determination......Newly discovered nation hails from inside, however, also more advanced than most nations inside in terms of space-flight. Processing....encounter complete. If wishing further contact, proceed to 93:173 in the Beta system. Wohstalle shall speak to you there if needed." The drone said, and after it finished the transmission was cut off. Then seconds after the drone seemed to fade from view as it opened the portal in it's ship, getting sucked into StillSpace as it made it's way back to it's original target, a collection of asteroids, to resume it's mining duties.

OOC:Blah, short post.

[New Dornalia]

OOC: Apologies for a possibly quick and dirty post....gah, Admin Law.

IC:

Even as the shenanigans around the Republic had begun to catch fire and grow into something bigger, for the Dornalians, things were admittedly a bit more quiet. This was of course, because the Expeditionary Force had a bit of a road to go--despite being close neighbors, the Gamma Quadrant was somewhat new to the Dornalians and given the way Dornalian Navigators could occasionally stumble and the way Supreme Commander Wachowski wanted to minimize the Expeditionary Force's chances of being detected, it was a bit of slow going.

Still, they approached Coredian space, a big lumbering wagon train and all. Besides, Gracie-MacArthur had taken the time to travel to monitor news feeds and whatnot to plan ahead. Likely, given the shenanigans in the Republican area, the Dornies would be facing down a multitude of local opponents soon enough. That was fine with them, it would give the Dornies a chance to feel out the locals, and perhaps see what sort of people they were going up against. A big movement like theirs was enough to make some sort of attention grabber. What would also be fine with them was the possibility of being sent to face the Nova Imperials next door. They were reputed to be a tough enemy of sorts. But as Gracie, safe in her Newport, RI base and transmitting to command her fleet, calculated the odds, the odds looked good for any Dornalian. Besides, worse coming to worse, Dornalians never did play by anyone's odds or anyone's rules easily.

So, as they appeared near Coredian space, the Texas-drawl-speaking AI commander hailed Coredian command with a simple message.

"To whom it may concern--

We have arrived. Transmitting fleet authentication and requestin' directions as to where to park."

[Minroz]

The enemy torpedoes suddenly exploded, without even hitting the targets, unlike Yunnan’s fleet, what happen is certain Imperial ships of the main fleet had certain in-built devices allowing them to emit signals to make any missiles or torpedoes to explode at certain radius. Proven useful when the Minrozians fought the Omaskans who depended on missile barrages but not lasers and mass-accelerated cannons, the devices are designed to prevent missiles from reaching its targets and not to mention depending on the ship’s power. All happens as the result of the national modernisation programs of the military.

“What the hell happen, Status Report?” Murong exclaims

“My lord, it’s a small barrage of torpedoes targeting us, luckily they’ve exploded thanks to our counter-signal technology,” the operator announces, reading from the charts “However they’re fired from another dimension, sir,”

“Is that so,” the admiral grunts “is it the Xorans,”

“No sir,” the operator responds “But radars indicate they’re of unknown forces,”
Murong massage his temples angrily “Well, it seems these cowards wanted to fight us so badly…fine!” he stood up and orders “Mobilize the whole force shall move to invade the nation of Republica Galactica but leave one thousand ships to under command of Admiral Ma Rulung. We’re going in!”

“Yes, my lord” the operators affirms before relaying their commander orders

“hmm, whoever you are, you going to regret crossing me, the Admiral of the Glorious Imperial Navy!” Murong seethes

Ma Rulung

Having finished registered the address for further contacts with Naretion, the admiral is glad to avoid further incidents with foreign powers. Still, he has orders from high command to subjugate nations of Republica Galactica and Imperium of Novus Hominis, just like Murong Han. Though, it’s interesting to meet foreigners whom may be potential allies, just like the Minrozians with the United Terran Alliance at first contact. But he will report it later once he finished figuring what happen and where the missile torpedoes come from.

He got a transmission coming from his friend Han “So you’re going in,” Rulung asks quizzily
“Indeed, these cowards had show themselves up, I’m going to leave you of my thousand ships and wait for reinforcements from the Home Galaxy,” the boisterous admiral explains

“You do realise you may fall in their trap,” Rulung reminds “Remember what happen back at Omaska Wars,”

“I know, but I will confront them personally and at least give more warnings for our brothers-in-arm about their capabilities,” Murong nodded “Till then, I shall go forth,”

“Be careful my friend,” Rulung spoke

“You too,” Murong reply as the transmission went off. Afterwards, Ma Rulung sat back down on his seat, sighing about his friend temperament. “By the gods, we’re going to have a long time to invade this system,”
The crewman went up to him with the look of fear, carrying grave news. The admiral motions him to speak, the crewman whispers into his ears. Rulung went pale from the news he’s given, shaking with fear.

“l-lord Jirhangga, are you sure? He’s on his way here,” he spoke, quiver with fear. The crewman nodded his head in response. “So then…I pray Lord Dong Yi don’t get on his bad side, even though they’re from the same Six Houses. If that’s the case, god helps us all,” watching Murong’s fleet moving towards Republica Galactica, leaving behind one thousand ships under his care.

Jirhangga of the Merrmesh Clan is a high-ranking member of the Six Houses, the political dynasty and organisation who assisted the Yang Dynasty in running the Empire. The Six Houses are direct descendents of the famed Six Royal Clans, dated back to ancient times at Iclamia, the Minrozians former homeworld where they still rule the Old Minrozian Empire. Jirhangga in particular is one of the most notorious characters in Imperial politics; he’s a scientist, a soldier and a mage. The reason why he’s feared…is only when the enemies of Minroz will soon found out.
Yunnan’s Fleet

“So the locals have finally shown up,” Yunnan smirks before barking orders to the fleet to returning fire against the opposing forces. Later upon the enemy arrival, the Minrozian fleet went into 360 degree formation facing their opponents who surrounded them. The Minrozians have begun firing volleys after volleys of laser beams, missiles, turbolasers, ion cannon beams, projectiles of bullets and spheres of high energy plasmas back at the Republican Fleet. Unlike their Republic counterparts, the Imperial warships are built to be more durable to withstand severe damages for short time. Minrozian starfighters squadrons released from the ships hangers, moving in to engage the Republican starfighters in the deadly game of dogfighting in space. Additonally, Imperial corvettes came out of their hangers along with their fighter cousins, they are designed to be anti-fighters ships, and thus it will be the nightmare for the Republican pilots.

“Republican dogs, hear me!” Yunnan boasts to the Republican forces through the transmission “You will all die by the glorious Minrozian Imperial Space Navy, as it’s the will of the gods, for we are their instruments. Cower if you must, but we will find you dead eventually,” he knew the reinforcements from the main fleet will come soon, just give enough time.

[CoreWorlds]

Yunnan’s Fleet

“So the locals have finally shown up,” Yunnan smirks before barking orders to the fleet to returning fire against the opposing forces. Later upon the enemy arrival, the Minrozian fleet went into 360 degree formation facing their opponents who surrounded them. The Minrozians have begun firing volleys after volleys of laser beams, missiles, turbolasers, ion cannon beams, projectiles of bullets and spheres of high energy plasmas back at the Republican Fleet. Unlike their Republic counterparts, the Imperial warships are built to be more durable to withstand severe damages for short time. Minrozian starfighters squadrons released from the ships hangers, moving in to engage the Republican starfighters in the deadly game of dogfighting in space. Additonally, Imperial corvettes came out of their hangers along with their fighter cousins, they are designed to be anti-fighters ships, and thus it will be the nightmare for the Republican pilots.

“Republican dogs, hear me!” Yunnan boasts to the Republican forces through the transmission “You will all die by the glorious Minrozian Imperial Space Navy, as it’s the will of the gods, for we are their instruments. Cower if you must, but we will find you dead eventually,” he knew the reinforcements from the main fleet will come soon, just give enough time.

Paladin Master Juan Carlos de la Vega was a flamboyant man with slicked black hair, black robes a mask and a wide-brim hat, a fashion style that made him the darling of the ladies' holomagazines in the Republic. Underneath the opulent look, however, was a deadly and shrewd warrior who earned the title of the Space Fox for a reason. He was no fool and soon realized that the enemy fleet had more powerful ships and the numbers to back up their commander's boasts. It seems that either the Elemental Nations has gained a rather aggressive ally, or (more likely, in his opinion) this Minrozian Empire is taking advantage of the war between his Republic and the Elemental Nations.

Either way...they were doomed the moment they entered the Denton System, for not only were there reinforcements waiting at his command to throw at the enemy fleet, there was also one special weapon he is about to employ:

The Talents of the Light.

Although not as flashy as the Elemental Nations' own powers, the Order of the Light have their own subtleties to employ in battle and one of those Talents has done more than anything else to turn the tide of battle time and time again in the Republic's history:

Battle Meditation, the ability to boost the ally and diminish the enemy, raising or crushing spirits as one manipulates a fruit.

Now, as his dagger-shaped flagship shakes and rumbles under the enemy's considerable firepower, as crewmen rush about to conduct damage reports and the admiral struggles to hold the fleet together, as the battle rages outside the transparisteel windows of the Darkness' Bane, the Paladin Master closes his eyes and enters a meditative state, reaching out for his fellow Paladins in the fleet to gain strength from them. One part of his mind notes with detached curiosity that the enemy fleet had weaknesses the Republic Navy could exploit, weaknesses in the formation it's using and weaknesses in the ships' armor and shielding.

The Master reached out even deeper, calling upon the full fury of the Light to extend his awareness across the battlefield, reaching into the psyches of every sentient in the immediate area, into the hearts and minds of everyone he could reach. And it was the easiest thing in the world to nudge those psyches, whether enemy or ally, into the direction that he wished.

The Admiral suddenly calmed and began reordering his fleet, doubling the effectiveness of his fleet with a few deft orders. He noted that his mind seemed sharper and more capable and realized what was going on. He grinned and nodded to the Paladin, and then ordered his fleet to exploit the weaknesses the Master found.

The starfighters and starbombers of the fleet suddenly found that they could dodge the enemy fire with ease, even making seemingly insane runs on the corvettes and other ships to throw volleys of proton torpedoes down their throats. Gunners on the capital ships found their shots began to be more precise and debilitating as they made constantly lucky shots that mere probability could never hope to match. The engineers even found ways to boost the firepower and shielding output of the capital ships, making the fleet that much tougher to destroy than before.

And the morale, the spirits of the fleet rose with every passing second...

As for the enemy...well, the reverse was expected to happen. The Paladin Master reached out for them as well and with his fellow Paladins acting as anchors, sent his mind ruthlessly into the enemy fleet to crush their hopes and dreams, to stamp on their willpower and diminish their capabilities. He sought to convince the enemy officers that their is no hope of winning, that all is lost, that only dishonorable death awaits those who continue to battle here and it was all their commanders' fault that everything has gone so badly. He sought to make the crew long for home, to distract them with thoughts of their families and friends waiting for them at home and that it would be a perfectly fine idea to go back and gather them in arms. With these meditative thoughts and more, the Paladin Master sought to divide his enemy into squabbling bite-sized pieces and when they finally regained their senses...

...it would be too late.

---

Battlecruiser Aquaelie

Commodore Roddick L. Kenni and his crew whistled in appreciation as the Republic fleet seemed to grow in skill and ability by leaps and bounds. "Good thing we're watching, huh?"

"Yes, Commodore." His XO nodded, and then listened as someone made a report. "Tetrageniots among the fleet are detecting a large amount of psychic activity among the Republic fleet. They think it's one of those gestalt psychic techniques that buff up allies and debuffs enemies. It would have taken a little while to adjust our Spacetime Displacement Shielding to account for the psychic assault, but by then..."

The Commodore nodded. "We would have been hit hard by a counterpunch. Very well. Have Engineering adjust the shield generators accordingly. We won't be blindsided by enemy psychic attacks, that's for sure! Now...how soon is that enemy reinforcements going to reach the Denton system?"

"Uh, it wouldn't be long. What are you thinking, Commodore?"

"I think we should give the Republicans a helping hand...before we kill them ourselves." Commodore Kenni smiled ruthlessly. "Interference of this nature is holding up our timetable, after all. Now let's review our assault plan..."

---

Minrozian Reinforcements, en route to Denton space

As the reinforcements tore through hyperspace to their target, a large spacetime disturbance seemed to appear on FTL scanners. A disturbance of that nature was supposed to be unknown in this area, but it was dangerous enough that it would be a good idea to revert to realspace or be destroyed.

Once the enemy reinforcements reverted to realspace, they would find themselves in the depths of space, at least half a lightyear from the nearest star, with only a few chilly asteroids and dust particles for comfort. There was nothing on their sensors...so far.

Then, a bluish light seemed to flicker within the enemy fleet, followed by a rather large number of other blue lights. The lights resolved themselves into ships. Lots of ships. And they all possessed a unique IFF code: Battlefleet Aquaelie. Secret Corps. Elemental Nations of Coredia.

"Execute Option Alpha!" Commodore Kenni roared.

The first thing that happened was that the battlefleet jammed communications and sensors, the former to prevent help from getting into the area, and the latter to make it more difficult for the enemy to see anything, much less the Secret Corps' ships. Comms would be staticky and sensors would see ghosts and weird things on their screens.

The second thing that happened was that the fleet's Cruisers and Battlecruisers opened fire with their Creation Cannons, tearing massive white lances through the enemy fleet, followed by a massive barrage of Phase Cannons, Quantum Torpedoes, Standard Torpedoes, Antimatter Particle Beam Cannons, and Runological Cannons from them and the smaller Destroyers and Frigates.

As the Aquaelie cut into the enemy fleet with a devastating Alpha Strike, Commodore Kenni sought his opposite number in the enemy fleet, knowing that the enemy commander is usually the largest and most powerful ship on the opposing force. From the sensor readings he got, it's one of the big battleships in the enemy fleet, but which one?

He chose a likely target, ordered his ship to target it...and let loose with everything he had!

---

OOC: Apologies for a possibly quick and dirty post....gah, Admin Law.

IC:

Even as the shenanigans around the Republic had begun to catch fire and grow into something bigger, for the Dornalians, things were admittedly a bit more quiet. This was of course, because the Expeditionary Force had a bit of a road to go--despite being close neighbors, the Gamma Quadrant was somewhat new to the Dornalians and given the way Dornalian Navigators could occasionally stumble and the way Supreme Commander Wachowski wanted to minimize the Expeditionary Force's chances of being detected, it was a bit of slow going.

Still, they approached Coredian space, a big lumbering wagon train and all. Besides, Gracie-MacArthur had taken the time to travel to monitor news feeds and whatnot to plan ahead. Likely, given the shenanigans in the Republican area, the Dornies would be facing down a multitude of local opponents soon enough. That was fine with them, it would give the Dornies a chance to feel out the locals, and perhaps see what sort of people they were going up against. A big movement like theirs was enough to make some sort of attention grabber. What would also be fine with them was the possibility of being sent to face the Nova Imperials next door. They were reputed to be a tough enemy of sorts. But as Gracie, safe in her Newport, RI base and transmitting to command her fleet, calculated the odds, the odds looked good for any Dornalian. Besides, worse coming to worse, Dornalians never did play by anyone's odds or anyone's rules easily.

So, as they appeared near Coredian space, the Texas-drawl-speaking AI commander hailed Coredian command with a simple message.

"To whom it may concern--

We have arrived. Transmitting fleet authentication and requestin' directions as to where to park."

Battlestation Apris, Deep Space

There was one Kami-class Battlestation that were in place coordinating the overall war effort, the Battlestation Apris. The Apris is the flagship of the Command and Control Corps, possibly the second most essential of the Military Corps (after the Logistics Corps), as they are the ones who come up with the latest tactics and strategies for the Elemental Nations.

Captain-General Kaworu Nara, he of the genius-producing Nara Clan, sat in the center of the massive control station that is the heart of the even more vast Battlestation. His eyes flicked from screen to screen as he watched the fighting unfold in Republica Galactica. He noted that a minor party has entered the scene with a large fleet -soon to be swept aside by the Secret Corps, by the looks of it- and the United Terran Alliance has decided to make it's play. Now that was interesting. The UTA is getting quite aggressive way out here in the Gamma Quadrant. For all its pretentions about democracy and upholding sentients' rights, it too is a major power with a major power's desires and goals.

Nevertheless, it too will be forced to stand aside. Interference in the Elemental Nations' goals will not be tolerated.

He received reports that the Light Infantry Corps and the Ninjutsu Corps are prepared to enter Republic Space. He sent his acknowledgements to Captain Ieyasu Nobunaga and Captain Akira Sabaku and ordered them to proceed to Republic Space as soon as they're ready. Likewise, the Space Marine Corps, the Heavy Infantry Corps, the Mecha Corps, the Armor Corps, the Long Ranged Combat Corps and the Naval Corps are all prepared to hit Novus Hominius space as soon as the Secret Corps and Stealth Corps members there achieve their goals.

And finally, he received a notice that the Dornalians have arrived. "Excellent. Have them park at the Battlestation Apris. I'd like to meet with them."

As the Captain awaited the Dornalians, they will get their first look of the massive battlestation. About fifty miles in diameter and looking like a gigantic toy top with a ring around it, it possesses several shipyards for repairs and hordes upon hordes of weapons blisters, sensor suites, and docking stations. If it ever has to enter battle, then something terribly wrong has happened, or so the armchair generals would say.

The Apris will be the main coordinator for the war effort in both nations, as well as what appears to be a major conflict with the local powers. If it has to, it could call in a second battlestation to serve as a forward operating base, but for the time being, the battlestation will do it's job, and do it well, guaranteed.

[CoreWorlds]

Terminal

Scarlet sighed as he reached the city, he hated the countryside, it was official, at least he was back in civilization...Or what stood for it here on Terminal. The agent kept to himself as he made his way through people going about their business and trying to blend into the crowd. It was time to put his ear to the ground and see what he could pick up.

This hopefully would bear fruit...Otherwise the Ministry of Truth would...Remove him from the active duty roster...Commissariat-Style...

OOC: Hey, sorry about not getting a post in for you. It got lost in the hubbub of battle. Here's one for you.

IC:

As Scarlet scoped out the city, he listened in the conversations among the crowd, mostly involving the newcomers to Terminal.

"Did you hear about that Captain Woltar? He's so handsome!"

"Surrounds himself with a bunch of those kiddie soldiers, I hear. Makes me wonder if he's a pervert."

"I hear that they call themselves 'Coredians'. Or is it 'Elementals'? Either way, they look pretty young to be soldiers..."

"Woltar, huh? Now there's a guy who knows how to bring things under control. The Governor's head will be on a pike soon enough, believe you me!"

"What is this, a playground? Why does the Elemental Nation throw kids in a meatgrinder like the battlefield, I'll never know! Someone should do something about that!"

Yeah, the basic conversation is that the Elemental Nations have a rather large military presence on the planet, and that someone named Captain Woltar is the bigwig officer in charge of the military presence, and that the soldiers look like they're rather young for the job. That is, of course, the presence of the Imperial Candidates, the trainees that intern for the Military Corps and the Secret Corps in particular recruit some of the strongest Candidates among the Nations.

History has shown that a small team of heroes (generally a five to seven-member squad, ages anywhere from kindergarden to infinity. The Candidates themselves are generally between the ages of 13 and 21, but there are exceptions.) tend to have the greatest chance of success when dealing with major galactic and universal threats, and the Imperial Candidates exploit that historical truth to train the future leaders of the Military Corps. The Secret Corps take that truth one step further and provide their Candidates with the most intensive jack-of-all-trades training in the Military, the most important missions and the best equipment money can buy. Even the Secret washouts are highly demanded when they're reassigned to other Corps!

Another conversation was also in the air. It seems that another force have just invaded the system of Terminal, presumably intent on conquering it in a moment of weakness, but the Elemental naval forces in orbit appear to be handling it well. One could even see the bright flashes of light as Creation Cannons and other weapons discharge. There was slightly more grumbling about that, as the frequent air raid sirens kept people awake at night, and some are beginning to raise their voices against the Elementals, viewing them as a troublesome conquerer, if all these fleets keep on invading Terminal.

For the time being, though, it looks as if the enemy would be defeated, but only time and the Light would tell if this will become true.

[New Dornalia]

As the Captain awaited the Dornalians, they will get their first look of the massive battlestation. About fifty miles in diameter and looking like a gigantic toy top with a ring around it, it possesses several shipyards for repairs and hordes upon hordes of weapons blisters, sensor suites, and docking stations. If it ever has to enter battle, then something terribly wrong has happened, or so the armchair generals would say.

The Apris will be the main coordinator for the war effort in both nations, as well as what appears to be a major conflict with the local powers. If it has to, it could call in a second battlestation to serve as a forward operating base, but for the time being, the battlestation will do it's job, and do it well, guaranteed.

With that message, the Dornalian Expeditionary Force came into view. In front of the pack was the CRS Jeishka of Caeralfar, and before long, the rest of the force showed up into view. First came the Jeish's sister ships--Joseph Collins, C.B.T. De Bruyn, Shaper Khor, Red Banner Force, and Grigori Batov. Then, came the Mercury-Cain Battlestars--Oriskany, Yorktown, Principe de Asturias, Chakri Naruebet, Illustrious and Ark Royal--moving behind them. And then, came the groups of Guardians, Antigua Light vessels for Force Protection, Assault Stars with shield wall capability, and other assorted ships.

The ships moved into formation, as Gracie-MacArthur skillfully ordered everyone to assemble and prepare to move to rendezvous with the Coredians at the Apris. And when they came, the digital warmaster found herself in need of a physical form to communicate with the Coredians, particularly Captain-General Nara. Thus, she, through the miracle of portable holographic projectors, projected herself a body, with uniform and all, and walked up to the control console on the bridge. Tapping a few buttons, she hailed the good Captain-General and asked simply, "We're here sir. We'll be down in a jiffy." Signaling for an officer to escort her, she then took a shuttle to meet the Captain-General on the Battlestation itself.

Hopefully, it would be easy to do business, and things wouldn't be so bad. Then again, with a war heating up, things might get interesting.

[Emperial Canada]

Colonial Republic of Earth, Rhode Island

It was a quest in itself to get here, Major Ethan Williams thought to himself from his newly founded commonwealth of Imperial Canada. The limo pulled up in front of the massive complex, that from the outside looked little more impressive than a large community college out here in New England, except for the large satellite dishes that covered the near by area. Stepping out of the car, his mind thought back to the horror of driving in this tiny state of the region known as America. His heart shuddered at the nightmarish memory of the drivers in the region of New England, who brought the worst drivers of his beloved Canada and made them look like sensible and safe drivers.

Holding the door open, he took off his Red cap. Looking down at his red dress jacket, with inner blue stip, he made sure that he was in the best appearance he could be. It was the first contact since the Drunken Folly, and he wanted to be sure that as an advisor, that although the Dornies sold them off, that nothing really had changed.

A group of soldiers approached the limo, as the Major walked quietly. Extending his hand in a salute, Major Williams reached into the breast of his pocket and pulled out his identification. “Major Ethan Williams, Special Attaché for Operation Puppet Master, from Her Majesties Imperial Canadian Army.” he said simply. “I gotta say, that the traffic here though is quite bad, eh. Have you ever thought aboot expanding the roads, or making people have to have a drivers test. It’s a real nightmare you know.” he said.

The two Dornie Guards took a look at the identification, and in classic New England attitude, made little in the way of making the Canadian feel at home. "Yeah, really? Well, you and Her Majesty can phone up Governor Chaffee, and make him get off his ass for once. Not my fault." he said dismissing the complaint.

Major Williams sighed, “Don't be so rattled you know. I thank you for your help in this fine academic instituion.” he said very kindly and politely. “You yanks always know the fastest way to get us somewhere, while her majesties services do the work.”

Soon through the doors of the academic wings, he was escorted to the main lab. Large antennas and satellite dishes were all pointed to a certain spot in the sky. Dornies were walking around, carrying on their business, as Major Williams looked at the panels. “Mind taking me to whose in charge here eh?”

[CoreWorlds]

With that message, the Dornalian Expeditionary Force came into view. In front of the pack was the CRS Jeishka of Caeralfar, and before long, the rest of the force showed up into view. First came the Jeish's sister ships--Joseph Collins, C.B.T. De Bruyn, Shaper Khor, Red Banner Force, and Grigori Batov. Then, came the Mercury-Cain Battlestars--Oriskany, Yorktown, Principe de Asturias, Chakri Naruebet, Illustrious and Ark Royal--moving behind them. And then, came the groups of Guardians, Antigua Light vessels for Force Protection, Assault Stars with shield wall capability, and other assorted ships.

The ships moved into formation, as Gracie-MacArthur skillfully ordered everyone to assemble and prepare to move to rendezvous with the Coredians at the Apris. And when they came, the digital warmaster found herself in need of a physical form to communicate with the Coredians, particularly Captain-General Nara. Thus, she, through the miracle of portable holographic projectors, projected herself a body, with uniform and all, and walked up to the control console on the bridge. Tapping a few buttons, she hailed the good Captain-General and asked simply, "We're here sir. We'll be down in a jiffy." Signaling for an officer to escort her, she then took a shuttle to meet the Captain-General on the Battlestation itself.

Hopefully, it would be easy to do business, and things wouldn't be so bad. Then again, with a war heating up, things might get interesting.

A twentysomething member of the Command Corps, splendid in a silver uniform with gold trimmings, was there to greet the Dornalians and escort them to the Captain-General. As she did so, she bowed and introduced herself. "Neat holographic technology you've got there. You must be Gracie. I'm Aiko, here to escort you to Captain-General Nara. Never thought than an AI would command an entire battlefleet, but we get all sorts around here. Come with me."

The bubbly personality led Gracie down a series of twisting corridors that seemed to take them down random directions, a quirk of engineering design that ensures that enemy boarders (and newbie Imperial Candidates) would easily get lost if they invaded the Battlestation. It would take a season just to learn all the quirks and tricks of getting around and a wrong turn could easily get one spaced or vaporized by the reactor core.

Nevertheless, it seemed that Aiko was one of those that managed to survive and memorize the layout of the battlestation, for she made it to an official stateroom adjacent to the Control Center rather quickly despite the randomness of the directions. She knocked politely. "General Nara? They're here!"

"Send them in and return to your duties." A polite voice said.

"Yessir! Go on inside." Aiko smiled at Gracie and pushed the door open for her.

Once inside, the door closed behind them and then Gracie and her aide came face to face with Captain-General Kaworu Nara himself. The first thing that was noticeable was the scars on his face, proudly displayed for all to see. It's clear that the fifty-year-old man has had a turbulent youth. The second thing to notice was the uniform of the Captain-General. It was a jet-black shirt-and-pants tactical uniform seamlessly combined to make a single garment and a white cloak-like haori was spread over his shoulders. This particular combination of clothes denoted him as a master Shinobi and indeed, he is a powerful Shinobi of the Shadow Element, who's clan is one of the Great Clans who resides in ancient Konohagekure (City Hidden in the Leaves) on Hi no Wakusei, the Planet of Fire. If Gracie had any power-detecting equipment, they would note that the power was carefully hidden under layers of seals and commands, lest the sheer pressure of his aura caused people to collapse as if under a heavy gravitational field, but it would be there when he calls upon it.

The uniform had the kanji for Shinobi inside a swirl on the right shoulder and the symbol of the Leaf on the left shoulder and a single star on each collar, and on the haori was a number of small medals, denoting long years of service at various assignments, and on its back was the Nara clan seal.

Besides the scars and the uniform, the man himself has serious eyes in a face that was framed by a topknot that made his head look like a pineapple, earning his clan nickname of 'Pineapple-Head' (mostly due to the Uzumaki Clan). As he faced Gracie and the aide, he bowed his head slightly in respect. "Welcome to the Apris, General. Let's get to the point. The Apris, named for the chief god of the Elicoorian Church of Apris, is the overall command center for the war effort in this theater. All orders pertaining to the conflicts in and surrounding the theater of operations will come from either me or my direct subordinate and field commander, Captain Lance Woltar. You, of course, will lead your forces where they would be most needed. Do you have any questions or comments before we get down to the meat of the situation at hand?"

[New Dornalia]

Newport Naval War College, Newport, RI, Earth SSR, CRE

OOC: Took a slight liberty with the reply, owing to the fact the Naval War College is a bit more palatial than what OG's post would imply . At least that's what Wikipedia seems to say.

IC:

The sailor in charge nodded and went, "Follow me, sir."

Motioning for Major Williams to follow, he led the man through the campus of the Naval War College, taking him on a little golf cart on much more pleasantly designed roadways. It was admittedly a small part of the CRE's naval station here in Newport, a pre-Apocalypse relic that the CRE had long since taken over. However, it was a pleasant series of grounds nonetheless, with structures that dated back to the 19th century and the 20th Century.

The Main Lab, bearing the rather self-important name "Jones-Mahan Advanced Computing and Battle Simulations Facility," soon came up not long after Williams was escorted through the main lecture and research halls. As the sailor drove attaché to the Lab, the sailor smiled and said, "Here you are, sir. Do us all a favor though--quickest way to Jones-Mahan--"pointing to a small access route, he went, "Don't go through the south entrance. Use the North Entrance. Trust me. Less hassle. Although it means less ass to look at."

Leading WIlliams inside the building--which took up one of the 19th Century facilities, the interior would look a LOT more futuristic. Aside from the 19th century glamour, the interior featured monitors and such. The key focus of the Major's visit wasn't Newport's famed historic archetecture though. It was the Command Center, set up in the Main Simulations Center.

Awaiting them were Dr. Kleinschmidt, and a bunch of bigwigs. With a salute, the sailor shouted, "Attention on Deck!"

A particularly important Admiral, bearing a resemblance in voice and look to Lee Marvin, sighed and went, "Sailor....you know that's my job."

"Sorry, sir."

Gesturing to the Major, the Sailor explained, "Major Ethan Williams, Special Attaché from Her Majesties Imperial Canadian Army."

The Admiral nodded and walked over to the Canadian, going, with hand extended, "Admiral Harland Graves, Colonial Republican Navy. Welcome to Newport, Rhode Island. Looks like Club Med, but I think we've got them beat in a few ways."

Looking around, Graves continued on, with a nod and a motion for Williams to come in and a dismissal of the sailor, "I see your people decided to see Dornalian Ingenuity at work. I got the message you'd be coming from the front gate. Oh and by the way, around here, we call this little mission Operation Tube Series. Your information was about 24 hours out of date."

Motioning to Dr. Kleinschmidt, he went, "Oh, and before I forget, this here is Doctor Richard Kleinschmidt. Civilian contractor, but he works with the DoD on a variety of projects related to electronics, robotics and anything Gracie-related. Exact projects though are classified, but he's a good man. He's the other one you can direct questions to, if you have them."

Dr. Kleinschmidt added, in a Midwestern voice that betrayed years of intelligence and paitence, simply added, "I'll try to answer as many as I can, but there's things I can't reveal. You know that."

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

Battlestation

Gracie-MacArthur bowed and nodded with a simple, "Well, I'm a first. Gracies don't usually get to control entire forces of Dornalian troops, but I am capable of managing my men. And yes, this holographic projector is a nifty little thing. One of a rare breed--projects a hologram with weight and density, and does so with no more than a simple encrypted receiver that gets my info here and now." She left out a few details of course, like the portable power scanner and the motion sensor and all the fun tactical things inside--but that was classified, after all, no need to say everything.

Moving around the hallways, she marveled at the setup of the station, and then went, following close to Aiko and going, "A girl could get lost in here. I wonder if this--wait, this is deliberate....ooh...."

Eventually, she met Nara, and looked at the middle aged man. Her power sensors were telling her indeed, there was something significant about this man--he had capabilities that, given the Order/DoD Standard Empowerment Measurement scales, matched high-level Ordermen and other significant persons. Maybe not quite like Henny Collins, but darn near close.

Of course, as far as she could tell, his taste in haircuts was a bit off. Samurai topknots were fashionable, but this one made him look like a pineapple, and she had to stop herself from staring as she replied, "Nope. Understood and clear, sir." with a nod and a slight bow. "At this point, I'm just awaiting your people's orders in preparation for said movement."

[CoreWorlds]

Of course, as far as she could tell, his taste in haircuts was a bit off. Samurai topknots were fashionable, but this one made him look like a pineapple, and she had to stop herself from staring as she replied, "Nope. Understood and clear, sir." with a nod and a slight bow. "At this point, I'm just awaiting your people's orders in preparation for said movement."

General Nara nodded slightly. "Very well. Here's the situation so far, so that you're up to date."

A holomap of Republic space and Imperium space are displayed, showing significant combat zones splashed red around the Denton System and the Terminal System. There wasn't any significant combat in Imperium space, but that, of course, will soon change. There are also a number of dots denoting agents and assets in place on their missions of espionage and sabotage to make it simpler for naval and infantry assets to take control of important sectors.

"As you can see, we are well in Republic space, although some opportunistic parties, such as the Terran Alliance and this force around the Denton System, have begun to move against us. Regardless of their attempts, we expect to deal with them swiftly and take the Denton System within the next couple of weeks. The Republic itself will, by the Command Corps' estimate, be fully conquered within a standard month or two at the outset, barring unforseen circumstances and unpleasant surprises.

The Imperium...will be different, and that's where your forces will come in."

The holomap displaying the Imperium zoomed inwards to fill the screen. Preliminary reports streamed in to the side as pictures of massive kilometers-long cathedral-ships and mighty power-armored warriors were displayed onscreen.

"We are currently in the process of preliminary planning for the invasion of the Imperium, and as you can see, it is quite a tough nut to crack. It is an empire spread out over a thousand light years, ruled by a God-Emperor and a Council of Princes. What little we know of this God-Emperor, with cross-references taken from a number of sources, is that he is a powerful psionic being known for many legends, none the least of which he has created a powerful Maelstrom that hides Novus Sol, the seat of his Golden Throne."

A display of the Maelstrom appears, a lightyear wide mass of swirling eldritch energies with a foul taint to it. Even from here, many thousands of lightyears away, it felt just plain...wrong, as if it was a cancer upon the reality as we know it.

"Now, for the Imperium itself. The Imperium is a true feudal society in space, both like and unlike our own society (which would make it somewhat easier to deal with after the war). The God-Emperor and his Council of Princes rely on the twenty Grand Dukes of the Imperium for the day-to-day running of the empire. Each of the Twenty Grand Dukes has a number of Dukes in his realm. Each Duke has Marquis. Each Marquis has Earls. Each Earl has Counts, and each Count has Barons. Below the Barons are the Knights, the warrior-class of the Imperium, and below them are the commoners, the masses of the Imperium. Besides this hierarchy, there is the Church Imperius, which preaches the "Good News of the God-Emperor", ruled by a Pope and his Archbishops. It has its own armed forces, the Inquisition, a counterintelligence force with more faith than brains, though our forces have deemed them a serious threat to our efforts. Last but not least, is the Mechanicus. Part engineers, part priests, they work the Forge Worlds that surround the capital system, a ring of iron and steel outside the Maelstrom."

"Further details are as follows: this empire has a fleet of at least ten thousand warships, each one with a cathedral or castle motif to them as you can see from this design here. Kilometers long and very old, very dangerous warcraft in their own right, and some of their heaviest battleships are even a match for our own. They possess powerful combined armies of tanks, artillery, and aircraft, and the power-armored Knights are their heavy shock troops, the preeminent threat posed by our ground forces. Besides the Knights are the conscripted masses of the Imperial Guard. In general, they make use of quantity being a quality all on its own, throwing masses of soldiers into whoever is their enemy at hand until they drown in bodies. We're certain to deal with them often as we campaign in Imperium space."

"Now...it is time to detail your part in the campaign, General." General Nara said as he zoomed to a standard-issue habitable worlds. A mix of grassland, forests, seas, jungle and deserts dot the planet and a white hurricane appears to be forming in the largest sea.

"This is Noblesse Oblige, a minor world ruled by a Count Barrogue. Our agents are in place to deal with the Count and his underlings, but it will be our job to bring the world to heel. This will serve as a testbed to determine the extent of the threat the Imperium will pose to our forces, as well as the tactical nature of our foes. Your job, General, will be to destroy or capture all targets of opportunity within the system, repel Imperium reinforcements and generally support Elemental assets in space and on the ground. Once we've captured the system, we'll be in good shape to invade the Imperium proper, so this world, though minor, is vital to our efforts. We'll be moving out twelve hours from now, so make your preparations accordingly. Apris' Grace be with you."

[New Dornalia]

"Now...it is time to detail your part in the campaign, General." General Nara said as he zoomed to a standard-issue habitable worlds. A mix of grassland, forests, seas, jungle and deserts dot the planet and a white hurricane appears to be forming in the largest sea.

"This is Noblesse Oblige, a minor world ruled by a Count Barrogue. Our agents are in place to deal with the Count and his underlings, but it will be our job to bring the world to heel. This will serve as a testbed to determine the extent of the threat the Imperium will pose to our forces, as well as the tactical nature of our foes. Your job, General, will be to destroy or capture all targets of opportunity within the system, repel Imperium reinforcements and generally support Elemental assets in space and on the ground. Once we've captured the system, we'll be in good shape to invade the Imperium proper, so this world, though minor, is vital to our efforts. We'll be moving out twelve hours from now, so make your preparations accordingly. Apris' Grace be with you."

Gracie analyzed the situation as it was laid out to her. True to her form as a Dornalian battle computer, she processed the information and the images, matching them against known threats with the speed of a caffeinated hummingbird's wings. The images and sights processed through her "brain," so to speak, and she knew what she was up against--a force using standard Imperium of Man/Chaos Marine army lists, with the heavy firepower, rugged equipment, inattention to casualties and cost, and ruthless determination to win and esoteric powers capable of great harm that all those things implied. Considering that the map was giving Gracie an ill-at-ease feeling--something which AIs weren't supposed to have due to their construction--it was likely these guys fell more into the Chaos side of things--she made a note to have Chaplains and Ordermen provide appropriate spriitual safeguards and also to enforce "No Trophy Collection" protocols.

Of course, given the estimated ORBAT that the General gave her, it would be likely they would need a lot more men. Nodding, Gracie went, "I see. I'm already calculating our reply to the threat. Let's hope there'll be plenty of your boys in country too. By the looks of things, we're gonna have a hell of a rumble."

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

Onboard the Jeishka of Caeralfar, Gracie was on the comms with JRCCC in the ready room, and SupCom Wachowski nodded her head as she heard Gracie's request.

"...and thus, given the situation, I am doing the right thing and forwarding you this list of requested reinforcements via secure data packet to your HQ."

"I see." SupCom Wachowski gasped and then looked at the document, aghast.

"I can understand the needs, Admiral. But 12 HOURS!?"
'
"Well, ma'am....that's what he told me. I gotta have my men ready to roll out in 12 hours. I've been running like hell ensuring my people take all their appropriate precautions on my end--you know, keep holy water around, break out Sierra India Devices and Countermagic alike, strengthening Gellar Field Protocols, etc--but it'd be good to have a little more insurance."

Wachowski then nodded and went, examining the documents, "I'll contact Caprica, request permission for the use of the Infinity Gate."

"You sure them boys will--"

Looking at Gracie, Wachowski delivered a blunt reply which made the chatty battle AI shut up.

"They must do so. We are allies, and we have done nothing to be denied their use. Besides, worse comes to worse, we will have a snarky letter and some poorly executed jokes."

With that, Wachowski wired a request to Caprica, to use the Infinity Gate to move the Expeditionary Reserve into battle--namely, other modern vessels and such held in reserve, but most importantly, it had the vital Assault Stars Gracie needed, with projection capacity.

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

OOC: Going to let OG fill in the gaps involving the Infinity Gate process.

IC:


When the bureaucracy was all done and ready and the ships assembled and sent through and when they met up with Gracie, it was time to depart....and depart they did, when the Coredians told them it was time to Joining the initial force were new carriers--Colossus, Indefatigable, Vikram, Minas Gerais, and Vienticinco de Mayo--as well as new battleships--Los Angeles, Tereza Tadanobu, Hong Kong, Abraham Simpson, Susanna von Falkenhausen and finally Hajarra.

Joined together by Assault Stars and Guardians alike, they would begin their march to glory....moving in defensive convoy formations, they took no chances as they sallied forth at the H-Hour mark. Now, all Gracie could do was await the commencement of operations on the Coredians' end...

[Minroz]

Yunnan’s fleet

As a result of the paladin's powers, the Minrozian Fleet went into chaos. Half of the personnel went ballistic while others kept calm, maintaining their duties in the face of the odds. Many of their commanding officers resisted the illusion and tried to raise their underlings' morale, reminding them of their duty to the Empire in the first place, even though a few more Minrozian warships are annihilated by Republican forces who are pumped up by their newfound energies.

“What the hell is going on! Why am I seeing my parents and my friends?” one operator shouts in panic at the illusion.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Another wails.

“I want to go home!” Another cries.

“Pull yourself together!” Yunnan barks to his subordinates. “They're just hallucinations caused by the enemy, designed to confused us and break us apart! This is what the enemy wants us to do and--“

Too late. The republican forces have made their successful breakthrough in attacking the Minrozian lines. “God dammit, all ships, stand your ground! All capital ships concentrate on the enemy cruisers and destroyers, all others fire at will!”

The fleet obey his orders but at the slow pace due to the cast illusions and many of the crewmen are reluctant but obeyed nonetheless. But their pride as descendents of the mighty civilization prevails and so the Minrozians keep on fighting their Republican counterparts to the end, in honouring their ancestors and their families.

---

Minrozian reinforcements ~ 750 ships

“What in the- -“ Captain Cho, the leader of the reinforcements utters as soon as the Coredians made their surprise attacks upon his forces. A quarter of his ships lost in the ambush, much to commander’s irritation. Not to mention his fleets’ communications and their sensors are jammed in manner of speaking. One of the bridge operators reported this bad news already. Cho breathes in to calm himself down; he stood up from his seat and orders the fleet to return-fire at the Coredian ships, albeit how agile their adversaries are. His warships fought back as ordered but relying on their raw sights and primitive way targeting to find their attackers.

“By the gods, this defeat will shame the Imperial Space Navy,” he mutters angrily “I’ll be damned to let that happened!”

Suddenly one of his Fleet battlecruisers exploded near his personal battlecruiser, the Honourable Martyr. This caused him to be surprised as the enemy flagship responsible went by passed the bridge’s window. Brimming with rage, Captain Cho slams his fist on the chair. He would not tolerate failures for himself and he has made his last ditch effort.

“Stand your ground! We will defeat these infidels,” he orders “All capital ships concentrate on the enemy battlecruisers and destroyers, fighters, corvettes, destroy enemy frigates, leave none of them alive.” His fleet will held on until the Coredians destroyed or they get obliterated, either way they’ll be honoured to die for Minroz and the Emperor.

---

Murong Fleet

“My lord, we have lost contact with Cho’s fleet,” the operator reported “Yunnan’s Fleet is heavily under attacked, your orders?”

Admiral-Lieutenant Murong Han slams his fist on the chair, much to the shock of his subordinates in the CIC. He has to gamble about the lives of his men to attain victories against crafty enemies. Now, he’s thinking about the next course of action, who to help, Captain Cho or Yunnan. Finally, has made up his mind.

“Split the fleet into two!” he orders “One will be led by Captain Ming to Cho’s Fleet last known location, the rest follow me to Yunnan’s Fleet, we’re going to help our comrades-in-arms. Is that understood?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” chorus the crew. Soon after Murong’s Fleet is split in half, one heading for Cho while the other heading for the big battle between Yunnan and the Republicans.

[Orthodox Gnosticism]

OOC: By ND's Request.

Infinity Gate Control
Location: Classified

The universe stood around them, a sphere of ever expanding nothingness and energy, of small specks of real matter drowning in the unknown sea of dark matter. It was complex to see creation from the view of the infinity gate, a vast dark empty sphere with constant dots of relatively small nuclear furnaces floating free in the vast empty creation.

The room seemed empty, as the black obsidian metallic room stood alone, in the vast series of complex that the infinity gate control was, but amongst the interpretation of stars and nebula’s, solar systems and galaxies, men and women stood. A testament, normal human men and women standing alone in the vast emptiness of the universe, looking at it, as if they were the true gods of the worlds and stewards of the stars.

Around each of the men and women, a world floated, a ship, a system, each, with a visual line that connected to them. Each line a communication, each representation a request. Tracy Black could barely remember the first day that she was assigned here.

She could barely remember the life before the Infinity Gate. A world, Geminion, that now seemed so small, was the world she was from. She remembered it was a twin to Caprica, that it floated freely dancing with the capitol of the twelve worlds system. Tracy could remember classes, a class taught by a Ta’Nar about intra-dimensional physics. Professor Alta’Inka, she could barely remember, but strangely she could never remember the childer’s lips moving.

Most of her past she knew was now irrelevant, small like the world she came from, as she looked at the request from the Colonial Republic of Earth, a relayed message that was re written from Caprica.

She looked at the text, and picked her hand up, as she zoomed in on the fleet awaiting her command at Earth. Thirty Ships, mostly Jeishka Class Mao VI Battle ships, with a few Mercury Cain class Battlestars. Tracy reached around each of them, as she examined them clearly.

“What does that make now?” a voice said from the vast darkness, Sixty ships sent, thirty more requesting to go.”

Tracy turned her attention towards the voice, as the man’s shadow revealed himself. A middle aged man, with salt and pepper hair, and a fine suit, he approached with a cigarette in his hand. “Do you ever wonder what it is they are doing?”

Tracy shook her head no. “They are doing what they always do.”

“Do you wonder why they are sending the bulk of their entire navy to the Coredians? As far as I can tell only a skeleton fleet remains of the Colonial republic of earth to defend her twenty seven worlds, and seven Dreadnaughts. The bulk of their Jeishka Class Mao VI's are deployed to the Coredian theater, and most of the ships that remain in the twenty seven worlds are part of the civilian militia. If an attack comes to their worlds they would be hard pressed to stop it. They might be able to stop one invasion, maybe two at once, at best ten worlds, but half of their worlds would fall if they were attacked at once.”

Tracy turned her head back to the ships. “It doesn’t matter, the Dornies have always been an all or nothing crowd.” she said apathetically as she tried to finish her work. David’s conversation was becoming very tiresome.

“Have you ever thought about denying their request?” The man asked, as he flicked his cigarette ash to the floor, allowing the ash to dance lightly through the air.

“There is no reason to.” she said, as she studied the ships. “If they wish to send their worlds to the gamma quadrant, why would I stop them. Their fate isn’t our concern.” she said as she studied the ships of the Dornies. “If you wouldn’t mind, David.” she said turning her attention back to the man for a moment. “I need to study their ships, to make sure they end up in the correct exit point.”

“As you wish.” he said with a wiry smile. “You may notice though they don’t have gate beacons. Without that, it will be some time to find them if they want to go home. If they get lost, well it would prove very difficult to find them.”

Tracy turned her attention back to the fleet. She was right, and shook her head. As David was speaking, he was looking at her, watching her. Tracy began to feel as if their conversation had nothing to do with the mission at hand. “David.” she said as she turned to him. “How did you see that so quickly.”

He smiled, “I’ve been doing this for a long time. Once you are no longer impressed by the stars and galaxies, you begin to get curious about people begin. Give it time.” he said before turning away.

Tracy reached her hand up to the lights of the control interface. Flicking her fingers, she saw tiny strands of the infinity gate reach out to the Dornie ships. Each strand touched the ship, and penetrated it’s hull. Inside the walls of the hull, a small opening appeared, as she placed a gate beacon inside. Retracting her hand, the strands disappeared. The Dornie ships joined the hundreds of thousands of ships in the universe with such beacons, including the previous sixty ships of the Dornie expedition flotilla.

“I.G. Beacons in place.” she said. Reaching her hand up, a small window began to grow in front of the Dornie ships. One window per one ship, a light white glow appeared before each of them, and on the other side, the star pattern changed. It was the only signal she wished to send to the Dornies, that they were approved. Their engines light up, her sign that they acknowledged, and soon they passed through the window. In an instant, the Dornies were in the Gamma Quadrant, where Commander Gracie wanted them to be.

[Emperial Canada]

“Ya sure, it’s no problem.” Ethan said with a charming Canadian smile, as he looked around the room. “Boy, I will say, you guys spared no expense on this operation here eh.” he said as he touched one of the consoles with a simple finger, acting much like a child in a candy store.

“I’m sure that her Majesties governor will be glad to hear that the planet’s main navy is quite ready to handle itself in this expedition.” he said with a fun smile.

“I do hope you don’t mind and all.” he said, as he opened his brief case and took out a simple small black box and sat it in front of him. “The Imperial Canadian Security Intelligence Services, wanted me to leave it’s official attache here. It’s a simple device, not as sophisticated as Gracie, kinda like a personal secretary.” he said simply. “Mostly it just makes sends the details of the operation and what you guys do here to Vancouver for her majesties Governor to report to Empress Tyrol le Safugnaum Celine. It will help keep the fact right so I can keep the reports accurate for her Majesties government, on your progress and exploits.”

Placing the small box in front of him, the miniature ansible probe began to take recordings of what was said and done in the room, as well as the action from abroad.

Ethan pulled up a empty chair at a desk in the main room. “I’ll just stay out of your way, and file the reports to ICSIS. I just stay here out of the way eh. Go give them bad guys the one, two for."

[CoreWorlds]

Yunnan’s fleet

As a result of the paladin's powers, the Minrozian Fleet went into chaos. Half of the personnel went ballistic while others kept calm, maintaining their duties in the face of the odds. Many of their commanding officers resisted the illusion and tried to raise their underlings' morale, reminding them of their duty to the Empire in the first place, even though a few more Minrozian warships are annihilated by Republican forces who are pumped up by their newfound energies.

“What the hell is going on! Why am I seeing my parents and my friends?” one operator shouts in panic at the illusion.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Another wails.

“I want to go home!” Another cries.

“Pull yourself together!” Yunnan barks to his subordinates. “They're just hallucinations caused by the enemy, designed to confused us and break us apart! This is what the enemy wants us to do and--“

Too late. The republican forces have made their successful breakthrough in attacking the Minrozian lines. “God dammit, all ships, stand your ground! All capital ships concentrate on the enemy cruisers and destroyers, all others fire at will!”

The fleet obey his orders but at the slow pace due to the cast illusions and many of the crewmen are reluctant but obeyed nonetheless. But their pride as descendents of the mighty civilization prevails and so the Minrozians keep on fighting their Republican counterparts to the end, in honouring their ancestors and their families.

Juan Carlos de la Vega

"Sir! We're breaking through!" A crewman shouted aboard Juan Carlos' flagship.

"Excellent!" The black-caped man grinned as the ship shook under the onslaught of fire. "Concentrate all firepower on the enemy flagship, identified as the one I'm designating on your scanners! If I'm right, they will break and run once their commander is dead and we can mop up the rest!"

Tapping into the Talents and tapping keys into the fleet's sensor grid, he used his power to identify the flagship for the rest of the fleet, getting a 'glimpse' of a Captain Yunnan trying desperately to hold his fleet together. 'A good fight, my worthy enemy, but I'm afraid your time is at an end!'

With victory in its grasp, the Republic forces launched an all-out push for the enemy flagship, concentrating all its capital turbolaser and fighter missile firepower into Captain Yunnan's ship, a thermonuclear fussilade that lit up like green fireworks upon the shields of friend and foe alike. More losses were recorded as the enemy fought to recover from the psychic blow inflicted upon it, but it didn't matter. Their sacrifice will not, shall not be in vain!

It would only be a matter of time before victory was achieved...Paladin Master de la Vega can almost taste it!

Minrozian reinforcements ~ 750 ships

“What in the- -“ Captain Cho, the leader of the reinforcements utters as soon as the Coredians made their surprise attacks upon his forces. A quarter of his ships lost in the ambush, much to commander’s irritation. Not to mention his fleets’ communications and their sensors are jammed in manner of speaking. One of the bridge operators reported this bad news already. Cho breathes in to calm himself down; he stood up from his seat and orders the fleet to return-fire at the Coredian ships, albeit how agile their adversaries are. His warships fought back as ordered but relying on their raw sights and primitive way targeting to find their attackers.

“By the gods, this defeat will shame the Imperial Space Navy,” he mutters angrily “I’ll be damned to let that happened!”

Suddenly one of his Fleet battlecruisers exploded near his personal battlecruiser, the Honourable Martyr. This caused him to be surprised as the enemy flagship responsible went by passed the bridge’s window. Brimming with rage, Captain Cho slams his fist on the chair. He would not tolerate failures for himself and he has made his last ditch effort.

“Stand your ground! We will defeat these infidels,” he orders “All capital ships concentrate on the enemy battlecruisers and destroyers, fighters, corvettes, destroy enemy frigates, leave none of them alive.” His fleet will held on until the Coredians destroyed or they get obliterated, either way they’ll be honoured to die for Minroz and the Emperor.

Aquaelie

"We didn't get the commander, sir." A crewman growled aboard the Aquaelie. "At least, I don't think so. The enemy's still coherent."

"Hm. Must be one of the other big ships, then...and I think I know just the one." Commodore Kenni mused as he noticed a rather large enemy battleship that seemed to pass right by him. He stabbed at the Honorable Martyr on his screens. "There. I have a hunch that's the one. But we will not kill it. Not right away. Instead, execute Pattern Beta Epsilon Sigma!"

"Sir...that's..."

Commodore Kenni nodded with a slight grin. "Yes, it is. That's the order to board and capture the designated enemy. It's a risk, but I think Captain Woltar will want to know just who this enemy is. And what better way to learn that than meeting him face-to-face? Prepare the boarding teams. We'll take down the enemy's shielding and teleport our way on board. Navigator, prepare to deep-scan the ship once the shields are down. We'll need a map of the place!"

"Yes, Commodore." The ship's Navigator intoned emotionlessly, although she might as well be jumping for joy by the slight increase in inflection in her voice.

The Aquaelie shifted its position, presenting its broadside to the enemy flagship. Then, a blistering hail of blue Phase Cannon bolts, followed by a volley of antimatter Standard Missiles rushed at Captain Cho's ship in a pattern designed specifically to overwhelm an enemy's shielding and attack vital points like the engines. At that point, a few options present themselves. The standard option is to just go for the kill, charging up the Creation Cannons for that final blow or just fire all batteries until they hit something important and the ship cracks in half in the ensuing explosion. But this situation was different. It wasn't designed to kill the ship, although a lucky blow could still do it. It was designed to disable it, leave it dead in the star oceans for the Elemental Nations to do what it will with it.

And right now, what it wants to do is capture it!

In the meantime, there was a blur of activity as the Aquaelie's battlefleet danced in and around the enemy fleet, weaving through the battlefield like the ancient samurai of old, cutting down their foes left and right. Explosions and fire lit up the blackened sky as the battle raged in the depths of space. And though the battlefleet fought like demons, there were casualties. Oh, yes, there were casualties. A frigate was caught in the kill zone of two enemy cruisers and torn apart in a scream of bloody fire. A cruiser's Creation Engine went critical from a devastating enemy volley, vaporizing friend and foe alike. A dying destroyer chose to end its pain by ramming a rampaging enemy battleship. Never let it be said that the Elemental Nations of Coredia don't do anything dramatic, even when dying!

And so the rage of war in all its bloody glory and horror continues in and around Denton Space...Who knows what would be the outcome of this battle?

---

Murong Fleet

“My lord, we have lost contact with Cho’s fleet,” the operator reported “Yunnan’s Fleet is heavily under attacked, your orders?”

Admiral-Lieutenant Murong Han slams his fist on the chair, much to the shock of his subordinates in the CIC. He has to gamble about the lives of his men to attain victories against crafty enemies. Now, he’s thinking about the next course of action, who to help, Captain Cho or Yunnan. Finally, has made up his mind.

“Split the fleet into two!” he orders “One will be led by Captain Ming to Cho’s Fleet last known location, the rest follow me to Yunnan’s Fleet, we’re going to help our comrades-in-arms. Is that understood?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” chorus the crew. Soon after Murong’s Fleet is split in half, one heading for Cho while the other heading for the big battle between Yunnan and the Republicans.

Netherworld

Unbeknownst to Munrong's fleet, the Netherworld noticed the movements of the enemy.

"Split in half yet again. These people are like amoeba. Only a fool weakens himself to seek a momentary advantage." Commander Kthulu noted with wry amusement. "But I shall not let them go without a parting gift. Open all tubes and target the enemy flagship. Whatever happened to the last volley won't happen to this volley! Fire a full strike and go for evasive action."

The Netherworld rumbled sequentially as a full strike of fifty Quantum Torpedoes were launched at Murong's ship. Like before, they dove into the depths of the underdimensions of reality like a pack of sharks swarming after their prey. And then as if by a signal, they broke through the barriers separating reality from underreality, a deadly swarm of shipkillers that even a mighty battleship would be hard-pressed to stop!

With its strike concluded, the Netherworld swiftly vacated the immediate area of eldritch dimensions, moving to a more distant spot to observe its actions. It looks like the enemy doesn't have any ability to reach it out and hit back, but one never knows...

[Demigueris]

Terminus System - Republican Space

Nora had been in system when things had begun to go down. She'd stopped to resupply, cleverly disguised - as most Demigueran naval ships did as they traveled - as an exotic merchant freighter. There wasn't really a disguise per se, so much as no one in this region of space really knew what a Demigueran frigate actually looked like.

Sure someone might've been suspicious that a small, sleek entirely black ship that seemed to emit nary a trace of radiation showed up. But that wasn't her problem - when the republic had checked their datalogs they'd found her merchant credentials and registrations all in order. So she'd docked, exchanged some goods she'd picked up a few systems over in exchange for some raw materials her fabricators required - she'd intended to go on her way.

Nora wasn't quite a person, or quite just an extremely advanced Artificial Intelligence - she'd been borne alive for one. It was difficult to describe the extent to which she was so much more than either of those things. And though they were distant, their thought-songs delayed by travel even through the bands of FTL relays that connected them, her mind and thoughts were shared with every other Demigueran in one massive network. Each, like her, was a sort of bio-computer hybrid in their own right, sharing one massive network, one mind as it were, though many personalities coursed through the whole. Her personality, had been wedded to one of the far reaching starships of the Demigueran navy that kept the Worldship safe. The navy acted as their eyes, ears - and if necessary - swords in the physical world. In the meantime, the majority of Demigueran society existed in a utopic rendering of whatever realities they saw fit to create. But here, across the breadth of many thousands of light years, they could but comfort her from afar. A portion of her mind remained there still... odd though that might seem to those wedded to a single place, and a single seat of consciousness.

Suffice to say, life in Demigueris was complicated, but that was neither here nor there.

The Terminus system had concerned her greatly. It was a habit, formed of a long years drifting in space that she would often weasel her way into local datanets - for someone of her computation acumen, with a nearly complete library of datanetwork software and hardware architectures at her disposal it wasn't usually a difficult endeavor. She wasn't malevolent about it, mostly she just liked to look and see what people in different systems did, how they lived their lives, what excited and amused them; to briefly taste again those heady days when she'd been a little girl, full of wonder at the world.

What she'd found in Terminus though had made her angry.

So she'd stayed a little longer than planned and had her avatar take the guise of a citizen of the Terminus system. She'd wandered the streets and seen first hand what it was like. She'd even skirted the fringes of CRUD, attended a few of their meetings quietly, in the background. She was uneasy, wanted to help, but there wasn't much she could do. Not as one ship.

Sure the Republic wasn't known for their first rate technological sophistication - but it would have been counterproductive to have stirred things up alone here by blasting their patrol ships out of orbit, and having her security drones storm the governor's palace. Moroever, through her colleagues, she had some access to the public networks of the other regional powers; they were looking to assert themselves... but her, and MilNet's models had suggested the most effective outcome would have been covert arms, financing.

Instead they sent fleets, and deployed army garrisons. Now others stirred.

Simultaneously on the ground, and in orbit Nora was trying to get some grasp on the situation. Reworking her models - really she hadn't been that opposed to the Elementals quietly backing the local resistance. If it made them better off... but this had proceeded into outright annexation in all but name almost overnight. CRUD was in over it's head.

In orbit, Nora kept silent, content to watch and lurk silently for now. She'd signalled for help - the Collective might not help a single world but an outright invasion and grab for power? That was something else entirely. Still, it would be time before a suitable force could be assembled. In the meantime Nora was just one ship, one designed first and foremost a stealth ship and not for close quarters engagements - so she watched from the sidelines, quietly slipping satellites out where and when she could to help her monitor in-system traffic, as well as ensure a stable connection to her avatar on the surface. More importantly she was carefully collecting information on the main combatants.

How they fought, what they fought with, their performance characteristics, flight profiles, even the mental energy signatures they bombarded one another with. Even as she went about her business on the planet, these she weighed, evaluated, dissected bit by bit, and then modeled in meticulous detail within her computational matrices. She worked that knowledge into her database, filed away the combat optimizations to counter them should they become useful later.

On the surface, Nora walked among the people of the planet, in the guise of an attractive young woman with stylish red hair and a summer dress. Apparently those were popular here. Although her avatar was mostly flesh and blood, she'd worked in a few augmentations to allow her to maintain a connection to her satellites in orbit, as well as interface with local Republican electronic systems.

As she stood in the street outside the state television station, she was busy remotely working her way into their network. Republican security systems were pretty standardized. Once inside she uploaded a small AI program that would burrow itself way into the stations communications channels and broadcast her intended message for her. She flung together a quick holo message, using an alternate persona. The appearance was different, but still attractive, the voice was as firm as the message. The background was a simple room that could have been anywhere, but since she'd fashioned the whole thing from nothing there wasn't much that anyone examining the holo could glean, save that the person that created it was really good with computer graphics.

Code: Select all

We are Patriots of the Terminus System and while we respect the efforts of CRUD and Ms. Staffield in shaking of the yoke of tyranny. But now we trade the Order of Light for what? Fire wielding soldiers from another Empire? If Terminal is to be independent, we must be independent; we're strong enough to stand on our own two feet, if we stand together.

We call upon acting Governor Staffield to distance herself from the Coredian government, to put an end to private meetings and back room deals, and instead conduct affairs in the open.

We call upon those remaining members of the Order of Light, those who truly hold to the lofty ideals of their order to do what you know in your hearts to be right, and come to the support of the people, and uphold the independence of Governor Staffield's office until elections can be held.

We call upon the Coredian government to respect Terminal independence, to stand down their ground forces, and establish an embassy that we can discuss what, if any, further actions are required in light of their assistance to our cause.

We call upon the good, and just nations of the region to uphold our claim and cause, and help put an end to the belligerents that seek to capitalize on our cause to the detriment of ordinary people.

Finally, we call upon the people of Terminal to stand up for yourselves, come, gather outside the govenor's palace and make our voices heard.

With a little luck the message would hopefully be broadcast across Terminus, hopefully even as far as Trantor itself; all roads led to Trantor after all.

In the meantime Nora dug up Kallen Staffield's personal contact information and sent her a secured private message.

Code: Select all

I have information vitally important to the survival of the Terminal System. We need to talk. You choose the time and place. I trust you.

[CoreWorlds]

Deep Space

Twelve hours passed as the final preparations for the main invasion force of the Republic and the Imperium alike was made. Final checklists and so on were still to be made, but all in all, it appears that everything was going to start out well.

Then the Dornalians arrived, bringing in a force of ninety ships to bolster the ones already here. It was a surprise to the Coredians that they could bring an entire fleet so far. Even the most powerful point-to-point Hiraishin Drive of the Elemental Nations only has a maximum of ten thousand lightyears! Not a few wondered how they'd do it, and even the aloof Science Corps was beginning to take notice of the wondrous technologies out there in the galaxy.

But that is another story and shall be told another time.

In time, the hour has arrived. All checks were complete. Every ship from the Elemental Nations hummed with anticipation, some of them crackling with eldritch energies coursing through their hulls. Finally, the call came down from on high to make way.

The dogs of war were finally unleashed. Glory to the victors and mercy to the losers, for the gods themselves shall watch this event with great interest and a side order of popcorn and beer.

---

Noblesse Oblige

It was the day of the Emperor's Festival in the capital Florens of Noblesse Oblige, a noble-only celebration of the Emperor's thousand-year victory over the forces of darkness and chaos that plagued the Imperium. Little did anyone know, however, that this day would not be like any other. In the midst of the celebrations, a number of youths were getting ready for their own big day. They were members of the Secret Corps, Squad Twelve, to be exact, making their final preparations to strike at the Count and his henchmen during the climax of the festival, the public execution of a Heretic.

"Everyone ready?"

Yo. I'm Jesse Polestar, leader of Squad Twelve and I come from Edifice. I'm the Metal specialist of the group, meaning I've got mad PK skillz, and like many of my peers, I'm a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to weapons. Swords, rifles, even vehicles, you name it, I can use it. That, and I've got a trump card that my family loves to throw at enemies, but let's keep that a secret, shall we?

"Yep. Maverick's good." Brett Yoshida. He's my second, and the second best swordsman after me and James Maverick is his best friend and the sharpshooter of the group. They're both from Cornelia and If all goes well, the bad guys will be sniped until the cows come home.

"So am I." Crackled a voice. James Swift, the fiery staffmaster and my third, hailing from Roak. "I've got my targets in sight."

"Us too!" Crackled a girl's voice. Kathy Yagami, the White Mage support of the squad. "But honestly, can't you switch me with someone else? Romano's annoying me again!"

Gary Romano, the heavy artillery Black Mage. He keeps asking Kathy out for dates, but its oblivious to the fact that he hates her. Kathy and Gary are from Terra.

"Yeah, well, just keep that hammer of yours handy and you'll be fine." Kotaro Ashikaga, the Shinobi of the team with the personality of a cactus. He can wield Earth, Water, and Fire with equal ease, which sounds like an old band name, but there you are.

"Don't forget us!" Chorused a dual voice. Ah, the twins Rico and Rukia. They're summoner mages on loan from the Summoning Corps and the secondary heavy support of the team. They hail from a world that recently joined the Chocobo Union called Ivalice. "Ready to cause death and destruction on your command!"

They're also crazy and love to cause massive destruction. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you think of it, they have the ability to do so.

"Wind here. Nothing to report and I'm bored! Can't I just blow up a tornado or something? I want to see some panties fly! Hehe!" Bleh. The lecherous wind pixie Robin Wind. He hails from Vanguard and has the personality of a hyperactive five-year-old with a libido to match. Yeah, that image is never coming out of your minds. His aiming skills is second only to Maverick, so between that and his wind magic specialization, he's useful. Mostly.

"Madison here. And Wind, if you start before our leader gives the signal, I'm going to stick my sword in your gut!" Glenn Madison. The third swordsman of the team who hails from Zenan. His sword skills are different than mine and he also wields a heavy mace, making him a good choice against the power-armored Knights.

"Hey, hey! I'm just kidding! Geez. Can't you take a joke!"

It's a wonder that our squad gets anything done, but somehow, we manage it.

Alright. Here's the deal. We're gonna strike while the Count is about to execute the heretic prisoner. Not only we hope to kick the Count's bucket, but we're also gonna kill the local Knights and Imperial Guards garrison, not to mention bump off as many nobles as we can. The chaos we'd cause around here will hopefully be enough to get him down for the count (see what I did there! I kid myself!) and pave the way for the invasion force that should be arriving at any time. We can't take on a whole world of angry Imperial Guard divisons and Knight Legions (though the capital of Florens is a different story), so I hope the brass gets the timing right!

So yeah, we're just enjoying ourselves until the time is ripe to strike, eating up the good food and pretending to make nice with the folks we're about to squash. It's a bit macabre, I'd admit, but needs must when the devil of war rides out of hell.

Soon enough, an announcement came over the loudspeakers that the Execution is about to take place and we got into position for the assault. Brett, Kotaro, Glenn and I will be taking down the Count and his Knight bodyguards, while the rest of the gang raises holy hell on the capital to draw out the Guards and squish them. So as planned, we headed towards the front of the crowd of nobles, eyeing the nasty-looking Knights with a detached gaze. Their power armor means that if they connect with those fists, it's gonna be a holy hell of hurt and to top it all, they have those really heavy chainswords that could turn any one of us inside out. Not to mention the sidearms they all carry that makes an RPG look like a firecracker.

Yep. Those are the guys we're gonna take on.

The Imperial Guard garrison were also out in force, surrounding the central square and supporting the Knights. They're lriflemen with camo gear and laser rifles. Nothing that we can't handle ourselves, but they've got numbers to spare.

But the real threat is the Count and his top henchmen on the huge platform that looks like an outdoor concert hall, but with a gothic motif. I could sense that they have power enough that if we screw up, it'd be all over when the fat lady sings.

But we're Secret Corps. It'd take a lot more than the Count to screw us up.

And then there was the prisoner. He was a peasant, by the looks of him, barely older than any of us, and looking as thin and ragged as any civilian caught in prison could be. How he got charged as a heretic, I'll never know, but he was tied at the stake, about to be burned to ashes.

Not a nice way to go.

Well, I suppose it's nice to know that we'll save a life as we beat up the Count. Hope he'll take it and find a better life for himself.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the main show!" The Count gloated. "The Burning of the Heretic!"

The crowd of nobles cheered. I gritted my teeth at the feelings of malice and evilness I'm getting from the lot of them. Sometimes being a psychic powerhouse has its drawbacks.

"Don't let his baby face give you any thoughts of mercy! He is a heretic of the highest order! He has insulted our beloved Emperor by writing demeaning graffiti on the walls of Florens! He even has the gall to call our beloved God-Emperor, I quote 'a perverted cocksucking maniac who needs to die now'! The horror!"

Gasps of horror came over the nobles and a few women fainted. Pansies. Our Emperor laughs at insults orders of magnitude fiercer than that. Honestly, if a leader can't stand to have the worst possible insults thrown at him, he (or she) is not worthy of being a leader. Hell, that's even our first test of a possible future Imperial Administration!

I like this kid already. He sounds pretty Coredian.

The Count went on and on about how evil and nasty the boy is. I was about to just shut him up and send up the signal, when the boy's eyes opened...and locked eyes straight at me. Something passed between us. Something unknowable and yet significant, as if I was plugged into the universe itself. Somehow, I just knew that the kid is important. So important that saving him would somehow have an effect on the invasion as a whole, but what I didn't know.

And suddenly, I found myself in a world that was no world. A space at once vast and insignificant. I had the strange feeling of something leafing through my memories and slammed my mental shields shut like a door. The feeling retreated, but then a single voice rang out, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. It was young and for some reason I knew it was the boy. "Perhaps...there is hope where once there was none. My name is Henry. Jesse Polestar of Edifice, please help me!"

Then I suddenly snapped back into reality. What the hell just happened? I shook my head, and stared at the kid for a long moment. Who the hell is he? He's no mere peasant, that's for sure!

"Jesse. Hey, Jesse." Brett shook me out of my reverie. "What's up? They're about to burn the kid."

"Not on my watch. Let's go." I growled. I suddenly snapped a wrist, sending a glowing green globe high into the air, where it exploded like a fireworks show. Then, I shed the stuffy noble's clothes I was wearing, reverting to my silvery-white sailor's shirt and green-brown khaki shorts that's my Elite uniform. It's nice and comfy and it's resistant against kinetic (including minor explosives and shrapnel), thermal, and supernatural energies. It can even stop a OHKO weapon from prematurely ending my career twice (The third time's a goner, though!).

The Count suddenly roared orders as a giant stone crowned king suddenly appeared in the middle of the city, tearing everything apart and sending Imperial Guardsmen and nobles flying with whacks of its arms. It's time. The Knights clustered around the Count and the boy, preventing any access as we advanced on them. Gonna be tricky to get through them...

Suddenly, a hypersonic bullet tore through eyepiece of the nearest Knight to me, blowing his brains out. Maverick, way to reach out and touch someone! I activated my personal weapon, my Gravity Bat, and got to work, whacking Knights left and right as uncountable Gs slammed into them. Even their armor can't stand up to the force of gravity! Brett and Glenn were a blurs of grey steel as their supernaturally sharp longswords slashed into the enemy ranks, avoiding the revving chainswords and cutting into the armor with bloody results. Kotaro stomped the ground, sending walls of earth slamming towards the Knights, forcing them to get out of the way or be crushed.

And then, there was the Count and his henchmen, their rapiers at work slashing wildly at us. The Count was red-faced as he slashed at Glenn, who parried the blow with practiced skill. "You...you little bastards! I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"

"Nope. You're the one who's going to die today. I'm Jesse Polestar and this looks like as good a place as any to execute ya." I spoke dryly as I smashed the skull of the nearest noble, his head bouncing off like a wet ball, leaving the Count open to a sudden psychokinetic attack that grasped him by the throat and lifted him into the air. Either he's weaker than I thought, or my anger powered my energies, as try as he might, he struggled to stop it no avail. "The Elemental Nations have watched the Imperium for some time, Count. And they do not like what they see. Judgement Day has arrived...and I'm outta fancy words to say to you. See ya in the afterlife!"

"No! No. Please! I'll give you anything! Nooooo!" The Count blubbered as he was lowered within reach of my bat. And then...

WHACK! My family's classic Homerun Smash technique sent him flying into the nearest wall, and the house came tumbling down upon him. So much for the Count. Kotaro freed the kid with his kunai.

"Gee, thanks. I'm Henry!" The kid grinned, looking for all the world like an ordinary peasant boy. "You guys are pretty cool. I think I'll stick around you guys for a while. I may not be much, but I know a lot about the Imperium. I can be useful."

Kotaro shrugged as I looked at him for advice. "Whatever. Your choice, boss. Just don't let him slow us down. The Count's dead, but there's still the capital to take."

I sighed at the kid. "Fine, whatever. Henry, is it? If you're gonna stick around, I have just one rule: make yourself useful and don't die on me. I ain't gonna bail you out if you get in trouble."

"Sure, no problem!"

And so ends the first stage of the battle of Noblesse Oblige...

---

Terminal

When Kallen Staffield received the message, she was not amused. "How the hell did this guy get my private contact! It's private for a reason! I've half a mind to just delete you!"

But she stopped, for one reason and one reason only. As angry as she was, she was also curious. Yes, she's seen the message those Patriots of Terminal have somehow hacked into the local TV station and even the Secret Corps' cyber experts were scratching their heads, wondering whodunit. They took it as a challenge to find out, nevertheless.

She was curious, but she wasn't stupid. So even as she sent a reply, inviting the unknown person or persons to a dinner at the Gorgona Restaurant in the southeastern corner of town, she also asked Captain Woltar or a subordinate to be present. "Covertly. I don't want you noticed. I just want you to be in the know and let me know what you think of whatever comes out of the meeting. Or bail me out in case it's a trap or something."

"Yes. I would do the same myself if I were you. Very well. I'll be around. Dinner at seven, I presume? You're getting ahead of yourself."

"Don't flatter yourself. You're too aristocratic for my tastes. Besides, I prefer blondes. But yes, dinner at seven at the Gorgona. It's a good restaurant. You'll like it."

And so it was. Nora will meet with the acting Governor. What does she have to say? Let's find out!

[Demigueris]

Nora got the reply as she was walking through the commercial district. She was vaguely aware of Terminal's security apparatus trying to locate her. That was perfectly anticipated, but they'd take a while since she was getting through their networks by randomly taking advantage of the locals' prodigious use of wireless signals. Terminal computer security wasn't up to Nora's standards, the same type of architecture and programming she'd seen in thousands of other civilizations - there was really no arguing around it, the Republic really didn't stand out in any way with their computer tech.

That said, while Nora was being 'tracked' by her pursuers, she was busy tracking them as well, circling back on herself in the networks while they tried to follow her trail. She was trying to ascertain which if there were any Coredians among them - identifiable by their better methods - just so she could better avoid them in the future. The native terminal security though, she wanted them to 'catch' her.

So while walking by a single park bench she did her usual thing and accessed a local wireless network - someone had left this one completely unsecured. Reaching into her pocket she grabbed one of her little 'bots - Ebony she called it - mostly because it's dark purple wings looked shiny and black in the light. To all appearances it was a butterfly - and when stuck her hand into her pocket it dutifully followed her command by clutching her finger with its little legs. When she held it up in the air, it spread it's wings and began to fly off into the bushes.

She transferred her connection to Ebony's wireless receiver, at least to any casual glance, it would look like she'd parked in one place and forgotten to sever her connection. Even if the security apparatus suspected something was amiss, and there was plenty to make them suspicious, they'd still have to check it out.

Nora meanwhile replied to Kallen's message, stating that she'd be there at the appointed time. She walked off in another direction, severing for a time her activities on Terminal's public networks - save through Ebony - while she waited for Terminal's cyber-security sleuths to track her down. Once she was a safe distance away, she had Ebony activate her holo-projector, and out of the bushes a similarly young woman, walking her dog crossed the lawn and just sat in the park bench, playing with her dog.

Anyone watching could have been forgiven for missing the little butterfly that followed her from the bushes and perched on the bench behind her. For anyone tracking down the sudden rash of infiltrations from the station, and a host of other infractions on the network, the kindly young woman playing with her dog very much appeared to be the source of the signals.

It was precisely the position the woman would remain in until someone came by to put an end to the hacking, which continued accessing information, posting bizarrely well-researched and articulated propaganda videos in quantities whose production value was difficult to explain given the short time frame. It was really as though she was mocking Terminal's cyber security arm in their attempts to locate the source of the Patriots of Terminal.

But hidden within every instance of the offending code she introduced to Terminal's networks, was the same hidden message: To Terminal's cyber-security department - find me, I need to speak with you.

Ebony only had enough power to sit out there a day or two. So Nora hoped they caught up with her before that.

In the meantime she started getting ready for her meeting with Kallen.

[Minroz]

OOC: Sorry for the late post.
Yunnan’s Fleet

More Imperial ships were lost, much to Yunnan's dismay and anger as the Republicans used underhanded ways to boost their forces. Some Minrozian warships decided to use kamikaze tactics, ramming their ships into their Republican counterparts, immediately destroying the ships if successful. Still, the Imperial Fleet, with dogged determination, continued to muster their courage as they launched barrages of assorted weaponry at their foes.

“This cannot be,” Captain Yunnan utters, slamming his fist on the armchair. “We will not lose! We will prevail, in the name of His Majesty and the Empire!”

Suddenly the enemy flagship landed its final blow upon Yunnan’s ship, sending it into oblivion; one crewmember could’ve sworn he saw the Imperial fleet commander cursing the Republicans before his demise. The entire fleet has flown into confusion due to the loss of their fleet commander but stood steadfast, continuing to launch volleys of their weapons. Surviving commanding officers still carried out the orders of the late Captain Yunnan, fight to the last ship.

---

Cho’s Fleet

Captain Cho is irritated at the progress of his Fleet. He lost more several ships to the Coredian infidels. Even so the Minrozian ships held on with grim determination, fighting the Coredian ships with every inch of their strength. Suddenly he felt his personal battlecruiser being rattled by the enemy flagship.

“Status report!” he barks, not liking the news.

“Shields are down and our engines are severely damaged, sir!” the crewman respond “Strangely, the enemy ship doesn’t seem to attack us anymore, Your orders, your Excellency?”

“Just fire at that Khumaak-damned ship with everything we got!” Cho snapped.

Following the captain’s order, the Honourable Martyr launched its volley of missiles, ion-cannon beams, laser beams, bullets and spheres of high energy plasmas all targeting at the Aquaelie. Hoping to slow down the enemy flagship or better yet destroy it. Although, he had a gut feeling the enemy ship is up to something.

---

Murong’s Fleet

Abruptly an alarm blares into the Dreadnought’s bridge alerting Murong and his subordinates. The crewman reported fifty enemy torpedoes heading for his own ship. A blazing red energy suddenly appears covering the whole dreadnought, all the torpedoes made its impact on the flagship’s shields leaving the dreadnought unscathed. The red energy disappear afterwards causing the ship’s crew to feel relieved.

“Thank gods for the Iron Curtain,” Murong utters referring to the red shield. The Iron Curtain technology allows any armoured units to be invulnerable for short periods of time; this tech dates back to the Ancient Qing Dynasty of Iclamia, when they’re widely employed to fight Minroz’s enemies. Luckily the original blueprints survived, carried by survivors of Iclamia’s destruction. Today, they’re employed in many of Imperial advanced warships to help increase chances of survivability. The main drawbacks of Iron Curtain is that it drains significant amount of energy to feed its appetite for more energy to create the effect, not to mention it's too expensive to be mass-produced.

“Operator, where did those torpedoes come from?” Murong inquires the CIC.

“According to our data we’ve traced them from, it appears those torpedoes comes from another dimension.” The operator respond.

“Damn it, if that’s they want to play so be it.” The Fleet commander growls.

“What do we do, your Excellency?” the operator asks.

“We’ll move on to assist our comrade-in-arms. Either way, we’ll find whose responsible for targeting our ship.” Murong reply as he leans back in his seat. The admiral has a trump card within his ship that will allow him to hit back at the certain eldritch aliens. It’s one way for them to find out.

[CoreWorlds]

OOC: Sorry for the late post.
Yunnan’s Fleet

More Imperial ships were lost, much to Yunnan's dismay and anger as the Republicans used underhanded ways to boost their forces. Some Minrozian warships decided to use kamikaze tactics, ramming their ships into their Republican counterparts, immediately destroying the ships if successful. Still, the Imperial Fleet, with dogged determination, continued to muster their courage as they launched barrages of assorted weaponry at their foes.

“This cannot be,” Captain Yunnan utters, slamming his fist on the armchair. “We will not lose! We will prevail, in the name of His Majesty and the Empire!”

Suddenly the enemy flagship landed its final blow upon Yunnan’s ship, sending it into oblivion; one crewmember could’ve sworn he saw the Imperial fleet commander cursing the Republicans before his demise. The entire fleet has flown into confusion due to the loss of their fleet commander but stood steadfast, continuing to launch volleys of their weapons. Surviving commanding officers still carried out the orders of the late Captain Yunnan, fight to the last ship.

"It's over, Master Vega." The admiral grinned to the cheers of his crewmembers, clone and non-clone alike. "The enemy commandship is dead. Now all that remains is to mop up the survivors and go on the offensive."

Master Vega nodded. "Indeed. It's a good beginning. But it's not over yet. I sense that the planetary system of Denton is still to be struggled over. Furthermore, I've only got a glimpse of that commander's mind, but these enemies still a major fleet out there, ruled by an Admiral. To be sure, they're not the Elemental Nations, but an entity known as the Minrozian Empire, but regardless of who they are and where they come from, the Republic will destroy all who seek to conquer our lands. Call in the Guardian and Freedom Dreadnoughts and let's finish this battle."

"Very well, Master." The Admiral nodded.

As the battle continued to wage, a signal was sent outwards to a location just outside of the solar system. Within a few minutes, a flash of psuedomotion revealed two massive ten-mile-long dreadnoughts shaped like gigantic arrowheads and a fleet of twenty powerful battleship escorts. Without warning, they opened fire upon the remnants of the Minrozian fleet, blasting space itself with sheets of green and blue destruction.

There is no mercy for all those who challenge the might of the Republic!

---

Cho’s Fleet

Captain Cho is irritated at the progress of his Fleet. He lost more several ships to the Coredian infidels. Even so the Minrozian ships held on with grim determination, fighting the Coredian ships with every inch of their strength. Suddenly he felt his personal battlecruiser being rattled by the enemy flagship.

“Status report!” he barks, not liking the news.

“Shields are down and our engines are severely damaged, sir!” the crewman respond “Strangely, the enemy ship doesn’t seem to attack us anymore, Your orders, your Excellency?”

“Just fire at that Khumaak-damned ship with everything we got!” Cho snapped.

Following the captain’s order, the Honourable Martyr launched its volley of missiles, ion-cannon beams, laser beams, bullets and spheres of high energy plasmas all targeting at the Aquaelie. Hoping to slow down the enemy flagship or better yet destroy it. Although, he had a gut feeling the enemy ship is up to something.

Aquaelie

"Commodore, Sections 34, 85, 76, 105 and 53 are in the red! We'll be getting hull breaches if this continues!" The damage report crewmember reported.

"We'll have to act quickly, then! Take out those weapons blisters! The less we need to deal with, the better we can figure out these folks!"

"Sir, the enemy's shields are down!" Sensors reported.

"Excellent. Navigator, deep-scan the ship!" Commodore Kenni ordered.

"As you wish, Commodore." The Navigator intoned with a curt nod and tapped a few keys.

A deep feeling suddenly overcame the crew of the Honorable Martyr as the Aquaelie began scanning it. Almost as if the universe itself was trying to pry into their souls. This feeling lasted a few moments before disappearing.

"Uploading enemy ship schematics. Orders, Commodore?"

Commodore Kenni took a look at the 3-D diagram of the enemy ship. Analysis shows the important locations of the ships. "Now...let's see what we have here...Cyberteams will take control of the ship's computer core here. I don't want any surprises coming from that corner. Engineering Assault will take the engineering section. The bridge section will be taken by Assault Squad One, commanded by yours truly. Hangar bays and the hallways will be cleared by Assault Teams Two through Ten."

OOC: I'd like you to detail a bit about what your commandship is like, either here or by TG. I'll start boarding your ship to try and take it over in my next post.

---

Murong’s Fleet

Abruptly an alarm blares into the Dreadnought’s bridge alerting Murong and his subordinates. The crewman reported fifty enemy torpedoes heading for his own ship. A blazing red energy suddenly appears covering the whole dreadnought, all the torpedoes made its impact on the flagship’s shields leaving the dreadnought unscathed. The red energy disappear afterwards causing the ship’s crew to feel relieved.

“Thank gods for the Iron Curtain,” Murong utters referring to the red shield. The Iron Curtain technology allows any armoured units to be invulnerable for short periods of time; this tech dates back to the Ancient Qing Dynasty of Iclamia, when they’re widely employed to fight Minroz’s enemies. Luckily the original blueprints survived, carried by survivors of Iclamia’s destruction. Today, they’re employed in many of Imperial advanced warships to help increase chances of survivability. The main drawbacks of Iron Curtain is that it drains significant amount of energy to feed its appetite for more energy to create the effect, not to mention it's too expensive to be mass-produced.

“Operator, where did those torpedoes come from?” Murong inquires the CIC.

“According to our data we’ve traced them from, it appears those torpedoes comes from another dimension.” The operator respond.

“Damn it, if that’s they want to play so be it.” The Fleet commander growls.

“What do we do, your Excellency?” the operator asks.

“We’ll move on to assist our comrade-in-arms. Either way, we’ll find whose responsible for targeting our ship.” Murong reply as he leans back in his seat. The admiral has a trump card within his ship that will allow him to hit back at the certain eldritch aliens. It’s one way for them to find out.

"An impenetrable shield? Interesting." Kthulu noted as the reports came in. "This is good news."

"Good news, Commander? We're dealing with something that can't be hit by conventionals!"

"Indeed." The Commander nodded, his tentacles quivering. "But such technology always has a cost. It will not last long under a full assault. Plus...as you say, chances are, it would be designed to counter conventional weaponry. We Elementals have unconventional weaponry at our beck and call. I bet my spawn that being designed as it is, it would not be designed to handle something bypassing its defenses, such as our torpedoes twisting ninety degrees into phase with respect with their ship's reactor core, hmm? But let's make them think we've failed for now. They're moving, so let us follow and strike again when the time is ripe!"

And so the Netherworld stealthily followed the enemy fleet, keeping its prey in sight...