First Solar War (IC, TG for Invite)

[The Union of British North America]

Notice:

Sequel to the Pacific War of 2017 RP, and continuing its themes.

Setting: The Milky Way, Orion Arm, already colonized systems close to the Sol System and the Sol System itself; Year: 2230 CE

The three main posters of that RP, The Union of British North America (UBNA), New Decius, and Japan and Pacific States (JPS), are the three regulators of the RP, with the UBNA being the final arbiter and first among equals. Talk to any of us if you are interested, though we have limited roles available (such as playing as aliens, which would grant the most freedom, or as constituent parts of some superstates which means freedom granted varies). Talk to us about the role you want.

This RP is a sequel to the Pacific War of 2017. The UBNA, New Decius, and Japan and Pacific States are now space-faring and space-colonizing superstates. The UBNA's IC futuristic version is the Commonwealth of Nations Space Development Initiative (CON-SDI). New Decius's IC futuristic version is the Greater Europan Empire, and Japan and Pacific States is the Zipangese Star Empire (ZSE), a separately created nation. Details about each nation will be revealed in RP posts.

Futuristic technology is obviously allowed, though interdimensional travel and time travel are heavily experimental. Please communicate if you have questions about a technology. References to other sci-fi works are allowed, directly or indirectly.

An in-universe NPC enemy will be revealed at some point in the RP, so no one can play him or her directly. The three superpowers will decide how the NPC will operate later.

Posters who have not submitted a lot of posts in the previous RP: you may continue with us if you wish, just talk to us. Anyone not already involved will have to TG for an invite. The three regulators will decide to let you in or not.

Common-sense rules apply for this RP:
- Respect for all posters (being overly disrespectful will be subjects to warnings, bans, or both depending on the severity).
- Limit OOC questions, comments, and concerns to TG's or the Discord channel.
- No Godmodding or being overly meta (only dimensional/time traveling as a limited form of being meta, and we must discuss before using).
- Proportional IC power depending on whether or not you are one of the regulators (which are superpowers mentioned above) or not (we'll talk about it but it will be less than a superpower). No tiny planets with space magic or tech that is able to destroy any or all of the superpowers. Spheres of influence will be a major mechanic here.

Let us begin...

[New Decius]

Das Kaiserhalle, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
German Empire, Europa Prime, Empire of Europa

”...yes...yes...they are growing stronger every passing day, expanding their empire, building new weapons of war. They are preparing for their great journey home, the home we exiled them from so long ago...they will return soon.” The Emperor looked up from his lap to gaze upon the forty or so members of his Inner Council, the ruling assembly of the Europan Empire, the real ruling assembly. This mixture of aristocrats, military leaders, and politicians had authority the Europan Senate could only dream of; with but a whisper they could have an entire city built or, with some members, razed to the ground with all its inhabitants. These men and women were also the only ones privy to gain an audience with the Emperor since the Inner Council was created in 2145, and the only ones privy to his visions. Had scientists not confirmed an unusual amount of excessive brain activity, ESP level times ten they say, in His Grand Exalted Majesty’s mind, many would have dismissed these as mere insanity or simple dreams, but they were something after all. And something grand indeed, an impending return of an old foe, a foe which almost brought Europa to its knees before being promptly trounced.

His Imperial August Highness, Prince Hadrian Jacques Stadtfeld di Europa, one of the Emperor’s great-great grandson’s and seventh-in line for the Europan throne, well that is if the Emperor would ever die, piped up. Erwin Ludiwg Stadtfeld di Europa von Germania had been serving as first Emperor of Germany since 2013 and Emperor of Europa since 2024, his life extended by genetic and medical science, though even that couldn’t save his appearance from withering away into that of a sunken old man. His mind remained perfectly intact for a two hundred year old though. “Your Majesty...” Even the Emperor’s own family could not address him in an informal manner. “...you have been warning us of this threat for the past fifty years, why have we not done anything about it? Why do we sit idle while our enemy builds and prepares for war? We will be caught unprepared and who knows how many of our forces will therefore be destroyed before we can react?” At that point the people closest to Hadrian, an admiral and two Governors, took five steps away from him, having been on the Inner Council long enough to know the Emperor would lash out for such a question. The Emperor leaned forward, his black cloak still concealing his face at this point and lowly spoke to his great-great grandson. ”You doubt the strength of Europa?” All too late Hadrian realized his mistake as he quickly moved to correct himself, fear washing over his face. “No I didn’t mean to say that grandfath-“ Suddenly he was slammed into the ground and his own hands found their way to his throat and began strangling him against his will. ”You would dare to doubt the strength of Europa! To question the might of MY empire! How dare you question MY STRENGTH! You an insolent worm who has existed for only twenty-nine years would presume to have greater knowledge than I, a being who has lived for 246 years and has more power in one brain cell than you could ever dream of!” Hadrian could not even respond as he thrashed about, continuing to strangle himself against his will while the rest of the Inner Council watched on, not moving an inch to assist him. Finally the Emperor relented and the strange power controlling Hadrian lifted allowing him to remove his hands from his throat and get up to his feet. ”Perhaps that lesson will teach you never to express such stupidity again!”

The Emperor turned to look at an officer in grey with a number of medals and decorations on his lapel. “Admiral Colburn how goes the construction of our Dreadnoughts?” Admiral Byron Colburn, commander of the Europan Imperial Shipyard Development Unit, the section of the military responsible for developing new military spacecraft design’s. The Dreadnought’s in question were the Olympus Mons series, Europa’s latest warship line and the first to use an all energy weapon armament as opposed to favoring a railgun artillery and missile armament. Said Dreadnought’s were also Europa’s largest warships to date, measuring a total of two kilometers in length. Admiral Colburn stepped forward and pressed a button on his gauntlet, bringing up a holoprojection of said Dreadnought’s at their shipyard in orbit of Saturn in the center of the room. “Your Grand Exalted Majesty, work is proceeding precisely on schedule. The warships Ares and Juno have been completed and tested for combat readiness, set for assignment to the Outer Sector Fleet while a further four Dreadnought’s are slated for completion within the next three months. Two will be assigned to our Mid Sector Belt Fleet and the other two to the Core Defense Fleet.” He then bowed and gestured to turn the conversation over to one of his colleagues, Vice Admiral Ludwig von Einsdorff, commander of the Ares Defense Fleet that protected Europan settlements on Mars. Vice Admiral von Einsdorff stepped forward and brought up his own hologram of the various shipyards orbiting Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. “Alongside our Dreadnought construction, we are continuing to expand our main line cruiser and screen forces by an additional 30% as per Plan Z1230 for expanding naval forces. However if I may turn your attention to the construction of our new supercarriers which is set to begin in one month to supplement the shortage of fleet carriers in our star fleet.” The Emperor looked up, wondering what the Vice Admiral could want on that point. “Our Ghouls have chosen to go on strike at the orbital shipyards on Jupiter, likely a defective batch but before I order those material’s disposed of, I would like a science team to come out to the shipyards and examine them to determine what made this group have ideas of independence.” The Emperor nodded, that was hardly an important point. The Ghoul’s were genetically manufactured to be inferior to Europan humans or Werwolf’s so it was hardly a matter of great concern to kill a few tens of thousands and replace them with a new batch. So long as the cloning facilities in the Antarctic still operated, Ghouls could be cranked out for Europa’s labor force with no end.

”Now...our joint expedition with the Commonwealth...it will be the catalyst that reveals our enemy to our empire. They will stumble upon our foe and awaken them. The foe will attack and we will meet them in battle and in that battle, all foes of Europa will be obliterated, we will absorb the holdings of our enemy and then all will bow before my empire! Once our foes have been vanquished, there will be nothing to stand in our way!” With that the Inner Council was dismissed to their duties across the Europan Empire, be they on Earth or off-world. Hadrian was himself assisted out of the room by his personal guards, still struggling to breath properly and more than impatient to return to his administrators position at the Europan Helium-3 mines on Luna. The Kaiserhalle had its own small spaceport so those traveling off-world to the many orbiting stations or to another planet did not have to travel all the way to the Berlin Central Port.

One person in particular was effectively ambushed near the entryway to the massive palace, that being General Hans Günsche of the Imperial Werwolf Command Corps, and the original Werwolf. Following the end of the Third World War, while the Ghoul’s had gone from being the failures of the super soldier program to being a manufactured slave species, the Werwolves, the men and women who survived the genetic modifications and became the elite super soldiers of the Empire, were further developed into their own species. Just as Europan humans had undergone generations of genetic alterations to make them more superior, such as weeding out tendencies that lead to alcoholism, obesity, depression and other such blights on society, Werwolf’s had themselves been created into their own superior species alongside humans. Though they were essentially manufactured themselves up until the year 2103, by now the species was abundant in the Europan Empire, with two billion in the Empire out of the total population of nine billion. This census did not include the three billion Ghoul’s in existence at the moment since they technically were not citizens of the Europan Empire and were actually listed as property in most cases.

Like the rest of the Original’s, the name given to the exclusive group of original Werwolf super soldiers, Hans Günsche retained the physical features he had had since the genetic modifications were conducted, and effectively stayed the age of 35 even though he was 255. The Original’s all had platinum blond hair and red eyes, with extremely pale skin and a well built physique, whereas the modern Werwolf species had a base of completely white hair, golden eyes, and slightly tanned skin. As he was the original Original, Hans had risen to be a General in the IWCC which had command over all military units comprised entirely of Werwolf’s; only applying to ground troops as even all Werwolf crewed ships fell under Imperial Fleet Command. He was in fact the most senior officer in the IWCC but not in total command.

The four persons whom had ambushed Hans before he could leave the palace were an assorted bunch. Three men and a woman, the woman being a Werwolf herself but not an Original; Admiral Ramsus Helingrath of the 2nd Core Fleet, Balogh Viktor the Governor of the Ares Mandate Orbital Colony, Admiral Wilfried Rodier of the 4th Outer Sector Fleet, and General Olivia Dahmer of the Jupiter Garrison Forces. Being a fellow Werwolf, General Dahmer went first. “General Günsche, there is a matter that we must discuss with you and it is of the greatest urgency. While His Highness Prince Hadrian was indeed rash and foolish to question the strength of Europa, he did raise a notable prospect without knowing it.” Hans could already tell where this was leading, they wanted to know his thoughts on a preemptive strike on this old foe the Emperor had been envisioning for fifty years. Given that Hans was one of his closest advisors he could bring up the notion without fear of violent retaliation. Admiral Helingrath took over from there. “With our new Dreadnought’s added to the fleet why do we not launch a preemptive strike against this looming threat? A deep space probe spread can reveal what star system they are located in, and then we can mobilize our fleet to attack them before they are ready for us. Eliminate the threat before any great danger is presented to the Empire. We come to you with this proposal because you have the Emperor’s ear, General, and would have a chance of influencing him towards this course of action. Will you do it?”

Hans put a hand on Helingrath’s shoulder and pushed him out of his way so he could get to the exit. “If His Majesty wishes us to wait for the foe to come to us, then we shall wait. We will prepare for the battle but we will not prepare to take it to them. The will of Europa is with its Emperor and we all must bend to his will for the greater good. Good day to you all.”

---

SMS Himmelreich, Europa-CON Joint Expedition
Alpha Centauri Star System Border Zone, Uncolonized Space

The Europan Empire had agreed to provide the security escort for the expedition to the Alpha Centauri system, while the CON-SDI provided the research teams and science vessels. Two Europan warships, the light cruiser SMS Himmelreich and the destroyer SMS Festung, were assigned to provide escort to the two CON science vessels carrying the research teams and their various probes and equipment. The whole purpose of this expedition being to assess and study the contents of the Alpha Centauri system, Sol’s closest neighbor, specifically in regards to the possibility of colonizing planets in the system which would further expand the reach of both Europa and the CON. However, the true objective of this joint operation, or at least what everyone believed the true objective was, was to ease the tensions that had existed between the Europan Empire and the CON for over a hundred years now in the most technologically heated ‘cold war’ in human history. No one knew they had been sent to bring what the Emperor had foreseen to fruition.

On the command bridge of the Himmelreich, Captain Feliks van Doorn let out a frustrated grunt when he was notified that the research vessels required them to stop at the edge of the system due to an engine malfunction. He wasn’t worried about the security situation; his vessel and the destroyer had enough firepower to blast any pirates or raiders to pieces. Being a Europan and therefore having been raised in a society where efficiency was one of the most valued factors of living, it was hard for him to come to grips with the easy-going attitude of the SDI researchers and crews. He knew that the Commonwealth valued expression of oneself and freedom of being to an almost ridiculous extent but if they were Europan civilian’s, they would be shuffled away to the labor camps with the Ghoul’s and other trash of society.

Given that he had to wait for the scientists to make repairs to their research vessels anyway, Doorn decided to send out some observation probes to scan the system for anything unusual such as an uncharted asteroid belt or an unordinary astronomical occurrence. Though given that astronomers on Earth had been studying this system for well over three hundred years from afar, this will be the first time humans ventured to another star system in such a way. “Send out probes to scan the system and any significant bodies within, I want a full rendering of the system ready and perfectly detailed by completion.” There was a hum in the deck of the ship as ten probes were expelled from the bow and shot off into space to survey the Alpha Centauri system.

Yet they were all totally unaware of the dangers they were awakening...

[Zipangese Star Empire]

Zipang Prime, Homeworld of the Zipangese, The Zipangese Star Empire.
The Imperial Palace.

Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya strode through a long hallway, one of many in a home of which was built over 230 years since the exile of the Imperial Japanese Government into space, Zipang Prime was the planet of which they landed on, the planet of which for almost forty five years the Shogun, and those who joined her in exile had made the planet livable, since then it was believed by her and by many others still alive from the expedition that in those forty five years, the humans formerly of the Empire of Japanese Pacific States had evolved to an extra human species, the skin of the Shogun and of those who remained alive from the expedition were changed from their former semi creamy white to a pale white/grey, they had no longer tired every 24 or so hours, and they ate less than any other species of the ZSE. They were Extrahuman and would believe it for the rest of their lives of which were augmented by a specialised, perfected method of gene therapy.

In the years since the great exile of which forced Meiya and her people onto Zipang Prime, Meiya held a deep burning fire in her heart, it was a fire of hatred, while her people suffered, the humans of earth or as they would become known to the ZSE, the Terrans were living in luxury, without want, without need, without suffering. Meiya of course was jealous of this... For a time anyway, after the Zipangese had cemented themselves into Zipang Prime they quickly began to expand to planets and star systems around Zipang Prime or as it was previously called, Alpha Centauri. Meiya stopped at one of the towering windows of which were just five steps away from each other in the hall, towering almost to the ceiling, she noticed clouds gathering, storm clouds of which reminded her of the day she, her family, the government and those taken from a national survey in preparation for Alternative V, the plan of which resulted in the Zipangese leaving earth, it was also the day she had last seen the one person of which though not of the same universe was drawn from the same blood as her.

Meiya's thoughts were interrupted by her youngest daughter, Yoshiko, of whom herself was just forty two years old but retained the look of a nineteen year old with the genetic therapy... Almost made her look to be a sort of sister to Meiya though everyone in the Empire knew better and considering the fact she only shared her mother's facial features, Yoshiko's eyes were red, whether that was a mutation from the gene therapy or not, was up for debate, in addition to her jet black shoulder length hair, this was also somewhat the case with her son, Taro, black hair and red eyes. It was strange, to say the least in Meiya's opinion. "Mother? Is something wrong?" Yoshiko asked placing her right hand to her chest bowing her head to Meiya, Meiya turned her attention to Yoshiko and nodded her head. "Just ancient history. ...Is there something that requires my attention?" Meiya asked, raising an eyebrow to her daughter.

"Yes, our furthest outward planetary scanners have detected movement in the direction of Sol, and Terra. Four ships are approaching Zipang 04, two appear from energy signatures to be warships while the others appears to be but civilian vessels." Yoshiko raised her head, her eyes meeting Meiya's face of which was drained from colour for only but a moment before it returned to the normal pale/grey colour and a smirk donned on Meiya's face. "Good. ...Good. Call the other members of the council here to meet within the next couple of days. The wolves have picked up our scent... But are likely unaware of what they're facing." Meiya was for the first time in over two 230 years, happy. Finally the enemy was coming to try to "finish" her and her people off, though they would be met by a force unimagined in human history, a military to rival the angels of god himself. Finally the time had come to exact revenge, to right the wrong of which was done to the ZSE and it's people, the time had come for Meiya, and the ZSE to take it's rightful place as the master of the Terrans and Sol.

[Jackania yugo]

Tag/

[New Decius]

Zipang Prime, Homeworld of the Zipangese, The Zipangese Star Empire.
The Imperial Palace.

Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya strode through a long hallway, one of many in a home of which was built over 230 years since the exile of the Imperial Japanese Government into space, Zipang Prime was the planet of which they landed on, the planet of which for almost forty five years the Shogun, and those who joined her in exile had made the planet livable, since then it was believed by her and by many others still alive from the expedition that in those forty five years, the humans formerly of the Empire of Japanese Pacific States had evolved to an extra human species, the skin of the Shogun and of those who remained alive from the expedition were changed from their former semi creamy white to a pale white/grey, they had no longer tired every 24 or so hours, and they ate less than any other species of the ZSE. They were Extrahuman and would believe it for the rest of their lives of which were augmented by a specialised, perfected method of gene therapy.

In the years since the great exile of which forced Meiya and her people onto Zipang Prime, Meiya held a deep burning fire in her heart, it was a fire of hatred, while her people suffered, the humans of earth or as they would become known to the ZSE, the Terrans were living in luxury, without want, without need, without suffering. Meiya of course was jealous of this... For a time anyway, after the Zipangese had cemented themselves into Zipang Prime they quickly began to expand to planets and star systems around Zipang Prime or as it was previously called, Alpha Centauri. Meiya stopped at one of the towering windows of which were just five steps away from each other in the hall, towering almost to the ceiling, she noticed clouds gathering, storm clouds of which reminded her of the day she, her family, the government and those taken from a national survey in preparation for Alternative V, the plan of which resulted in the Zipangese leaving earth, it was also the day she had last seen the one person of which though not of the same universe was drawn from the same blood as her.

Meiya's thoughts were interrupted by her youngest daughter, Yoshiko, of whom herself was just forty two years old but retained the look of a nineteen year old with the genetic therapy... Almost made her look to be a sort of sister to Meiya though everyone in the Empire knew better and considering the fact she only shared her mother's facial features, Yoshiko's eyes were red, whether that was a mutation from the gene therapy or not, was up for debate, in addition to her jet black shoulder length hair, this was also somewhat the case with her son, Taro, black hair and red eyes. It was strange, to say the least in Meiya's opinion. "Mother? Is something wrong?" Yoshiko asked placing her right hand to her chest bowing her head to Meiya, Meiya turned her attention to Yoshiko and nodded her head. "Just ancient history. ...Is there something that requires my attention?" Meiya asked, raising an eyebrow to her daughter.

"Yes, our furthest outward planetary scanners have detected movement in the direction of Sol, and Terra. Four ships are approaching Zipang 04, two appear from energy signatures to be warships while the others appears to be but civilian vessels." Yoshiko raised her head, her eyes meeting Meiya's face of which was drained from colour for only but a moment before it returned to the normal pale/grey colour and a smirk donned on Meiya's face. "Good. ...Good. Call the other members of the council here to meet within the next couple of days. The wolves have picked up our scent... But are likely unaware of what they're facing." Meiya was for the first time in over two 230 years, happy. Finally the enemy was coming to try to "finish" her and her people off, though they would be met by a force unimagined in human history, a military to rival the angels of god himself. Finally the time had come to exact revenge, to right the wrong of which was done to the ZSE and it's people, the time had come for Meiya, and the ZSE to take it's rightful place as the master of the Terrans and Sol.

SMS Himmelreich, Europa-CON Joint Expedition
Alpha Centauri Star System, Near Alpha Centauri 4
Uncolonized Space

Captain Feliks van Doorn was just about to leave the command deck for his quarters to make up his regular report for Europan Fleet Command, when his second-in command Lieutenant Nigel Petrosk attracted his attention to the central terminal on the bridge deck. Approaching the large holoprojector table, Feliks took note of the planet projected above it and the various data reports coming in from several probes. Petrosk saluted his commanding officer and then got down to the business of explaining the situation. “Sir, one of our probes surveying Alpha Centauri-4 registered large energy readings coming from the planet, isolated and controlled enough to be a regulated and artificially generated energy source. There also appear to be stations in orbit of Alpha Centauri-4. Initial scans of the planet’s surface reveal there are structures on the ground and significant evidence of inhabitants. We are deploying a second probe to assist in surveying the planet but it looks like we may have stumbled upon an inhabited star system after all.” This was...concerning to say the least, especially given that Terran scientists had studied Alpha Centauri for centuries and determined it uninhabited. How was it possible that centuries of probes alone had not discovered sentient life in the Alpha Centauri system, never mind the deep space telescopes and Earth-based observatories.

“Patch me through to Fleet Command via open space outpost 11027. There should be an officer available for appraisal of the situation. In the meantime prep three strike teams with accompanying fighter escort for landing on the surface of the planet.” An ensign then piped up to him. “Sir, shall we inform the SDI research vessels of this development?” Feliks almost said no but instead realized if he did it would be the least logical course of action and logic was a Europan’s excuse for existence. “Yes send a message telling them of the developments and that were are sending a landing party to the surface to investigate.”

While the landing party was being readied and outfitted for arctic combat conditions, Captain van Doorn and Lieutenant Petrosk were attempting to make contact with outpost 11027, the closest Europan relay station in open space at the edge of the Sol System. However, for some reason their signal kept getting cut off before the uplink could connect, as though they were being jammed. But that must be impossible, after all no other ships but those in the expedition were showing up on scanners and they would certainly know if something on Alpha Centauri-4 was jamming them. Perhaps a mechanical failure on the ships or at the relay station, though the Festung was having similar difficulties trying to get a connection with the relay station. Despite having no success communicating with the station, Feliks ordered the expedition group to move into orbit over Alpha Centauri-4 all the same from which point the landing party would venture to the surface.

---

Heinrich Öberhauser, Sergeant commanding of Squad 11A on one of the shuttles headed for Alpha Centauri-4, had been in a first contact situation before, on Europa one of Jupiter’s moons. A species of humanoids living off the oxygen produced by the frozen seas of ice underground on the moon and still primitive after fifty thousand years of existence. They were uncovered when Cylos, a mining company, attempted to setup an oxygen extraction facility on the moon as a means of the study of artificial oxygen creation to cure planetary pollution depleting a planet’s oxygen supply. After the primitives killed two dozen workers, the Europan Imperial Star Corps was sent in to clear them out, it was laughably unfair; primitive aliens armed with ice spears and rocks against battle hardened Europan marines with laser rifles. It was an easy four hour massacre until the entire tribe was wiped out and their dwellings leveled, thus clearing the way for Cylos to setup their extraction facility.

This was likely to be an entirely different matter for the thirty Marines, ten per shuttle, as they and their fighter escort descended through the atmosphere towards the surface. This planet’s inhabitants appeared to be at least advanced enough to have developed orbital stations and likely were at the level of technology Earth was in the year 2000. The goal was simply to establish contact and assess the situation, but the Marines were fitted out for battle all the same, who knows what response they might get landing outside of a major population center. The warships in orbit probably was causing a panic as well, as it justly should, that was half the might of the Europan Imperial Fleet, the ability to instill fear. The Himmelreich and Festung carried enough firepower to level a good sized city from orbit if necessary though so far never had such a measure been necessary in the history of the Imperial Fleet the past 180 years. Perhaps that would all change here.

Heinrich instinctively stood up immediately as the shuttle slowly touched down on solid ground again, as did every other Marine, knowing to grab his weapon and gear for deployment. However when the doors to the shuttle opened and the ten marines spilled out to form a perimeter as their comrades from the other two shuttles were doing nearby, the area was deserted. No cautious native military forces, no civilian’s, no living creature within what looked to be a kilometer at least to the gates of a city, skyscrapers of an odd shape rising high into the sky. “Spread out and maintain a perimeter until we receive further orders from the cruiser.”

[Zipangese Star Empire]

SMS Himmelreich, Europa-CON Joint Expedition
Alpha Centauri Star System, Near Alpha Centauri 4
Uncolonized Space

Captain Feliks van Doorn was just about to leave the command deck for his quarters to make up his regular report for Europan Fleet Command, when his second-in command Lieutenant Nigel Petrosk attracted his attention to the central terminal on the bridge deck. Approaching the large holoprojector table, Feliks took note of the planet projected above it and the various data reports coming in from several probes. Petrosk saluted his commanding officer and then got down to the business of explaining the situation. “Sir, one of our probes surveying Alpha Centauri-4 registered large energy readings coming from the planet, isolated and controlled enough to be a regulated and artificially generated energy source. There also appear to be stations in orbit of Alpha Centauri-4. Initial scans of the planet’s surface reveal there are structures on the ground and significant evidence of inhabitants. We are deploying a second probe to assist in surveying the planet but it looks like we may have stumbled upon an inhabited star system after all.” This was...concerning to say the least, especially given that Terran scientists had studied Alpha Centauri for centuries and determined it uninhabited. How was it possible that centuries of probes alone had not discovered sentient life in the Alpha Centauri system, never mind the deep space telescopes and Earth-based observatories.

“Patch me through to Fleet Command via open space outpost 11027. There should be an officer available for appraisal of the situation. In the meantime prep three strike teams with accompanying fighter escort for landing on the surface of the planet.” An ensign then piped up to him. “Sir, shall we inform the SDI research vessels of this development?” Feliks almost said no but instead realized if he did it would be the least logical course of action and logic was a Europan’s excuse for existence. “Yes send a message telling them of the developments and that were are sending a landing party to the surface to investigate.”

While the landing party was being readied and outfitted for arctic combat conditions, Captain van Doorn and Lieutenant Petrosk were attempting to make contact with outpost 11027, the closest Europan relay station in open space at the edge of the Sol System. However, for some reason their signal kept getting cut off before the uplink could connect, as though they were being jammed. But that must be impossible, after all no other ships but those in the expedition were showing up on scanners and they would certainly know if something on Alpha Centauri-4 was jamming them. Perhaps a mechanical failure on the ships or at the relay station, though the Festung was having similar difficulties trying to get a connection with the relay station. Despite having no success communicating with the station, Feliks ordered the expedition group to move into orbit over Alpha Centauri-4 all the same from which point the landing party would venture to the surface.

---

Heinrich Öberhauser, Sergeant commanding of Squad 11A on one of the shuttles headed for Alpha Centauri-4, had been in a first contact situation before, on Europa one of Jupiter’s moons. A species of humanoids living off the oxygen produced by the frozen seas of ice underground on the moon and still primitive after fifty thousand years of existence. They were uncovered when Cylos, a mining company, attempted to setup an oxygen extraction facility on the moon as a means of the study of artificial oxygen creation to cure planetary pollution depleting a planet’s oxygen supply. After the primitives killed two dozen workers, the Europan Imperial Star Corps was sent in to clear them out, it was laughably unfair; primitive aliens armed with ice spears and rocks against battle hardened Europan marines with laser rifles. It was an easy four hour massacre until the entire tribe was wiped out and their dwellings leveled, thus clearing the way for Cylos to setup their extraction facility.

This was likely to be an entirely different matter for the thirty Marines, ten per shuttle, as they and their fighter escort descended through the atmosphere towards the surface. This planet’s inhabitants appeared to be at least advanced enough to have developed orbital stations and likely were at the level of technology Earth was in the year 2000. The goal was simply to establish contact and assess the situation, but the Marines were fitted out for battle all the same, who knows what response they might get landing outside of a major population center. The warships in orbit probably was causing a panic as well, as it justly should, that was half the might of the Europan Imperial Fleet, the ability to instill fear. The Himmelreich and Festung carried enough firepower to level a good sized city from orbit if necessary though so far never had such a measure been necessary in the history of the Imperial Fleet the past 180 years. Perhaps that would all change here.

Heinrich instinctively stood up immediately as the shuttle slowly touched down on solid ground again, as did every other Marine, knowing to grab his weapon and gear for deployment. However when the doors to the shuttle opened and the ten marines spilled out to form a perimeter as their comrades from the other two shuttles were doing nearby, the area was deserted. No cautious native military forces, no civilian’s, no living creature within what looked to be a kilometer at least to the gates of a city, skyscrapers of an odd shape rising high into the sky. “Spread out and maintain a perimeter until we receive further orders from the cruiser.”

Zipang Prime, The Zipangese Star Empire.
The Government Hall, The Imperial Palace.

Shogun Meiya was the last to enter the Government Hall after all members of the council of Regents, Moffs, Governors, Generals, and Admirals had finally come together at the building, her children and the Emperor had taken their places before Meiya at the head of the long table. All the species of the ZSE were represented in one way or another, after the ZSE had taken a new species into the fold it's leaders were made Regents and officers of their respective former militaries made either Moffs, Governors, Generals, and Admirals, which put the first in line to become Shoguns of the Empire after Meiya's death, though they'd have to go through the first Regents of the Empire, being the Regent houses of Takatsukasa, Ikaruga, Kujou, & Saionji, then the queen of the warrior rabbits or Senshi Usagi, Tyuule. And so on so forth.

Every race of which made up the ZSE, from the "Humans" or Zipangese as they had rebranded themselves, the humans with rabbit-like features, namely the two large ears protruding from their heads and superhuman agility, the Senshi Usagi, the Chōrō-tachi of whom were arguably the first species to be incompact with the precursor to the Zipangese, the Japanese, and mostly responsible for their development scientifically, then the Night Walkers, humanoid creatures of which developed a sort of natural shape shifting ability to take on the appearance of their foes, even usurp their natural abilities in doing so, the Ascended of which were a race of long forgotten origin of whom abandoned their organic bodies in favour of downloading their consciousness to machine bodies which allowed them to live on forever, the Sehlikians, a strange race of proud warriors and traders with unusual horns protruding from the sides of their heads and even stranger tentacles coming from the top of their heads sometimes growing long enough to be worn as a natural "scarf" around their necks, when matched with their odd array of skin colours they're certainly the oddest species of the ZSE, and lastly... The Zetans, a race of small green men with large bulbous, black eyes and a slit mouth, they were the newest addition to the ZSE, still assimilating into the Star Empire, and it's customs and society while however contributing greatly to the military with a large number of ships and advanced technology.

All of these races Meiya viewed as her best chance of finally restoring the lost honour of herself and her people in being forced to flee their home world. A return of to which was hastened by their long time foe's founding of Zipang 04, of which coincidentally was also one of a small number of planets of which was mostly devoted to the training of the ZSE's troops, with it's forces specialty being arctic warfare. Meiya took her seat before the council, looking up and down at the members from each individual race, speaking to all. "My friends. Regents, Moffs, Governors, Generals, and Admirals of our proud, colossal empire. I have called you here for one reason, and one reason only. An enemy of which in years past since the more elder species of the ZSE had joined, has finally come for us. Has finally come to destroy all of which for over 230 years we spent toiling to build for an everlasting civilization unmatched in the history of our peoples. The enemy of which I speak of, the German Empire, and very likely, the Union of British North America is coming to destroy us." After Meiya spoke a number of the Regents of the alien species started speaking rather worriedly and concerned to each other, it slowly evolving to yelling before being stopped by a raise of Meiya's hand.

"Now is not the time for us to argue among ourselves. The enemy has only recently as of hours ago found Zipang 04, and they hold their position waiting for orders on what to do. It is possible they are waiting for their fleet to come before they attempt to blast through our defensive rings and kill us all but..." And at that moment Meiya was interrupted by the sound of running, at the far end of the hallway a member of the ZSE's Imperial Royal Guard, Maya Tsukuyomi, a faithful servant of Meiya since the beginning ran to the table and took a knee. "I apologise for the interruption my lords!" Meiya rose from her chair and motioned for Maya to stand up. "What is it Vassal Retainer?" Meiya asked, raising an eyebrow, of course all eyes were on Maya. "The unknown contacts' transmissions have been jammed by our forces on Zipang 04, we've managed to capture a part of the message of which was to be sent. In addition to this, a number of shuttles has landed outside of Zipang 04's capital city. So far there has been no further movement on the part of the unknowns but our forces of which were out training are on the standby to crush the enemy, in addition the fleet command has been informed of the situation and asks what is to be done." Maya said before bowing her head once again.

"They are to hold their positions, we will inform them of their marching orders soon." Meiya said and began to speak again before being interrupted by her eldest daughter, Yuuhi. "Mom, shouldn't we consider the possibility that they don't come to bring war to us? To give peace a chance?!" Meiya turned her attention to her Daughter, clenching her fist. "Yuuhi. You maybe my daughter, my own flesh and blood, but I will NOT tolerate that ignorant nativity! We cannot afford it. We speak of the very same people of whom started this war with the precursor to the ZSE, the people of whom drove the us, our family, the extrahumans of the ZSE to our home, where we toiled, bled, suffered from famine, from disease, from death before we entered the golden age of which we share with our brother and sister species of this council. You yourself know just as I, just as your father, just as many others in the Empire know, have suffered. How dare you speak in such as way!" Meiya yelled to her daughter as the table and the room itself came quiet, quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Yuuhi herself also came quiet, lowering her head. "Yes... I'm sorry mother..." Meiya calmed herself and turned her attention back to the council and Maya. "Play the captured message for all here to hear." Meiya then sat as a image of the fleet came to view by all the council and audio played. "This is the Europa Warship SMS Himmelreich, I repeat this is the SMS Himmelreich, Europa Fleet Command do you read? I repeast this is Europa Warship SMS Himmelreich." Then the message cut off and Meiya stood up once again. "Europa Fleet Command. ...Europa Fleet Command. You have heard it yourselves, will the members of this council standby and allow our enemy to gain a foothold? Or will we crush the life from these monsters!?"

Meiya had essentially just earned herself the ZSE's equivalent of a "blank check". She had raised not only the valid point time and time again of the ZSE's precursor's history with the presented... "Europa". But also the fact that it was very doubtable if the unknowns had peaceful intentions considering there were two warships with the other vessels shown. ...And with that the council had voted unanimously. ...The Zipangese Star Empire was now at war with the outside forces against the ZSE.

[The Union of British North America]

Lucky’s Bar, Concordia Aerostat, Venus Mandate, Commonwealth of Nations-Space Development Initiative (CON-SDI) Space, Sol System

We are the only true democracy of the solar system. The Commonwealth of Nations, bolstered by its Space Development Initiative, is a prosperous and progressive multicultural dominion. We welcome outsiders with open arms. We are intolerant of closed societies, we are fierce defenders of political and social liberties, the guardians of the human spirit. Our principles are brotherhood, fraternity, and equal rights for all. Our freedom and diversity is our strength, not hierarchy and conformity.

The Europan Empire is our rival--ideologically and militarily. While they think themselves superior with their genetic manipulation of humans to create master and servile classes, we have perfected cyberization and body prosthetics to create not only egalitarianism in helping those who suffer, but freedom in enhancing everyone's abilities so they can be fully expressive of their capabilities. The limitations of the body have been exceeded--human lifespan has tripled, most diseases have been eradicated, and people are able to create their own lives, by their own ends. There are no masters and no slaves; the Commonwealth is the bastion for those desiring to be free.

But, despite these differences between our nations, peaceful coexistence between is not only possible, but necessary. Tensions have been ever-present since the end of the Third World War, the Pacific War. But now both of our nations have achieved the capabilities of the colonization of the solar system. Now, to show that we are a United Terra, we shall endeavor on a joint mission to explore the immediate space outside Sol System. Right now, the United Terra Mission to Alpha Centauri is about to achieve a major milestone for all Terrans. That is why this Parliament should embrace the United Terra policy. Despite our apparent incompatibility, we can show that we can achieve unity for peaceful endeavors...

“...and that was President-General Vera Fontaine, speaking before the Commonwealth Parliament yesterday at Commonwealth Block in the capitol of Concordia Aerostat in the habitable part of the Venusian atmosphere. She explained the new foreign policy of the CON--cooperation with the Europan Empire. The Venus Mandate is bustling with activity with applications to the Colonial Affairs Department for spots on the extrasolar colony ships. Both Commonwealth citizens and Europans are registering for the future Alpha Centauri Settlement Mission, after the Exploratory Mission that has just left for the closet star to our own. The upcoming United Terra Missions to Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti will begin in about two years, and that is the planned departure time for the successful return of the Exploratory Mission to Alpha Centauri. We say Godspeed to all of those brave souls journeying into the final frontier…” said the anchor on the news hologram in the bar.
Captain Dingo Egret of the No. 2 Special Orbital Frame Wing was finishing up his second John Adams Absolute Zero Ale. A beer that has been around for over two centuries is still widely popular in the year 2230. He was drinking the space-themed and cyborg-friendly alcoholic beverage when he received a cybercom call from his number two, Lieutenant Ken Marinaris, projected in his eye vision. “Cap, the CO wants us to meet us in a couple hours for some boring assignment. I don’t know the details, but it doesn’t matter. Probably escorting some logistics ship to Ganymede or Titan” said Marinaris. “Yeah, not a lot of action for us, now that we are embracing a policy of ‘peaceful coexistence’, damn Euros” replied Egret. “Affirmative. See you later then, sir,” she said.
Egret hung up, paid his tab, and left the bar to head to the nearest maglev station that would take him the closest back to base.

SDIS Endeavor, United Terra Exploratory Mission flotilla, near Alpha Centauri-4
“What’s wrong this time?” asked the Commander of the science vessel Endeavor, Captain Jay Klein. Exasperated, he contacted the chief engineer of the Endeavor. Chief Engineer Lt. Commander Williams responded to his cybercom call. “The stupid propulsion system keeps shutting down, and it’s because of the automatic shutdown when there isn’t enough coolant. To keep the ship from overheating, it needs coolant in the pipes nearby, otherwise the AI will periodically shutdown the engines so that it may cool down. The Three Laws of Robotics are encoded into our ship’s AI, and she’ll think we’ll be harming ourselves if override the automatic shutdown. We’ll need more coolant, otherwise we’ll have to have a full stop to cool down before we can move again,” replied Williams. “And do we have any more coolant, in storage or our only friend?” asked Klein. “Nope, and the Columbia doesn’t have any to spare. We’ll have to ask the Euros for help,” said Williams.
“Damn, I don’t want to ask the bloody Euros. They nearly chewed my head off for the engine malfunction at the edge of Sol, and now this, I can only imagine what they will say. Fine, damn. Lieutenant Singh, get me the CO of the Himmelreich and see if they are willing to spare some coolant. If they get snide, tell them the ship was built for mobile scientific experimentation and laboratory facilities, so things like storage had to give way for scientific equipment,” ordered the Captain. “Aye, sir, hailing the Himmelreich,” said the communications officer.

While hailing the Europan ships, the Chief Scientist of the Expedition, Dr. Glassman, entered the bridge. “Captain, our…special equipment picked up some signals from the planet. Something that contradicts our previous probe missions and studies of the system. While observing Alpha from Earth could throw off and mess up data collection, we should have been able to at least pick up signals from the system.” “What do you mean, signals from the planet? That there are aliens? Are you sure these signals are not our own or just background noise?” asked the Captain. “Yes, they have patterns so clearly they suggest messages, and thus intelligent life. Perhaps they knew we were close by—Earth—and they were limiting their range so that we could not have picked them up,” suggested Glassman. “I’ll have to get back to you later on this, Doctor, I have to address the issues with my ship,” said the Captain.

Finally, the Himmelreich answered the hail.

[Zipangese Star Empire]

Zipang Prime, The Zipangese Star Empire.
The Imperial Palace, Office of the Shogun.

Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya entered her office with five people at her back, these people in question were Regent Tyuule, Lord General of the ZSE's Planetary Armies Kitagou Ayaka, Grand Admiral Thetch of the ZSE's Navy, and lastly Prince Taro and Crowned Princess Yoshiko. Proceeding to her desk, Meiya took her seat while Prince Taro and Princess Yoshiko took the only two chairs infront of the desk while Tyuule, Ayaka, and Thetch stood behind them side by side. "I believe you all know why you have been called here." Meiya said, leaning forward on her desk as she clasped her hands together, looking to the group before her. "I'd suspect you wish for us to handle the threat of the Terrans at Zipang 04, your Majesty." Grand Admiral Thetch, a Chōrō-tachi male, standing between Tyuule and Ayaka bowed his head after speaking. Of course he would be the first to pick up on what Meiya had intended, the Chōrō-tachi were in some way able to easily read other beings, almost to the point where she thought they had developed a natural mind reading ability.

"That is right, Admiral. You, Ayaka, and the heir to my family, Yoshiko will be leading the spearhead against the Terrans. ...But I have called Tyuule and Taro here for another reason. One we shall discuss after this meeting is over... However, Thetch, Ayaka. You two will ultimately be under official command of Yoshiko, though I give you operational freedom to deal with the Terrans as you see fit. Allow my daughter to watch and learn from both of you. First in Space, then on the planet itself, with the Terrans landing there outside of the planetary capital city, Hachi, we will be forced to take them out in the arctic terrain, considering I will order them to raise the energy shield around the city to prevent civilian casualties they will be unable to gain access to the city therefore it will be safe." Meiya said sitting back in her chair, placing her arms on the arm rests. "Yoshiko. You will not interfere with the operational capabilities, and your ship will remain back behind the fleet."

"Yes mother." Yoshiko bowed her head and smiled, finally she'd get to see the enemy of which was spoken of many times over the years of her life, finally she would see the dreams of her mother and ultimately herself and her brother come to fruition, the total destruction of the enemy. "Lastly." Meiya said before diverting her full attention to Grand Admiral Thetch and Lord General Ayaka. "I want the enemy taken alive. Disable their ships and incapacitate their planetary forces. I expect this order to be complied with, to the fullest extent. However if taking the enemy alive isn't an option then if your own lives or the lives of your men are 100% guaranteed to be in danger then you will have my express permission to destroy the enemy. ....After the fleet reaches Zipang 04, you are to act as a satellite, a means of sending a broadcast through from the homeworld to the enemy, I shall address them. And let them know.. They are not welcome, and that they will face the retribution against us for their crimes against the ZSE's precursor. Yoshiko, Ayaka, Thetch, you may leave. Shut the door behind you." Meiya said before waving her hand off, signaling for Thetch, Ayaka, and Yoshiko to leave.

Taro for the first time felt semi nervous, why would his mother want to speak to him and Tyuule? He'd get his answer quickly. Tyuule took Princess Yoshiko's seat after she left, crossing her legs while she sat. "Your highness? Might I ask why you wish to speak to Prince Taro and I?" Meiya stood up from her chair and walked back to the set of windows behind it, looking out of them to the traffic both on the ground and in the sky. "With recent events having unfolded as they have, I had put off speaking about this for as long as I could but since we're about to enter into war with our long time ancient enemy once again. I must consider the survival of this family." Meiya then turned around, folding her hands together behind her back. "I give you my blessing for a marriage between our families. Your daughter, Kali will take over as regent for the Senshi Usagi." Tyuule's ears perked up to full length and she looked to Taro of whom looked to her, both noting their eyes were wide as they could possibly be before Taro spoke up. "M-mother, what has brought about this decision?!" Taro said before realising his face had turned almost blood red from embarrassment.

"As I have said. The survival of this family, should we be underestimating our enemy once again like in 2017 we cannot rule out the possibility they may yet be as advanced as us or more so. Therefore I want our family to continue existing for as long as is possible, and so I have decided the best way for this to come to pass is for you and Tyuule to marry." Meiya said before looking to Tyuule. "Do you accept this?" Meiya asked, raising an eyebrow before Tyuule dropped from her chair to a knee quickly but yet visibly nervously. "Y-yes your majesty! I will be the best wife I can be to your son!" Meiya smiled and waved Tyuule and her son off, signaling for them to leave, both doing so rather quickly.

Zipangese Imperial Ministry of Defense, Sub Level 50. Special Weapons, and Top Secret Classified Projects.

Yuuko sighed, holding her right index and middle finger tips to the right side of her head gently going over it in a circular motion. "Damn it all. ..Those CON and Europeans just had to show up now. ...And now our budget may get cut." Yuuko looked over from the other side of her desk to see Kasumi, and Inia standing there wearing semi newly developed uniforms, they looked almost like Yuuko's but were without the black dress shirt, Yuukos own outfit had yet to change in anyway, shape or form. ...This wasn't the first time such thing was heard of in the ZSE, the ZSE's Imperial Royal Guard retained the old uniforms of the Imperial Japanese Royal Guard before Alternative V was put into place.

"Does this mean we may have to abandon another planet?" Kasumi said plainly much to Yuuko's... Annoyance. Kasumi still was somewhat of a silent soul but since Major General Asgill, another relic of the ZSE from before they became the ZSE and were the Empire of Japanese Pacific States, got into contact with Kasumi she gained the... Tendency to speak her mind a bit more often than usual, while Inia remained the happy, care free girl she was, Cryska on the other hand... She kept herself buried in her work since leaving Earth, working closely with Voss while Yuuko was busy, discussing budgetary concerns and assimilating new species into the research group, the current situation was the latter, she was already working to assimilate Zetan technicians and researchers into the group. To get them caught up to speed, though they were quick learners and highly intelligent it seemed they were already ahead of the ZSE in some projects the ZSE was already developing. "No. We won't be abandoning Zipang Prime. ...And we won't be giving anything up without a fight, our home world itself is fortified to the teeth.... I suppose we may receive a visit from the Shogun." Yuuko sighed and stood up from her chair taking her labcoat off the back of it before putting it on.

"Well, we should inform the staff of the possibility of the visit." Yuuko walked around her desk, grabbing Kasumi's ear before pulling her along. "You shouldn't ask stupid questions." Yuuko said before letting go of Kasumi's ear and continuing on out of the door, Kasumi followed behind with Inia walking at her side. Both of these girls were Espers, almost as old as Yuuko but retained their looks through Yuuko's perfected gene therapy of which was utilised throughout the Empire by both those in power and those not in power. Yuuko continued down the long metallic hallway and to a door with a red strip going down the center of it, holding her personnel badge up to a scanner at the side of the door, it opened to show a large hall in which technicians and researchers worked together, a mix of Ascended, Chōrō-tachi, Zetans, and lastly Zipangese worked on multiple projects, ranging from weapons, designs for both capital ships and starfighters, and further down the hall, separated by a large, shielded blast door, work of "greater importance" went on there.

Yuuko walked to the hallways while she got nods and greetings from multiple researchers and technicians, the same was with Kasumi and Inia. Yuuko finally reached the door and she looked into a retna scanner and stuck her tongue out, her tongue also being scanned and gently scraped for DNA, the match was made and the door opened while the shield turned off, Yuuko, Kasumi, and Inia entered to see Erich Voss, a former member of the German Empire's Abwehr and another former member of the German Empire's military, she rarely ever remembered his name, though she could remember his last name. Storch. They were working with Cryska and a small number of Zetans, Chōrō-tachi and twenty of the Ascended. The door closed behind Yuuko and the shield turned back on, Inia ran up to Cryska and hugged her waist while Kasumi remained by Yuuko. A smile came to Yuuko's face it was always nice to see such things... Though now wasn't really the time. "Everyone!" Yuuko said gaining the attention of the multiple species in the room. "We are now at war with the UBNA and the German Empire... Again. The Shogun may yet visit us here soon, so. ...How's the research going?" Yuuko said while a sparkle entered her eye, she missed the days when she herself was part of the research and development. It was rare to see her take part in such when she was fighting with teeth and claws for a sufficient budget for the R&D.

[New Decius]

Imperial Dimension Research Unit, Zipang Prime
Zipangese Star Empire

Colonel Wolfgang Storch was technically a human male Terran from Germany, only not the Terra the Zipangese had fled. Rather the Terra of another dimension, now known as Dimension-02 by the members of the Imperial Dimension Research Unit on Zipang Prime, where he had been a leading member of the Resistance against the Final Reich. The Final Reich was a National Socialist superstate that took over the Sol System by 1848 in Storch’s dimension using advanced technology, enslaving the Martian’s and Venusian’s as inferior species, and creating an empire of twenty star systems by 1974. In 1974 the Resistance had discovered the Final Reich was experimenting with dimensional portals and launched an attack on the SS facility where the prototype was located, during the attack both Storch and a high ranking SS officer were sent through the portal and ended up in Dimension-01 in the year 2001. Storch would later turn spy for the Japanese during WW3 with his memories returning shortly before the wars end and joining the Japanese Exodus. Now he worked to develop technology to combat the Final Reich when they finally came or to take the fight to them.

In his current occupation, Storch and a team made up of humans, Chōrō-tachi, Ascended, and Zetan’s worked to perfect interdimensional portal technology and also make contact with what remained of the Resistance in Dimension-02 who would use whatever portals, short-lasted though they may be, the unit managed to open to send bits of Final Reich technology through for reverse engineering which the unit also handled. Under the direction of General Erich Voss, a Terran from Germany who defected during WW3 after discovering his son and his family were killed by the KSD (German Imperial Secret Police 1988-2024) to cover up evidence of a genetic warfare program (The Werwolf Project), and subsequently Director Yuuko, they were a not so well known vital project. The Shogun had given Storch access to all the resources he needed for research and development, understanding that the Final Reich would eventually be a serious threat to the Zipangese Star Empire should they ever choose to cross over to Dimension-01 , and so Storch’s job was to prepare for precisely that event.

At present, Storch was waiting nervously as the moderately sized portal opened up, a swirling mass of gold energy, hopefully one that would last longer than the last couple. Long enough for his Resistance contacts on the other side to get this weapon across successfully, some new Final Reich energy cannon for the infantry. A Chōrō-tachi technician by the name of Goto warned that the stabilizers would not hold for long and the portal might collapse soon. “Keep it open a moment longer Goto, give them a chance.” Thirty seconds later a large object materialized out of the portal just before it snapped shut, and clanged to the ground. It was clearly a hand held energy weapon of some sort, about twice the size of an obsolete Terran gatling gun and with one long barrel like that of a cannon, with a bulky rear. “I wonder what’s so special about it.”

“A good question.” That mechanical voice came from General Voss himself, striding up to the table where the cannon had been heaved up onto to examine it alongside Storch. Unlike Storch who opted for genetic therapy to maintain his youth, Voss had discarded his aged body (He was 70 when the Exodus occurred) and instead transferred his mind into an android body, though he upgraded to a new model every twenty years or so. “Given the portable shield generator they sent through several months ago, I’m sure it won’t be anything we will be happy about.”

Not but five minutes later Director Yuuko came in and all but Storch greeted her with the rigid discipline that had long been drilled into them. In fact he didn’t notice her arrival and kept working on the infantry cannon until Voss nudged him with his elbow at which point he turned around and gave a smiling salute. “Ah Director what a lovely thing it is to see you again. Radiant as ever aren’t you? I have a new acquisition here to show you.” His smile fell from his face. “Through studying this infantry cannon my old comrades managed to get to us through a portal there has been made an alarming discovery. There are elements present in this device that were not present in any of the previous pieces of weaponry or general technology they sent through.” He knew Yuuko, as a fellow scientists would see the problem that faced them now. “It would seem that the Final Reich has reached a stage of technological development where they are now creating new elements, and thus will soon be prepared for altering reality itself. They will try to open another portal, on a much grander scale this time. How long till then I cannot say, but it will not be long.”

[Zipangese Star Empire]

Imperial Dimension Research Unit, Zipang Prime
Zipangese Star Empire

Colonel Wolfgang Storch was technically a human male Terran from Germany, only not the Terra the Zipangese had fled. Rather the Terra of another dimension, now known as Dimension-02 by the members of the Imperial Dimension Research Unit on Zipang Prime, where he had been a leading member of the Resistance against the Final Reich. The Final Reich was a National Socialist superstate that took over the Sol System by 1848 in Storch’s dimension using advanced technology, enslaving the Martian’s and Venusian’s as inferior species, and creating an empire of twenty star systems by 1974. In 1974 the Resistance had discovered the Final Reich was experimenting with dimensional portals and launched an attack on the SS facility where the prototype was located, during the attack both Storch and a high ranking SS officer were sent through the portal and ended up in Dimension-01 in the year 2001. Storch would later turn spy for the Japanese during WW3 with his memories returning shortly before the wars end and joining the Japanese Exodus. Now he worked to develop technology to combat the Final Reich when they finally came or to take the fight to them.

In his current occupation, Storch and a team made up of humans, Chōrō-tachi, Ascended, and Zetan’s worked to perfect interdimensional portal technology and also make contact with what remained of the Resistance in Dimension-02 who would use whatever portals, short-lasted though they may be, the unit managed to open to send bits of Final Reich technology through for reverse engineering which the unit also handled. Under the direction of General Erich Voss, a Terran from Germany who defected during WW3 after discovering his son and his family were killed by the KSD (German Imperial Secret Police 1988-2024) to cover up evidence of a genetic warfare program (The Werwolf Project), and subsequently Director Yuuko, they were a not so well known vital project. The Shogun had given Storch access to all the resources he needed for research and development, understanding that the Final Reich would eventually be a serious threat to the Zipangese Star Empire should they ever choose to cross over to Dimension-01 , and so Storch’s job was to prepare for precisely that event.

At present, Storch was waiting nervously as the moderately sized portal opened up, a swirling mass of gold energy, hopefully one that would last longer than the last couple. Long enough for his Resistance contacts on the other side to get this weapon across successfully, some new Final Reich energy cannon for the infantry. A Chōrō-tachi technician by the name of Goto warned that the stabilizers would not hold for long and the portal might collapse soon. “Keep it open a moment longer Goto, give them a chance.” Thirty seconds later a large object materialized out of the portal just before it snapped shut, and clanged to the ground. It was clearly a hand held energy weapon of some sort, about twice the size of an obsolete Terran gatling gun and with one long barrel like that of a cannon, with a bulky rear. “I wonder what’s so special about it.”

“A good question.” That mechanical voice came from General Voss himself, striding up to the table where the cannon had been heaved up onto to examine it alongside Storch. Unlike Storch who opted for genetic therapy to maintain his youth, Voss had discarded his aged body (He was 70 when the Exodus occurred) and instead transferred his mind into an android body, though he upgraded to a new model every twenty years or so. “Given the portable shield generator they sent through several months ago, I’m sure it won’t be anything we will be happy about.”

Not but five minutes later Director Yuuko came in and all but Storch greeted her with the rigid discipline that had long been drilled into them. In fact he didn’t notice her arrival and kept working on the infantry cannon until Voss nudged him with his elbow at which point he turned around and gave a smiling salute. “Ah Director what a lovely thing it is to see you again. Radiant as ever aren’t you? I have a new acquisition here to show you.” His smile fell from his face. “Through studying this infantry cannon my old comrades managed to get to us through a portal there has been made an alarming discovery. There are elements present in this device that were not present in any of the previous pieces of weaponry or general technology they sent through.” He knew Yuuko, as a fellow scientists would see the problem that faced them now. “It would seem that the Final Reich has reached a stage of technological development where they are now creating new elements, and thus will soon be prepared for altering reality itself. They will try to open another portal, on a much grander scale this time. How long till then I cannot say, but it will not be long.”

Imperial Dimension Research Unit, Zipang Prime
Zipangese Star Empire.

"Oh? Something else came through hmm?" Yuuko asked before stepping up to the cannon taking a look over it. "Very interesting... And makes me very jealous. ...Oh how religion has held us back... Well anyway. We should look into whether or not the ability of powering this weapon is compatible with G-11, or even G-9. ...Hmm. Well, good work. I'm certain if we present this to the Shogun when she likely visits, she'll consider diverting funds from else where... Or even increasing our funds to continue work on the portal. However we should look into converting the power sources of the devices given to us by our friends on the other side to G-Elements... If the nazis have the ability to create new elements with their technology then we should also look into attempting this, as well as replication of materials.... I'll have to pull a separate team together for that though." Yuuko smiled as she set the cannon down back on the table.

"However this, and the portal will remain on the top of our priorities, the sooner we implement them into our forces the better. We should send a gift back for our friends, send them a tactical G-bomb back, and have them record the results of it.... We were unable to record the fresh results with the g-bombs detonated on Earth so this'll be a great opportunity to give back for all they've given us... And to still receive some very useful information." Yuuko motioned for Kasumi and Inia to join her as she got ready to leave the room with a few of the reports to lock in her private safe. "We'll catch up soon, with the Zetans now helping us, anyway I have to make the usual rounds, I'll be back with the Shogun if she shows up!" Yuuko turned and waved her hand off, starting towards the exit she went through the same procedure as she had when she first entered, leaving the room with Kasumi and Inia to check on other projects.

Above Zipang Prime, Zipangese Type 229 Star Cruiser/Starfighter/Tactical Surface Fighter Carrier Zipang-Class, The Fusou, Flagship of the Imperial Zipangese Navy

Grand Admiral Thetch stood on the bridge of his flagship, the Fusou, was itself one of around 10,000 ships of the Zipang-Class, the ZSE owed it's naval power much to advancements in droid technology, and certain planets in the empire being fully devoted to the construction of warships and civilian ships, the Fuso is one of the ZSE's newest addition to the fleet, the Type 229 Starships were the newest starship types of the ZSE's navy of which functioned both as a mainline warship, starfighter carrier and Tactical Surface Fighter Carrier, the Zipangese TSFs were far from being the same as their predecessors of the Imperial Japanese Military, able to enter into combat in space and on planets, they were shielded both with an energy shield and a large supplemental armour shield of Titanium/Steel alloy while armed with plasma firing assault cannons and a large energised lance of which the ZSE's TSF pilots used to disable capital ships. Everything was falling into place, the fleet was manoeuvring into position for a jump to ZIpang 04 when Thetch received an... Not completely unexpected visitor. "Grand Admiral Thetch." A soft young voice called out behind the Chōrō-tachi, which caused him to turn and face the unknown person behind him, it was Princess Yoshiko.

"Ah, Princess. It's an honour to see you again, welcome to the Fusou." Thetch bowed his head while Princess Yoshiko walked past him, towards the windows of the bridge overlooking the dagger shaped ship and the fleet before and around it. "I have decided to join you on your vessel... To study more closely the operations of the Navy and Army as the Shogun has ordered." Yoshiko turned and put her left hand on the pommel of her Katana of which hung from her uniform on her left side. "Of course your majesty." Thetch returned to an upright position while Yoshiko walked passed him once again to the rear of the bridge and towards a holographic map table, Thetch followed behind and took up an opposite standing of the Princess while she looked over the battle plans... They were rather simple, the best plans were of course. The Home fleet would be first to arrive and gain the attention of the enemy while another fleet set from Zipang-06 would encircle the enemy ships from behind and a final third fleet from Zipang-10 would arrive last to cut off the last avenue from escape.

"Hmm... Rather simple isn't it?" Princess Yoshiko said, looking to Thetch. "Yes ma'am, but force is all the enemy will understand, a quarter of the home fleet will join us, 45 ships in all, the fleet from Zipang-06 will increase our numbers by 25, then the fleet by Zipang-10 will increase us to 110 ships in all." Thetch said while he brought his hands from behind his back holding his chin with his right while he held his right elbow with his left. "Though with the planetary based TSFs we should have all bases covered, the enemy will submit to our power or they will be destroyed as the Shogun specified." Yoshiko smiled and turned away from the table back towards the direction of the windows of the bridge. "Then on your lead Admiral, commence fleet operations." Princess Yoshiko said while Thetch a smirk donned on Thetch's face before he bowed his head to Yoshiko. "Of course your highness." Thetch then walked past Yoshiko folding his hands back behind his back, returning to the front of the bridge, speaking loudly. "Fleet is to set sail immediately! All ships to Zipang-04! Maximum speed!" Then within a moment, large circular portals opened infront of the ships of the fleet, the Fusou being first in through the portal, the portal opening up on the otherside with the Fusou coming into visual range along with all other 45 ships of Zipang Prime's Home Defence Fleet.

Zipang Prime, The Shogun's Balcony, just moments after Zipang Prime's Home Defence Fleet's departure from Zipang Prime

Meiya had left her office after the meetings of which she organised between her, Princess Yoshiko, Grand Admiral Thetch, Lord General Kitagou Ayaka, Prince Taro, and Regent Tyuule, leaving out to the main balcony of the Imperial Palace, looking out to the massive crowds gathering through the streets below, looking to the Shogun and to holographic projectors of which would carry her voice and her figure throughout the homeworld and across the Empire. "My people.. Citizens of the Zipangese Star Empire, Zipangese, our brothers and sisters of other species brought into the fold of brotherhood and unity of which our empire represents. For many years we were a broken nation, we lived in shame, we lost our honour, forcing us to come to this place. This place we call our home, but it was for the longest time a planet of which we suffered, starved, and toiled, to make this planet liveable! To give our children a future, to secure ourselves from all threats, both foreign and domestic! Over 200 years ago I asked for time, and that time was granted by you, you the true strength of our empire, the holders of our united hopes and dreams! We fled in shame, devoid of our homeworld, we starved, we lived many sleepless days to build shelter, then to establish crops, I myself had to starve as did my own child, Princess Yuuhi, while we toiled along side you, to build what you see today. We now live in a prosperous time, but unfortunately there are those who would now deny us our very right to breathe, but... It was for this I rebuilt our nation, I rebuilt our strength and I rebuilt our pride! ..Our enemies at home were long ago reeducated, we gave them and all those who would doubt our cause a new insights int our cause. And on this day we must stand united once more. On this day! Those driven to destroy us will hear our voice, on this day we shall act as one and we shall secure ourselves, and our united peoples their rightful place as the rulers of this universe and the next! You, the defenders of the Zipangese Star Empire, the defenders of our children. You! The defenders of our civilisation! Now is our time! We shall take over the German's and Brit's glorious works ourselves, is no definite answer as to how long we must fight to extinguish all threats to our civilisation, and so I expect of all of you, to fight to your last drop of blood, to your last breath, to your last charge pack, until your weapons melt from the heat of overuse, we will fight, we will remain free. We Zipangese are going to take the place of the Terrans as the masters of earth, we're going to put those arrogant assholes in Berlin and Victoria to the mines of Zipang-20, the future of the universe doesn't require the Terrans, it requires the Zipangese! ...So let us make peace with our goddess Amaterasu and go to war!"

After Meiya spoke, crowds all over the empire on it's territorial planets, in ships throughout the Empire, civilians and military alike cheered, yells of "Long live the Shogun! Death to the enemies of the Empire!" Rang out across the Empire. ...This broadcast would be sent out across the Empire and beyond on all frequencies of communication, Meiya just delivered the public declaration of war from the Zipangese, to the Terrans of Earth.

[New Decius]

Das Kaiserhalle, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
German Empire, Europa Prime, Empire of Europa

”...the time has come. Our enemy has been riled and will soon strike our seemingly helpless expedition. The great battle of our time is about to begin, and we shall emerge victorious, for it is destined to be. I have foreseen it.” The Emperor was practically giddy as he announced his latest vision to his Inner Council, cackling away in his massive throne to a point where many in the throne room were rather unnerved by the sight of the almost three hundred year old man having a fit of joy. His guards on either side of the throne did not share their expressions, their faces being masked by reflective faceplates, an element that meant that their enemy stared into the face of their own demise. One member of the Inner Council, Grand Admiral Julia von Kaalzebrütt, was joining the session by holo given that she was currently onboard her flagship, the SMS Tyranny, in orbit over Jupiter, along with the 12th Fleet awaiting the Emperor’s orders for departure. ”When our fleet arrives we shall annihilate those Japanese refugees once and for all. As we should have done back in the war but alas those North American pacifists would not allow us to do so, even after all the death and terror they had wrought upon the world.” In his own mind the Emperor smirked as he recalled that through his false flag attacks, some of them quite massive and deadly, against the Commonwealth and the European Community, even against Germany itself, he had made the Japanese out to be monsters. Japan did start the war by launching kinetic attacks on Moskau, Rome, and Saigon but Germany intensified it by using its black budget programs to attack civilian targets in North America with sarin gas bombs including the German embassy in Victoria, and the Foreign Ministry in Berlin shortly after. Then came the checkmate when the MANTIS network, at the time Germany’s strategic railgun defense network, was hijacked and used to destroy targets across the German Empire including the residence where Crown Prince Franz was present at at the time along the Kaiser’s younger sister.

His August Highness, Prince Rudolf Gottfried Stadtfeld di Europa, another of the Emperor’s great-great grandsons, though much wiser than foolish Hadrian, posed a point to his family patriarch. “Your Majesty, in what condition will we leave the foe’s planets? We may need them later on for expansion of the Eternal Empire, and so they would make excellent colony worlds and already settled thus making the process go much more smoothly.” The Emperor did not hesitate to answer. ”We will obliterate any trace of their civilization from existence. Wipe them out, all of them. Not a single survivor from any of their inferior species is to be left alive. We missed our chance to destroy this enemy once, we will not do so again.” He turned to the hologram of Grand Admiral Kaalzebrütt. ”You have your orders Grand Admiral. Depart when ready and strike down our foe. Exterminate them, all of them.”

”By your will Your Majesty.”

SMS Tyranny, 12th Europan Star Fleet, Raeder Spacedock
Jupiter, Shared Space, Sol System

“By your will, Your Majesty.” Grand Admiral Julia von Kaalzebrütt ended the transmission and turned to the condition of her bridge, satisfied with both her orders and the force she was given to accomplish those orders. As one of the Original’s among the Werwolf’s, her mere presence commanded immediate respect and deference before anyone even knew who she was, the platinum blonde hair flowing down to her center back and crimson eyes clashing with the grey uniform she wore. She stalked down the central causeway to the viewport, technicians in the pits on either side stopping briefly to stare as she passed before returning to work, so as to survey her fleet in formation, assembled for her review.

Her own flagship was an Olympus Mons-Class Dreadnought, fresh from the shipyards and ready for battle. At two and a half kilometers in length from bow to stern it was the largest class of warship yet produced for the Europan Star Fleet, and boasted an armament consisting entirely of Helium-3 energy weapons, a first among Europan warships which made their primary armament as railgun artillery batteries and energy weapons as secondary. The Olympus Mons-Class also boasted its own bow mounted EPSILON-Class Grade 6 Particle Cannon, powerful enough to tear right through a warships shields with relative ease. The Europan designed EPSILON satellite particle cannons were first tested in 2078 as a means of defense against asteroids, forming a defense grid to systematically tear an asteroid to pieces until they were no longer a large threat to the planet. Just seven of said cannons in orbit over Mars took out a two kilometer long asteroid on a collision course for the planet, dicing it up like a piece of fruit in the matter of an hour. That was the original Grade 1 and it was since expanded upon all the way up to now Grade 7 for the current satellite defense grids at Mars and Earth. The CON agreed to allow a grid of thousands of Europan laser satellites in orbit only because they had a hand in having thousands of relay and communications satellites working in tandem with the defense grid to detect the asteroids. The Olympus Mons was the first Europan attempt to arm a military warship with particle cannon technology, utilizing 2200 era Grade 6 to account for the strain on a ship’s reactor. Additionally the Dreadnought’s carried a compliment of fifty primary turbolaser batteries and twenty missile and torpedo banks. Though the ship did have no dedicated point defense system, it did have room for up to 48 Mark VI Supremacy starfighters and 16 War Frames.

Making up the main line cruiser compliment of the 12th Fleet were 6 Harrower-I-Class Cruisers, the dedicated cruiser class of the Europan Imperial Fleet. The "point" of the Harrower-class's wedge was split down the middle for a quarter to a third of the length of the ship, forming two prongs. Between those two prongs was one of the Harrower-class's hangar bays, with two hangar openings stacked on top of each other and protected by force fields. Two additional hangars were located on either side of the ship, between the ends of the forward prongs and two smaller "wings" that protruded from each side closer to the rear of the ship. A final War Frame hangar was located on the underbelly of the cruiser. Despite its numerous hangers allowing it to carry over a hundred starfighters and bombers along with 24 War Frames, the ship is primarily a cruiser. At a kilometer in length it carries 24 heavy dual railgun batteries on its upper deck divided into two groups of twelve on either side of the bridge superstructure, 8 secondary laser batteries in two groups of four on each wing, 18 missile and torpedo banks, and 20 dedicated point defense laser cannons. Harrower-I cruisers are more than capable of acting on their own against most enemies that the Europan Star Fleet comes across be they pirates or primitive space travelers. For the coming engagement, one alone will not do the trick.

To cover the carrier compliment are 3 Harrower-II-Class Carrier Cruisers. Like their predecessors, the Harrower-I, the second generation were designed to be able to operate on their own if need be, favoring hanger compliment over overwhelming firepower. The Harrower-II has a close wedge in the front and an additional six small hangers on either side, a secondary War Frame hanger on its underbelly, and a dedicated bomber hanger at the base of the bridge superstructure. It features only six primary heavy railgun’s on either side of the bridge superstructure, and four secondary laser cannons on either wing. It makes up for the lack in heavy firepower by being outfitted with 30 missile and torpedo banks, and a network of 48 dedicated point defense laser cannons scattered across the hull of the ship, primarily around the hangers. At 800 meters, the class can carry up to 220 starfighters and bombers along with 30 War Frames.

Giving the fleet its light cruiser compliment are ten Gladiator-Class Support Cruiser’s, the same class as the SMS Himmelreich. Nothing much impressive about these vessels, 500 meters long with a single hanger at the front splitting the forward superstructure in two. Twelve medium single railgun batteries along the forward superstructure and 18 missile and torpedo banks. Capable of carrying 28 starfighters and bombers, but no War Frame’s.

Finally making up the screen compliment for the 12th Fleet are 20 Terminus-Class Destroyers. Similarly plain in detail at 650 meters long with two wings projecting from its stern, one on either side, and no hanger bays. 6 medium single railgun batteries along the upper hull make up its primary weaponry while 28 missile and torpedo banks fill out the rest and 20 dedicated point defense lasers give it an anti-fighter capability as a destroyer.

Having surveyed her fleet and overseen all the ships getting into attack formation, given that it was presumed battle would begin as soon as they entered the Alpha Centauri system, Grand Admiral Kaalzebrütt was struck with a sudden idea. The Tyrant had been combat tested in all but one regard; its particle cannon. No time like the present as the saying goes. She turned to the officer in command of the Tyrant, Captain Argus Kaine, with what could only be described as a sinister smirk gracing her features, fitting of her species name of Werwolf. “Captain, prepare particle cannon for firing. Contact one of the shipyards and tell them to detach a Harrower-I from its birth to give us a target. I want to test this weapon before we go into battle with it, and what better way to test it than on a live target as opposed to say an asteroid or the like.” Within moments her orders were complied to and one of the nearby shipyards had detached a nearly finished Harrower-I to let it float in open space, though still stuck in Jupiter’s orbit, and a perfect target for the Tyranny. Julia could hear the murmurs and mutters around the bridge as the firing procedure was carried out, her eyes fixated on the big floating target just waiting out there. Finally the process was complete and merely awaited her order to fire. It came swiftly. “Fire.”

From the bow mounted cannon, a blue beam shot out and smashed into the Harrower-I in seconds; to say it cut through the ship would be an understatement, it knifed through it would be more accurate. The shipyard had put the ship’s shields to maximum before releasing it from its berth, but the weapon treated them as if they weren’t even there, smashing through the shields and blowing through the warship itself. The resulting reaction of having hit the derelict ship dead in its reactor caused the entire warship to erupt in explosions and blow apart into hundreds of pieces.

“Take us to our enemy. Take us to war.” And then the fleet jumped to lightspeed.

SMS Himmelreich, United Terra Expeditionary Mission
Alpha Centauri-4, Alpha Centauri System

Lieutenant Petrosk attracted the attention of Captain van Doorn that the Endeavor was attempting to hail them, likely about engineering problems again. Still somewhat shaken in regards to the whole inhabited system knowledge they had just uncovered, Feliks figured speaking with the Common’s (Europan slang for CON citizens) might take his mind off it and allow him to relax. “Put it through.” Walking back to the central terminal on the rear of the bridge, a hologram of Captain Jay Klein of the SDI ship Endeavor popped up. Somewhat snidely, Feliks started. “Ah Captain, and what mechanical issue have you suffered now? Bearing in mind your ships have suffered quite a few issues on this trip while our own have been smooth sailing the whole journey. Perhaps you can take a hint from our ship builders.” Feliks knew he was ignoring the fact that the Europan ships were military vessels and so would naturally be much better equipped to quickly handle mechanical failures as opposed to research vessels. He just didn’t care.

[Zipangese Star Empire]

Das Kaiserhalle, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
German Empire, Europa Prime, Empire of Europa

”...the time has come. Our enemy has been riled and will soon strike our seemingly helpless expedition. The great battle of our time is about to begin, and we shall emerge victorious, for it is destined to be. I have foreseen it.” The Emperor was practically giddy as he announced his latest vision to his Inner Council, cackling away in his massive throne to a point where many in the throne room were rather unnerved by the sight of the almost three hundred year old man having a fit of joy. His guards on either side of the throne did not share their expressions, their faces being masked by reflective faceplates, an element that meant that their enemy stared into the face of their own demise. One member of the Inner Council, Grand Admiral Julia von Kaalzebrütt, was joining the session by holo given that she was currently onboard her flagship, the SMS Tyranny, in orbit over Jupiter, along with the 12th Fleet awaiting the Emperor’s orders for departure. ”When our fleet arrives we shall annihilate those Japanese refugees once and for all. As we should have done back in the war but alas those North American pacifists would not allow us to do so, even after all the death and terror they had wrought upon the world.” In his own mind the Emperor smirked as he recalled that through his false flag attacks, some of them quite massive and deadly, against the Commonwealth and the European Community, even against Germany itself, he had made the Japanese out to be monsters. Japan did start the war by launching kinetic attacks on Moskau, Rome, and Saigon but Germany intensified it by using its black budget programs to attack civilian targets in North America with sarin gas bombs including the German embassy in Victoria, and the Foreign Ministry in Berlin shortly after. Then came the checkmate when the MANTIS network, at the time Germany’s strategic railgun defense network, was hijacked and used to destroy targets across the German Empire including the residence where Crown Prince Franz was present at at the time along the Kaiser’s younger sister.

His August Highness, Prince Rudolf Gottfried Stadtfeld di Europa, another of the Emperor’s great-great grandsons, though much wiser than foolish Hadrian, posed a point to his family patriarch. “Your Majesty, in what condition will we leave the foe’s planets? We may need them later on for expansion of the Eternal Empire, and so they would make excellent colony worlds and already settled thus making the process go much more smoothly.” The Emperor did not hesitate to answer. ”We will obliterate any trace of their civilization from existence. Wipe them out, all of them. Not a single survivor from any of their inferior species is to be left alive. We missed our chance to destroy this enemy once, we will not do so again.” He turned to the hologram of Grand Admiral Kaalzebrütt. ”You have your orders Grand Admiral. Depart when ready and strike down our foe. Exterminate them, all of them.”

”By your will Your Majesty.”

SMS Tyranny, 12th Europan Star Fleet, Raeder Spacedock
Jupiter, Shared Space, Sol System

“By your will, Your Majesty.” Grand Admiral Julia von Kaalzebrütt ended the transmission and turned to the condition of her bridge, satisfied with both her orders and the force she was given to accomplish those orders. As one of the Original’s among the Werwolf’s, her mere presence commanded immediate respect and deference before anyone even knew who she was, the platinum blonde hair flowing down to her center back and crimson eyes clashing with the grey uniform she wore. She stalked down the central causeway to the viewport, technicians in the pits on either side stopping briefly to stare as she passed before returning to work, so as to survey her fleet in formation, assembled for her review.

Her own flagship was an Olympus Mons-Class Dreadnought, fresh from the shipyards and ready for battle. At two and a half kilometers in length from bow to stern it was the largest class of warship yet produced for the Europan Star Fleet, and boasted an armament consisting entirely of Helium-3 energy weapons, a first among Europan warships which made their primary armament as railgun artillery batteries and energy weapons as secondary. The Olympus Mons-Class also boasted its own bow mounted EPSILON-Class Grade 6 Particle Cannon, powerful enough to tear right through a warships shields with relative ease. The Europan designed EPSILON satellite particle cannons were first tested in 2078 as a means of defense against asteroids, forming a defense grid to systematically tear an asteroid to pieces until they were no longer a large threat to the planet. Just seven of said cannons in orbit over Mars took out a two kilometer long asteroid on a collision course for the planet, dicing it up like a piece of fruit in the matter of an hour. That was the original Grade 1 and it was since expanded upon all the way up to now Grade 7 for the current satellite defense grids at Mars and Earth. The CON agreed to allow a grid of thousands of Europan laser satellites in orbit only because they had a hand in having thousands of relay and communications satellites working in tandem with the defense grid to detect the asteroids. The Olympus Mons was the first Europan attempt to arm a military warship with particle cannon technology, utilizing 2200 era Grade 6 to account for the strain on a ship’s reactor. Additionally the Dreadnought’s carried a compliment of fifty primary turbolaser batteries and twenty missile and torpedo banks. Though the ship did have no dedicated point defense system, it did have room for up to 48 Mark VI Supremacy starfighters and 16 War Frames.

Making up the main line cruiser compliment of the 12th Fleet were 6 Harrower-I-Class Cruisers, the dedicated cruiser class of the Europan Imperial Fleet. The "point" of the Harrower-class's wedge was split down the middle for a quarter to a third of the length of the ship, forming two prongs. Between those two prongs was one of the Harrower-class's hangar bays, with two hangar openings stacked on top of each other and protected by force fields. Two additional hangars were located on either side of the ship, between the ends of the forward prongs and two smaller "wings" that protruded from each side closer to the rear of the ship. A final War Frame hangar was located on the underbelly of the cruiser. Despite its numerous hangers allowing it to carry over a hundred starfighters and bombers along with 24 War Frames, the ship is primarily a cruiser. At a kilometer in length it carries 24 heavy dual railgun batteries on its upper deck divided into two groups of twelve on either side of the bridge superstructure, 8 secondary laser batteries in two groups of four on each wing, 18 missile and torpedo banks, and 20 dedicated point defense laser cannons. Harrower-I cruisers are more than capable of acting on their own against most enemies that the Europan Star Fleet comes across be they pirates or primitive space travelers. For the coming engagement, one alone will not do the trick.

To cover the carrier compliment are 3 Harrower-II-Class Carrier Cruisers. Like their predecessors, the Harrower-I, the second generation were designed to be able to operate on their own if need be, favoring hanger compliment over overwhelming firepower. The Harrower-II has a close wedge in the front and an additional six small hangers on either side, a secondary War Frame hanger on its underbelly, and a dedicated bomber hanger at the base of the bridge superstructure. It features only six primary heavy railgun’s on either side of the bridge superstructure, and four secondary laser cannons on either wing. It makes up for the lack in heavy firepower by being outfitted with 30 missile and torpedo banks, and a network of 48 dedicated point defense laser cannons scattered across the hull of the ship, primarily around the hangers. At 800 meters, the class can carry up to 220 starfighters and bombers along with 30 War Frames.

Giving the fleet its light cruiser compliment are ten Gladiator-Class Support Cruiser’s, the same class as the SMS Himmelreich. Nothing much impressive about these vessels, 500 meters long with a single hanger at the front splitting the forward superstructure in two. Twelve medium single railgun batteries along the forward superstructure and 18 missile and torpedo banks. Capable of carrying 28 starfighters and bombers, but no War Frame’s.

Finally making up the screen compliment for the 12th Fleet are 20 Terminus-Class Destroyers. Similarly plain in detail at 650 meters long with two wings projecting from its stern, one on either side, and no hanger bays. 6 medium single railgun batteries along the upper hull make up its primary weaponry while 28 missile and torpedo banks fill out the rest and 20 dedicated point defense lasers give it an anti-fighter capability as a destroyer.

Having surveyed her fleet and overseen all the ships getting into attack formation, given that it was presumed battle would begin as soon as they entered the Alpha Centauri system, Grand Admiral Kaalzebrütt was struck with a sudden idea. The Tyrant had been combat tested in all but one regard; its particle cannon. No time like the present as the saying goes. She turned to the officer in command of the Tyrant, Captain Argus Kaine, with what could only be described as a sinister smirk gracing her features, fitting of her species name of Werwolf. “Captain, prepare particle cannon for firing. Contact one of the shipyards and tell them to detach a Harrower-I from its birth to give us a target. I want to test this weapon before we go into battle with it, and what better way to test it than on a live target as opposed to say an asteroid or the like.” Within moments her orders were complied to and one of the nearby shipyards had detached a nearly finished Harrower-I to let it float in open space, though still stuck in Jupiter’s orbit, and a perfect target for the Tyranny. Julia could hear the murmurs and mutters around the bridge as the firing procedure was carried out, her eyes fixated on the big floating target just waiting out there. Finally the process was complete and merely awaited her order to fire. It came swiftly. “Fire.”

From the bow mounted cannon, a blue beam shot out and smashed into the Harrower-I in seconds; to say it cut through the ship would be an understatement, it knifed through it would be more accurate. The shipyard had put the ship’s shields to maximum before releasing it from its berth, but the weapon treated them as if they weren’t even there, smashing through the shields and blowing through the warship itself. The resulting reaction of having hit the derelict ship dead in its reactor caused the entire warship to erupt in explosions and blow apart into hundreds of pieces.

“Take us to our enemy. Take us to war.” And then the fleet jumped to lightspeed.

SMS Himmelreich, United Terra Expeditionary Mission
Alpha Centauri-4, Alpha Centauri System

Lieutenant Petrosk attracted the attention of Captain van Doorn that the Endeavor was attempting to hail them, likely about engineering problems again. Still somewhat shaken in regards to the whole inhabited system knowledge they had just uncovered, Feliks figured speaking with the Common’s (Europan slang for CON citizens) might take his mind off it and allow him to relax. “Put it through.” Walking back to the central terminal on the rear of the bridge, a hologram of Captain Jay Klein of the SDI ship Endeavor popped up. Somewhat snidely, Feliks started. “Ah Captain, and what mechanical issue have you suffered now? Bearing in mind your ships have suffered quite a few issues on this trip while our own have been smooth sailing the whole journey. Perhaps you can take a hint from our ship builders.” Feliks knew he was ignoring the fact that the Europan ships were military vessels and so would naturally be much better equipped to quickly handle mechanical failures as opposed to research vessels. He just didn’t care.

Zipangese Type 229 Star Cruiser/Starfighter/Tactical Surface Fighter Carrier Zipang-Class, The Fusou, Flagship of the Imperial Zipangese Navy.
Now arriving out of Highspeed travel followed by the rest of the first battlegroup.

After the Fusou has left out of the portal in which it used to arrive to Zipang-04, Grand Admiral Thetch couldn't help but question the sanity of the Terrans. Sending out two armed ships to escort two research vessels? A larger fleet would be much better suited to defence, however he wasn't about to be the one to inform the Terrans on how a proper space force should operate. More so since they were the enemy, his enemy, the enemy of which he was tasked with either capturing or putting down. "What is the status of those ships?!" Thetch yelled and a officer down in the right crewpit of the bridge replied while he looked over the shoulder of a junior officer. "It appears the ships are still holding their position sir! We have confirmation of active communications between the contacts!" Thetch held his chin and turned to the officer down in the crew pit. "Commence communication jamming, use the Shogun's speech to... Drown out whatever conversation they maybe having... But leave one channel open. I will address these soon to be prisoners."

Thetch said while he turned around, facing a holographic projector, the crew preforming his orders to the letter, he waited a moment before speaking. "Attention to the starships of the Union of British North America and of the German Empire, In the name of her Imperial Majesty, Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya, and with the authority granted me as the overall commander of the First Battlegroup, I demand your complete and utter surrender." Thetch said before the transmission cut he knew they were likely to be advanced enough to have some sort of method of translation aboard their ships so speaking in either German or... English was only a matter of convenience for them, this would be his first, and only warning to the Terrans, he still did of course had to wait for the second and third battle groups to arrive, but before that his fleet would manoeuvre to compensate, the Fusou keeping at the rear of the formation of 45 ships.

Princess Yoshiko on the other hand watched from behind Thetch, looking to the unknown ships. "Such pitiful ships... Lightly armed and likely lightly armoured. If they truly came to kill us off then they chose the worst weapons to do it with." Thetch listened and nodded his head, simply to appease the Princess and let her think he was listening when he wasn't he was too deep in thought to be concerned with what an amateur in the art of war was concerned with, he was to be Princess Yoshiko's teacher in the art of naval warfare so she'd get a... Above average class in it. "Have the crusiers, Sendai, Oorai, and Sapparo swing around the planet to surround the enemy, and cut off one avenue of escape while we wait for the second and third battle groups to arrive!" Thetch yelled to the communications officer down in the left crewpit of whom quickly relayed the orders. "Have all ships begin deploying their TSF loads and prep bombers to disable the ships should they decide to try to run!" Thetch barked out immediately afterward. This would be the beginning of captivity for the enemy both off the planet and on the planet.

Zipang-04 Capital City, Hachi

Governor Lea Gegranne sighed, Zipang-04 was officially supposed to be a planet governed by the government of the Sixth French Republic, a one person government organised under Lea, however this was far from the case, the government answered only to the ZIpangese and Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya, but that wasn't what concerned her. What concerned her was the German troops on her planet. "Merde.... Those bosch bastards finally found us..." Lea said while she sat at her desk, holding her head she then was interrupted by thankfully... The Shogun herself, via hologram. "Lea." Meiya said which caused Lea to almost jump out of her chair. "My god! You scared me your highness!" Lea quickly gathered herself and returned to her chair, calmly and collected. "What are we to do with the bosch? You know they've landed on Zipang-04 yes?" Lea asked, raising an eyebrow to which Meiya smiled.

"But of course. I know. Which is why I've sent three battlegroups to capture the enemy ships and all personnel. ... However I fear the space battle may yet take some time. So. You have my full permission to mobilise your droid forces and the PDF of Zipang-04, but I want the enemy alive. ....If possible of course." Meiya said to which Lea couldn't help but agree with. Even though she had wanted to kill the Germans off entirely for invading her beloved homeland before she had the opportunity to install her own government... Though of course that was ancient history and Lea held one thing in the back of her mind, should a war had come to the ZSE and it was victorious against the Terrans, Lea was promised her homeland would be spared from the fires of orbital bombardment and she would be allowed to take control of it as a government loyal to the ZSE. "Thank you madame Shogun. ...I will do my best to have prisoners rounded up for you." Lea stood up from her chair and bowed her head while the image of Meiya faded from the top of her desk.

Quickly, Lea accessed her personal console on her desk and began sending out orders, firstly. The order of mobilisation of the Droid Defence Force on Zipang 04 and the second order, the mobilisation of Zipang-04's planetary defense forces, of which were made up of locals, which would make an... Interesting sight to say the least for the enemy, to see not only Zipangese but members of the alien species of which populated the ZSE. Just as quickly as Lea's orders went out, she could hear the droids across the city, the clanking of their metal feet on the hard steel ground, they would be followed by transports of which carried more droids and tanks of which themselves were controlled by droids, the droids in question were Type 225 Combat Drones, meant to phase out the majority of ZIpangese and other alien species in the military... But have had yet to take centre stage. The large convoy of ten transports and two droid corps marching in columns, 5 droids deep on each side. The sound of the clanking as it got further, and further from Lea was almost... Music to her ears, after so long of preparation for war, for over 200 years, finally the day came, the day in which the journey would start for her start to return home.

[Rupudska]

Christophorus-Palast, Rio de Janeiro, Holy Roman Empire of Karlsland

Due to many strange turns of events in the past two strange centuries, the Holy Romagnan Empire (and specifically, the House of Hohenzollern) found itself controlling not Germania, not Europe, not even Rome or its colonies. Instead, it found itself controlling the whole of South America along with a good chunk of Central America, a handful of Pacific islands (including a massive artificial one which served as a space port), respectable portions of Mercury and Ceres, and a major space port floating at the Trojan Camp Lagrange point of Saturn, known informally as the Eagle's Nest and formally as the SMS Cronus.

With this in mind, it was no surprise that the current King of Prussia, Kaiser of Karlsland, and Emperor of the Romans, Wilhelm III, found himself seated in the royal office of the former palace of the Brazilian emperors in Rio de Janeiro. Wilhelm III was an odd man, and in some ways the complete opposite of the Europan kings - Frail and clumsy, with a weak constitution, and for much of his adult life had a stutter. Red-headed and thin, he had on occasion been compared to an exceptionally tall gibbon due to his lanky frame. In essence, the very picture of a weak king.

So how had he managed to maintain his position? How had the Red King of the Witches managed to maintain the respect of the other nations of Terra, managed to maintain Karlsland's place within the Sol system as a major power? The man had all the appearance of a shrinking violet, but he had no fear. He showed no fear to the nobles and business magnates of Europa when they tried to weasel their way into Karlsland's dominance of the asteroid mines surrounding Ceres. He showed no fear commanding the SMS Santiago and the Jovian Fleet as it cleared out the L₄ Lagrange point of Jupiter of one of the worse pirate outbreaks of recent memory. The man was a tower of steel - The wind could shake it all it wanted, but it would never kneel.

It would, however, sit and read the news in between signing things - approval for the new Roon-class warships - officially 'heavy cruisers' because Karlsland determined the class of anything that wasn't a carrier by size, but closer to dreadnoughts when compared to what was fielded by the Europans and Commons. Also because, quite frankly, Admiral Emnauel Schenze von Altamira didn't feel the need to name a ship such an intimidating thing when all it was likely to do for the extent of its life was deal with pirates.

The man watched too much of those old Commons science fiction films, in Kaiser Wilhelm's mind.

Then there were papers regarding the upcoming meeting between himself and President-General Vera Fontaine regarding the two nations' possible upcoming joint training exercise in the Caribbean. Sure, Karlsland's own training fields deep in the Amazon were nice, especially with the Amazon having been restored to its former size and glory for the past thirty years, but they provided little in terms of experience on tropical mountains, or with beach/sea operations. Not that the Kaiser expected a war on Earth, but Europe and the Commonwealth weren't the only nations with dreams of interstellar expansion. Karlsland had wanted to send vessels for the Alpha Centauri mission, however no warships were available (read: Admiral von Altamira didn't think they would need any more help/didn't want to deal with the Europan's ego), and their best long-range science vessels were on the other side of the system investigating the ninth 'planet' deep in the Kuper Belt, which the KLR had tentatively named Janus - which they could do because the Saturnian moon previously named Janus had been destroyed in an accident involving one of Terra's first FTL drives.

Next, the hand of Chancellor Edvard Mujica, holding a manila folder - strange how they still did things the old fashioned way.

Wait.

"C-Chancellor Mujica? To what do I owe this, eh, surprise?" The Chancellor was very much not like the Kaiser physically - old, a bit portly, slightly balding with a moustache and the deep copper skin color typical more of a working-class man of the Pampas rather than the head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. Sure, he had started in life as a cattle farmer in the Rio Grande do Sul province of east-central Karlsland, but he had been a politician almost since he had been in college, and a sort of mentor to the current Kaiser. Even if he was a bit of a socialist.

"Your Holy Majesty, please look inside the folder. Spymaster Wilkins would have given it to you herself, but-"

"I am aware of her broken leg, Chancellor. What is- oh. Oh, dear." There were no pictures, but the contents were obvious.

"Do the Commoners know about this?"

"If not, they will soon. The Europeans aren't exactly keeping this a secret."

Pregnant silence filled the air for several seconds, before the Chancellor made a soft coughing sound.

"What shall we-" His words stopped in his throat as the Kaiser held up a hand.

"Tell Defense Minister Lovelace to raise our defensive posture from level 5 to level 4, and tell him it is likely that it will go higher. For now, do nothing otherwise."

"As you wish, sir."

[New Decius]

SMS Himmelreich, Europan Expedition Consignment to the United Nations
United Terra Expedition to Alpha Centauri, Alpha Centauri System
Alpha Centauri-4

The first sign of imminent danger was when all communications between the Himmelreich and the Endeavor were suddenly and abruptly cut off. That only mildly alarmed Captain van Doorn and the rest of the bridge crew, as that could be explained by another mechanical failure on the Commons ships, hopefully. The next sign of imminent danger was much more obvious, and they hardly needed the multitude of blaring alarms to inform them of it, when dozens of ships began to exit lightspeed portals over Alpha Centauri-4 in what was clearly a fleet battle formation. The scanners, which had been calm and empty moments ago, were lighting up like a holiday festival in Berlin. Not only were communications with the SDI ships cut, so were all transmissions between the Himmelreich and the landing party on the planet below, no way to warn the troops and no way to call for help. Feliks was more concerned with how this force had managed to avoid being picked up by their deep space probes and the scans they had conducted of the system. "How the hell did we not pick them up!? Who was asleep at their post or what droid had a malfunction that forty-five damn ships escaped their notice?! I want specs on those warships now!?" Someone then brought up the matter of the speech drowning out all their communications channels. "Well someone get that blasted terrible voice off the line or at least mute all the channels so we don't have to hear that screeching! And scramble those fighters!"

Just then, a holographic projection of what appeared to be a blue skinned humanoid in a dark uniform appeared on the central console. The language he was speaking was indiscernible but the translator managed to muddle it through into Europan Basic English. "Attention to the starships of the Union of British North America and of the German Empire, In the name of her Imperial Majesty, Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya, and with the authority granted me as the overall commander of the First Battlegroup, I demand your complete and utter surrender." Feliks was only 35 so he had not lived long enough to remember when the German Empire had been an entity separate from the Europan Empire, or the Union of British North America an individual separate entity from the CON-SDI, however he had read history logs in school and independent study. The words 'Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya' rang a bell as being the name of the Shogun of the Japanese Empire at the time of the start of the 3rd World War and the person directly responsible for the start of said war. But she was believed dead alongside the Emperor and their daughter when a Ghoul experiment failure was dropped on the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and slaughtered the three of them, in 2017. That was well over two hundred years ago, how could the bitch still be alive? Lieutenant Petrosk approached nervously, no amount of Europan societal discipline or fleet academy training could prepare a man for something like this.

"Sir, shall we respond? And what about communicating to the SDI ships, we are technically charged with their defense but we can't raise them. Not to mention this unnerving talk of a woman who died on Earth over two hundred years ago during the Great Patriotic War. What are your orders?" For several moments, Feliks had no answer as he tried to collect his thoughts, being so jumbled as they were. Clearly this was an enemy possessing both a grudge against the old superpowers on Earth, now long since absorbed into far more powerful entities, and the technology to act on such a grudge. If they did indeed surrender, then the databanks on the SDI ships were purely scientific and so would not wield much in the way of strategic knowledge, but the two Europan warships carried military data and fleet details for the entire Outer Sector Defense Forces; information on a whole six star fleets and twenty-two defense outposts, not to mention codes to pass through the Sol Particle Cannon Defense Grid without being fired on. The enemy could not be allowed to take the ships, nor even the crew, in a stable condition. He turned to Lieutenant Petrosk with a look of conviction on his face. "Lieutenant, can we still get a communication through to the Festung?" Petrosk nodded saying a burst transmission should be able to get through. "Good give orders to prime all weapons and prepare to unleash on their target." The Lieutenant was almost afraid to ask what the target was. "The target is us. We have no chance at even making a dent in the enemy forces and so we shall do our best to deny spoils to the enemy. Give orders to start clearing our data logs, all information is to be erased including the backups. Give orders for the Festung to begin doing the same and remain ready to fire when I give the order. I want all our weapons primed to target the destroyer so we will ultimately deny the enemy any gain outside the SDI ships, and that will give then no strategic knowledge to getting through the defenses of the Sol System."

As the crew around began to set to work emptying all the data from the ships computers and priming all weapons with the Festung set as the target, Feliks prepared to contact the enemy. He would utilize the one communication channel the enemy had left open, for their response to the surrender demand. In several moments he began transmitting his own message back to the enemy flagship. "Attention hostile forces, whomever you may be, I am Captain Feliks van Doorn, overall commander of the security forces charged with escorting the United Terra research mission to Alpha Centauri. With the authority of His Grand Exalted August Imperial Majesty, Emperor Erwin Ludwig Stadtfeld di Europa von Germania, and as a loyal soldier of the Europan Empire, I refuse your demand for surrender most vehemently and without hesitation. What sort of soldier would I be if I caved to the enemy, even in the face of overwhelming odds? Even if I cannot put a single dent in your fleet, it is my duty as a true Europan to deny you any spoils from my ships and so I am having all data erased from our computers and on my order both my light cruiser and the destroyer will begin firing on each other until the target has been destroyed. With the automated control system engaged the ships will not stop firing on each other until they are completely neutralized. For Europa and For His Majesty! The Empire is Eternal!" As the transmission ended the order was sent to the Festung to active automated control system and the Himmelreich would do same.

The first weapons to open fire on either ship were the Type-212 Medium Caliber Single Railgun Batteries, the most powerful weapon on either the light cruiser or the destroyer. The kinetic warheads tore right through the hull with ease, disregarding shields as if they weren't even there and detonating inside the ships causing even more damage; the hull breaches alone killed any crew members nearby by sucking them out into the vacuum of space. The missiles and torpedoes on both ships were directed by the ACS to target vital systems like the engines and bridge, though even without a bridge the hive ACS system would keep the weapons firing on the last acquired target until the whole ship or the target was completely inoperable. Feliks watched with morbid pride as his ship and that of his colleague Captain August Declair were torn apart by one another. An ensign called out suddenly. "Sir! We've lost our bridge deflector shields!" Then another voice shouted out that fatal cry. "Incoming!" Right before a torpedo crashed through the viewport and detonated inside the bridge, destroying the whole command deck and killing most of the personnel on the bridge, with those not killed in the explosion sucked out into the vacuum of space.

Europan Landing Party, Surface of Alpha Centauri-4/Zipang-4

Sergeant Öberhauser was alarmed when all communications with the fleet were cut off, but he was horrified when his macrobinocs in his visor showed him a view of orbit and he saw the Himmelreich and the Festung blasting each other to pieces. An officer like Captain van Doorn would only do that in the event that he wanted to deny any spoils to an enemy, but never before had the Europan Empire encountered an enemy that required such a foe. After all a Harrower-I could subdue the average mining colony all on its own, without even needing to deploy its ground troops. Then Heinrich saw the opposing force also in orbit and realized their presence on the surface was likely also compromised.

That was confirmed when one of his forward scouts sent a message over their comms. "I've got movement in the distance, looks like some form of large assault walker, way more than we've got firepower to handle. What are the orders?" Heinrich knew in an instant what his orders should be. "Start destroying all of our equipment, and wipe the databanks on the shuttles! Destroy all your gear! Do it now! Before the enemy arrives here!" They began destroying their weapons, helmets, and gauntlet computers while several men began ransacking the shuttles.

(OOC: Basically you'll get to capture the Commonwealth ships and crew unharmed but you'll not lay a finger on the Europan starships. You will get to capture the landing party alive but none of their vital equipment or weaponry intact. I was gonna have them commit suicide but they can't destroy their weapons and kill themselves in short clean order.)

[The Union of British North America]

SDIS Endeavor, Alpha Centauri-4 space

Captain Klein mentally rolled his eyes at the posh Europan naval officer. He hated the omnipresent attitude of condescension that was part and parcel of the Europan military officer. Must be their big ships and guns. Klein mentally thought the size of their fleet was to compensate for something...lacking in a certain department...but was surprised that he couldn't reply back to Captain Feliks on the holocom. "Sir, we're being jammed, unknown who is doing it." said Lt. Singh. "I suppose Captain Euro Fancypants is doing this to make us look like idiots, saying our comms are sh..." Klein was cut off in his rant when a holo materialized with a humanoid looking figure speaking in a language that sounded familiar. "Can our AI translate that?" asked Klein. "Yes, Captain. Translation in progress. Language is mutually intelligible with some East Asian languages." replied the ship's AI. "Wait, how is that possible, we're lightyears apart..." asked Lt. Singh. When the translation finally was played by the AI, it shocked the bridge crew. "Shogun Meiya Mitsurugi? The leader of the defunct Japanese Pacific States? The country that was made into the Union of East Asia after the Pacific War over 200 years ago?" asked the weapons officer Lieutenant Aki Hikowa. The ship only had a few defensive measures, namely small laser turrets for blasting away debris, and she was in charge of them. "It seems our enemy from over two centuries ago has not really been defeated, only fled to seek out refuge to rebuild," said Dr. Glassman. Klein let out a sigh. "I guess we can't go here for our first extrasolar colony. Occupado."

Hikowa's radars went off as major weapons were fired. The only major weapons would be on the Europan escort ships. Hikowa turned to her console. "The Euros are...shooting each other?" she said in disbelief. Zooming on the battle 10 kilometers away from them with the port side cameras, they caught the last shots of both ships hitting each other. "Captain Euro Fancypants decided to end the life of himself and of about couple hundred sailors to prevent the ships from falling into enemy hands." said Klein as he took command of the frontal camera to zoom in on the enemy fleet. "Smart bastard, though I would have evacuated you guys out before I ordered the SD." said the Captain. "What do we do?" asked the comms officer. Klein though for a minute. He knew the enemy would close up on them soon.

Klein was going to be frank to his crew. "We're in deep trouble, and the Euros made it worse. But, all is not lost. I have a plan. Lieutenant Marks, my navigational officer, orient us at the planet. Our plan is to use the jump drive to create an EMP close to the enemy fleet so they can't respond for a few minutes. The Columbia will jump, and we'll make a break for the asteroid belt. Even if the enemy has posts and ships there, we can dodge and hide in the thousands of asteroids. Then, we'll just wait and hide for the cavalry." Some of the officers gave each other looks. The helm officer, Lieutenant Jaggers, let out a protest, calling the Captain "Klein", but Hikowa intervened on his behalf. “You are an idiot. The Captain rates the honorific 'sir.' You will render that honorific or I will plant my foot in your ass!” Klein was appreciative of her skills as a de facto executive officer. That ended discussion. The bridge decided that this was their best bet.

The Endeavor and the Columbia were both Viator-class blockade runners refitted to be research ships--they were bought at a CON Orbital Guard auction by the Navy. They sacrificed cargo space in exchange for greater speed (close to a standard SDI cruiser), and they had enough armor to withstand a beating. Klein didn't know what weapons the enemy had, but he thought the toy would be enough to buy a few minutes for the Columbia to jump. "Have us at the L2 point, Lt. Marks. The diversion will be ready then." said Klein.

The Endeavor reached its coordinates, and Klein entered his passwords and clearance. The diversion was in play. A thump was heard in the bridge. On the frontal screen, the feed showed the ship's jump drive being sent in the general direction of Alpha Centauri-4. The ship's jump drive was secretly modified to detach--it had rockets for proplusion. Klein looked at the rear screen. Have the Columbia run for the edge of the system and jump on my mark...5...4...3...2...1...Mark!" he ordered to Singh. The Columbia made a break for it as the jump drive, too small to be detected for a few seconds until radiological sensors picked it up, accelerated towards Alpha Centauri-4.

The jump drive activated, creating a large implosion in orbit, 100 km away from the enemy ships. It created an EMP and the enemy fleet was caught in it. Some lights flickered off and some ships destabilized. The Columbia made the jump.

The Endeavor, out of a jump drive and out of luck of getting out of the system, made a break for the asteroid belt. "You're crazy, Captain," said Glassman, on the bridge still despite all that has transpired. "That's why my wife divorced me." said Klein.

[Zipangese Star Empire]

SMS Himmelreich, Europan Expedition Consignment to the United Nations
United Terra Expedition to Alpha Centauri, Alpha Centauri System
Alpha Centauri-4

The first sign of imminent danger was when all communications between the Himmelreich and the Endeavor were suddenly and abruptly cut off. That only mildly alarmed Captain van Doorn and the rest of the bridge crew, as that could be explained by another mechanical failure on the Commons ships, hopefully. The next sign of imminent danger was much more obvious, and they hardly needed the multitude of blaring alarms to inform them of it, when dozens of ships began to exit lightspeed portals over Alpha Centauri-4 in what was clearly a fleet battle formation. The scanners, which had been calm and empty moments ago, were lighting up like a holiday festival in Berlin. Not only were communications with the SDI ships cut, so were all transmissions between the Himmelreich and the landing party on the planet below, no way to warn the troops and no way to call for help. Feliks was more concerned with how this force had managed to avoid being picked up by their deep space probes and the scans they had conducted of the system. "How the hell did we not pick them up!? Who was asleep at their post or what droid had a malfunction that forty-five damn ships escaped their notice?! I want specs on those warships now!?" Someone then brought up the matter of the speech drowning out all their communications channels. "Well someone get that blasted terrible voice off the line or at least mute all the channels so we don't have to hear that screeching! And scramble those fighters!"

Just then, a holographic projection of what appeared to be a blue skinned humanoid in a white uniform appeared on the central console. The language he was speaking was indiscernible but the translator managed to muddle it through into Europan Basic English. "Attention to the starships of the Union of British North America and of the German Empire, In the name of her Imperial Majesty, Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya, and with the authority granted me as the overall commander of the First Battlegroup, I demand your complete and utter surrender." Feliks was only 35 so he had not lived long enough to remember when the German Empire had been an entity separate from the Europan Empire, or the Union of British North America an individual separate entity from the CON-SDI, however he had read history logs in school and independent study. The words 'Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya' rang a bell as being the name of the Shogun of the Japanese Empire at the time of the start of the 3rd World War and the person directly responsible for the start of said war. But she was believed dead alongside the Emperor and their daughter when a Ghoul experiment failure was dropped on the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and slaughtered the three of them, in 2017. That was well over two hundred years ago, how could the bitch still be alive? Lieutenant Petrosk approached nervously, no amount of Europan societal discipline or fleet academy training could prepare a man for something like this.

"Sir, shall we respond? And what about communicating to the SDI ships, we are technically charged with their defense but we can't raise them. Not to mention this unnerving talk of a woman who died on Earth over two hundred years ago during the Great Patriotic War. What are your orders?" For several moments, Feliks had no answer as he tried to collect his thoughts, being so jumbled as they were. Clearly this was an enemy possessing both a grudge against the old superpowers on Earth, now long since absorbed into far more powerful entities, and the technology to act on such a grudge. If they did indeed surrender, then the databanks on the SDI ships were purely scientific and so would not wield much in the way of strategic knowledge, but the two Europan warships carried military data and fleet details for the entire Outer Sector Defense Forces; information on a whole six star fleets and twenty-two defense outposts, not to mention codes to pass through the Sol Particle Cannon Defense Grid without being fired on. The enemy could not be allowed to take the ships, nor even the crew, in a stable condition. He turned to Lieutenant Petrosk with a look of conviction on his face. "Lieutenant, can we still get a communication through to the Festung?" Petrosk nodded saying a burst transmission should be able to get through. "Good give orders to prime all weapons and prepare to unleash on their target." The Lieutenant was almost afraid to ask what the target was. "The target is us. We have no chance at even making a dent in the enemy forces and so we shall do our best to deny spoils to the enemy. Give orders to start clearing our data logs, all information is to be erased including the backups. Give orders for the Festung to begin doing the same and remain ready to fire when I give the order. I want all our weapons primed to target the destroyer so we will ultimately deny the enemy any gain outside the SDI ships, and that will give then no strategic knowledge to getting through the defenses of the Sol System."

As the crew around began to set to work emptying all the data from the ships computers and priming all weapons with the Festung set as the target, Feliks prepared to contact the enemy. He would utilize the one communication channel the enemy had left open, for their response to the surrender demand. In several moments he began transmitting his own message back to the enemy flagship. "Attention hostile forces, whomever you may be, I am Captain Feliks van Doorn, overall commander of the security forces charged with escorting the United Terra research mission to Alpha Centauri. With the authority of His Grand Exalted August Imperial Majesty, Emperor Erwin Ludwig Stadtfeld di Europa von Germania, and as a loyal soldier of the Europan Empire, I refuse your demand for surrender most vehemently and without hesitation. What sort of soldier would I be if I caved to the enemy, even in the face of overwhelming odds? Even if I cannot put a single dent in your fleet, it is my duty as a true Europan to deny you any spoils from my ships and so I am having all data erased from our computers and on my order both my light cruiser and the destroyer will begin firing on each other until the target has been destroyed. With the automated control system engaged the ships will not stop firing on each other until they are completely neutralized. For Europa and For His Majesty! The Empire is Eternal!" As the transmission ended the order was sent to the Festung to active automated control system and the Himmelreich would do same.

The first weapons to open fire on either ship were the Type-212 Medium Caliber Single Railgun Batteries, the most powerful weapon on either the light cruiser or the destroyer. The kinetic warheads tore right through the hull with ease, disregarding shields as if they weren't even there and detonating inside the ships causing even more damage; the hull breaches alone killed any crew members nearby by sucking them out into the vacuum of space. The missiles and torpedoes on both ships were directed by the ACS to target vital systems like the engines and bridge, though even without a bridge the hive ACS system would keep the weapons firing on the last acquired target until the whole ship or the target was completely inoperable. Feliks watched with morbid pride as his ship and that of his colleague Captain August Declair were torn apart by one another. An ensign called out suddenly. "Sir! We've lost our bridge deflector shields!" Then another voice shouted out that fatal cry. "Incoming!" Right before a torpedo crashed through the viewport and detonated inside the bridge, destroying the whole command deck and killing most of the personnel on the bridge, with those not killed in the explosion sucked out into the vacuum of space.

Europan Landing Party, Surface of Alpha Centauri-4/Zipang-4

Sergeant Öberhauser was alarmed when all communications with the fleet were cut off, but he was horrified when his macrobinocs in his visor showed him a view of orbit and he saw the Himmelreich and the Festung blasting each other to pieces. An officer like Captain van Doorn would only do that in the event that he wanted to deny any spoils to an enemy, but never before had the Europan Empire encountered an enemy that required such a foe. After all a Harrower-I could subdue the average mining colony all on its own, without even needing to deploy its ground troops. Then Heinrich saw the opposing force also in orbit and realized their presence on the surface was likely also compromised.

That was confirmed when one of his forward scouts sent a message over their comms. "I've got movement in the distance, looks like some form of large assault walker, way more than we've got firepower to handle. What are the orders?" Heinrich knew in an instant what his orders should be. "Start destroying all of our equipment, and wipe the databanks on the shuttles! Destroy all your gear! Do it now! Before the enemy arrives here!" They began destroying their weapons, helmets, and gauntlet computers while several men began ransacking the shuttles.

(OOC: Basically you'll get to capture the Commonwealth ships and crew unharmed but you'll not lay a finger on the Europan starships. You will get to capture the landing party alive but none of their vital equipment or weaponry intact. I was gonna have them commit suicide but they can't destroy their weapons and kill themselves in short clean order.)

SDIS Endeavor, Alpha Centauri-4 space

Captain Klein mentally rolled his eyes at the posh Europan naval officer. He hated the omnipresent attitude of condescension that was part and parcel of the Europan military officer. Must be their big ships and guns. Klein mentally thought the size of their fleet was to compensate for something...lacking in a certain department...but was surprised that he couldn't reply back to Captain Feliks on the holocom. "Sir, we're being jammed, unknown who is doing it." said Lt. Singh. "I suppose Captain Euro Fancypants is doing this to make us look like idiots, saying our comms are sh..." Klein was cut off in his rant when a holo materialized with a humanoid looking figure speaking in a language that sounded familiar. "Can our AI translate that?" asked Klein. "Yes, Captain. Translation in progress. Language is mutually intelligible with some East Asian languages." replied the ship's AI. "Wait, how is that possible, we're lightyears apart..." asked Lt. Singh. When the translation finally was played by the AI, it shocked the bridge crew. "Shogun Meiya Mitsurugi? The leader of the defunct Japanese Pacific States? The country that was made into the Union of East Asia after the Pacific War over 200 years ago?" asked the weapons officer Lieutenant Aki Hikowa. The ship only had a few defensive measures, namely small laser turrets for blasting away debris, and she was in charge of them. "It seems our enemy from over two centuries ago has not really been defeated, only fled to seek out refuge to rebuild," said Dr. Glassman. Klein let out a sigh. "I guess we can't go here for our first extrasolar colony. Occupado."

Hikowa's radars went off as major weapons were fired. The only major weapons would be on the Europan escort ships. Hikowa turned to her console. "The Euros are...shooting each other?" she said in disbelief. Zooming on the battle 10 kilometers away from them with the port side cameras, they caught the last shots of both ships hitting each other. "Captain Euro Fancypants decided to end the life of himself and of about couple hundred sailors to prevent the ships from falling into enemy hands." said Klein as he took command of the frontal camera to zoom in on the enemy fleet. "Smart bastard, though I would have evacuated you guys out before I ordered the SD." said the Captain. "What do we do?" asked the comms officer. Klein though for a minute. He knew the enemy would close up on them soon.

Klein was going to be frank to his crew. "We're in deep trouble, and the Euros made it worse. But, all is not lost. I have a plan. Lieutenant Marks, my navigational officer, orient us at the planet. Our plan is to use the jump drive to create an EMP close to the enemy fleet so they can't respond for a few minutes. The Columbia will jump, and we'll make a break for the asteroid belt. Even if the enemy has posts and ships there, we can dodge and hide in the thousands of asteroids. Then, we'll just wait and hide for the cavalry." Some of the officers gave each other looks. The helm officer, Lieutenant Jaggers, let out a protest, calling the Captain "Klein", but Hikowa intervened on his behalf. “You are an idiot. The Captain rates the honorific 'sir.' You will render that honorific or I will plant my foot in your ass!” Klein was appreciative of her skills as a de facto executive officer. That ended discussion. The bridge decided that this was their best bet.

The Endeavor and the Columbia were both Viator-class blockade runners refitted to be research ships--they were bought at a CON Orbital Guard auction by the Navy. They sacrificed cargo space in exchange for greater speed (close to a standard SDI cruiser), and they had enough armor to withstand a beating. Klein didn't know what weapons the enemy had, but he thought the toy would be enough to buy a few minutes for the Columbia to jump. "Have us at the L2 point, Lt. Marks. The diversion will be ready then." said Klein.

The Endeavor reached its coordinates, and Klein entered his passwords and clearance. The diversion was in play. A thump was heard in the bridge. On the frontal screen, the feed showed the ship's jump drive being sent in the general direction of Alpha Centauri-4. The ship's jump drive was secretly modified to detach--it had rockets for proplusion. Klein looked at the rear screen. Have the Columbia run for the edge of the system and jump on my mark...5...4...3...2...1...Mark!" he ordered to Singh. The Columbia made a break for it as the jump drive, too small to be detected for a few seconds until radiological sensors picked it up, accelerated towards Alpha Centauri-4.

The jump drive activated, creating a large implosion in orbit, 100 km away from the enemy ships. It created an EMP and the enemy fleet was caught in it. Some lights flickered off and some ships destabilized. The Columbia made the jump.

The Endeavor, out of a jump drive and out of luck of getting out of the system, made a break for the asteroid belt. "You're crazy, Captain," said Glassman, on the bridge still despite all that has transpired. "That's why my wife divorced me." said Klein.

Zipangese Type 229 Star Cruiser/Starfighter/Tactical Surface Fighter Carrier Zipang-Class, The Fusou, Flagship of the Imperial Zipangese Navy.

Thetch watched while multiple ships of which moved into an interception position had subsequently lost power, a Terran device had been ejected from the ship itself, now one ship had escaped, this one... Wouldn't be so fortunate. "Begin firing on the Terran vessel's engines. It will not escape." Then like clockwork, the Fusou began pursuing the Endeavour while the 20 ships of which moved into position to intercept the Endeavour and Columbia had lost power, were working to restore it, this left the rest of the battlegroup, minus the Sendai, Oorai, and Sapparo, would begin spreading out in a defensive formation while it awaited the arrival of the last two battlegroups. Thetch looked on with interest while blue laser bolts shot around the Endeavour, with a set finally hitting the engines of the Endeavour, the Fusou began luring the ship closer with a tractor beam on the ship, forcing it to draw ever closer to the ship's secondary hanger bay, at the bottom of the ship.

"The ship has been secured with docking clamps sir!" A lowly lieutenant reported while he looked over a technician's shoulder. "Good. Now we shall see the enemy for ourselves." Thetch turned and walked past Princess Yoshiko of whom in turn followed Thetch. Entering a lift off the back of the bridge, Thetch and Yoshiko took the lift down to the lower levels of the ship and then finally got to the hanger where ZSE naval troops awaited with their weapons held at the ready across the chests. "Begin the boarding procedure, and set your weapons to stun." Thetch spoke to a nearby ZSE naval infantry officer of whom motioned for his men to get on with it, two troops clad in heavy armour went to the airlock of the Endeavour carrying a large metal bracket with small devices on it. The devices were used by the ZSE to board enemy ships, they were essentially plasma cutters of which moved along the bracket, cutting the airlock's doors out of place.

With a loud thud, the door fell forward into the ship and two members of the ZSE's naval infantry tossed in stun grenades, weapons specifically built to incapacitate a foe temporarily, afterwards they entered the ship their rifles ready, stunning whomever they found, having them drug out by secondary troops, systematically clearing the ship until they finally got to the bridge where the Captain and the bridge crew remained, backed up against the windows of the bridge and away from any possible vital systems. Grand Admiral Thetch joined the men guarding the Captain and the bridge crew with Princess Yoshiko just behind him to his right. The looks in which he got were... Unusual to say the least, either that or they were looking on him and the Princess. Noting their shared eye colour, except where as Princess Yoshiko's iris' were only red, Thetch's eyes were fully red.

After looking over the bridge crew and the Captain, Thetch spoke in heavily Japanese accented English. "So. ...I suppose since you are all disarmed and alive. You are from the Union of British North America? ...One of the countries of which forced the Founders... The Shogun, the Emperor, and their children. From their home. Am I.. Correct? ..However I suppose it doesn't matter. You are all in addition to your crew, prisoners of war. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Zipangese Star Empire." Thetch said as he rejoined Yoshiko, standing with her, his hands folded together behind his back.

Zipang-04, Ice Plains outside of Hachi.

Governor Lea Gegranne couldn't help but smile as she looked through her Macrobinoculars, a special type of binoculars of which allowed her to see much further than normal binoculars, and with greater detail. "The Germans are destroying their own equipment." She let out a rather... Unnerving chuckle, thankfully the droids piloting her walker paid no attention to it. "All forces are to advance, take the Germans alive." The two droids before her spoke. "Roger." And immediately the walker moved forward with four others at it's side, two on each side with droid troops advancing on the ground below, the droids quickly encircled the German troops while the walkers finally came to, with their control pods looking down on the Germans. "We have them.. Inform the Shogun, we have prisoners." Gegranne said to a droid standing behind her, one of which had a yellow circle painted on it's lower torso and the top of it's head painted yellow. "Roger, Governor Gegranne."

Lea smirked and turned past the droid, leaving the control pod of the walker, to the back of it, the hatch opened and a platform extended out followed by two built in lift attachments, stepping onto the platform, Lea was joined by six droids, all at her back while the platform lowered to the ground, leaving it she continued to be followed by the droids, wearing nothing but her usual uniform with a almost plastic looking chest piece, only appearing so from how it glistened in the sun. Lea stepped towards the prisoners, of whom at this point were forced to keep their hands on the back of their heads by the droids, she took a deep breath and smiled looking over the prisoners, her long blonde hair waving in the wind. After taking a moment to take in the satisfaction she would finally speak in German, though it was a tongue she hadn't spoken in over 200 years... Save for the practice for when France would be liberated by the ZSE, she spoke it almost fluently. "Welcome to Zipang-04 you bosch dogs, I am Governor Lea Gegranne... Formerly a member of the People's Republic of France's Armed Forces.... And now, Governor of the planet Zipang-04. I will explain to you what has happened. Your government has abandoned to you an ancient in your eyes power, one of which they believed was dead, long gone after they believed it's.... Beloved Shogun... Was murdered along with her family by your monstrosities."

Lea chuckled and continued from there. "But. It has been deceived with the rest of Earth. Shogun Mitsurugi Meiya, of the former Empire of Japanese Pacific States is still alive, and still very much in power. ...However the Empire of which she rules has become... Grander than the one of which she used to rule. I welcome you to the realm, of the Zipangese Star Empire. Prisoners." Lea smile turned to a rather... Demented, one after that. "Oh but don't fear. The days of shooting prisoners and tossing their lifeless corpses off aircraft carriers is long over. You will serve.. A greater purpose. One of usefulness. And so, the officers among you shall be brought before the Shogun, and presented. As prisoners of war. Though of course, all of you are prisoners, from the base soldier to... Whatever high ranking officer there maybe among you. So take heart, you may yet see your families again... However. You shall share similarities too. ...You both will be in chains." Lea giggled to herself before she turned and left, a hovercraft finally came and took her back to Hachi.... Leaving the prisoners to be guarded by the droids until Lord General Ayaka arrival.

[New Decius]

Captured Europan Landing Party, Zipang-04
Ice Plains outside of Hachi

The highest ranking soldier present among the thirty man landing party was Sergeant Heinrich Öberhauser who had managed to make out some of what 'Governor Gegranne' had said in what he believed to be obsolete German, the language now having since evolved to one of the three forms of Europan Basic (English, French, German). None of what he could make out lifted his spirits any. Though by all accounts this Zipangese Star Empire did not know of the formation of the Europan Empire following the Great Patriotic War against Japan, and seemed to believe the German Empire still a separate entity on Earth, which was somewhat useful. As a matter of fact, there were seven German's, five Russians, eight French, three Hungarian's, four Italian's, and three Iberian's in the landing party, though the idea of individual nations in Europa was at least a hundred years gone by now. Sure the Europan Parliament was divided into groups based on their imperial state such as Germany, France, Iberia etc. the idea of European nations apart from the Europan Empire was inconceivable to Heinrich and any other Europan currently living.

As members of the Europan Imperial Star Corps, all the marines in the landing party were trained to be extremely and unwaveringly loyal to Europa and to the Emperor, to betray that oath and reveal critical information to an enemy would be a fate worse than death in the eyes of any of them. They would rather die than reveal information that could bring harm to the Empire or its people. Heinrich knew he certainly would prefer death to betraying the Empire.

The droids were moving about, clearly trying to identify the officers among them or anyone with high rank for that matter but Heinrich knew he was the highest ranking soldier present among the landing party. Rather smugly he identified this to the machines. "If your looking for the commander that would be me you useless bolt buckets. Sergeant First Grade Heinrich Öberhauser, Europan Imperial Star Corps, sorry just a noncom. No shiny badges or high rank that you can have posture himself in front of your senile bitch of a Shogun and beg for his life. The highest ranking Europan officer nearby just blew himself up on our command ship in orbit."

Southern Solar Edge of the Alpha Centauri System

One moment the vast emptiness of space on the Southern solar edge of the Alpha Centauri system was just that, empty save for the endless background of stars that made up the universe. The next, warships began ripping out of lightspeed into open space in alarming quantity and making no effort to conceal their arrival. Destroyers, Cruisers, Carriers, warships of all manner were arriving into Zipangese space and with clear malice as their intent, just the sight of the Harrower-I-Class Cruisers conveyed a sufficiently morbid feeling of doom. In the span of just five minutes, the Europan 12th, 7th, and 19th Fleet's entered open space from lightspeed, having traveled from the Sol System with one purpose in mind; the destruction of the Japanese refugees, now the Zipangese Star Empire.

At the center of the massive formation of warships was the SMS Tyranny, flagship of the new Olympus Mons-Class Dreadnought's and of Grand Admiral Julia von Kaalzebrutt, its size dwarfing all other warships around save the other two dreadnoughts in the fleet Ares and Titan. Aboard the bridge of the dreadnought, Grand Admiral Kaalzebrutt was at the central console in the operations center taking stock of the task force assembled for this mission, the entire force represented in a holoprojection for her to critique and change the formation. Attending this tactical conference by hologram were the commanders of the other two dreadnoughts, Vice-Admiral Ryder Sobek and Commodore Ignacio del Cortez, along with Julia's second-in command, Captain Argus Kaine. Kaine was giving them a rundown of the assembled fleet. "All warships have reported present in zone of operations and signaled ready for combat. Reporting in the operations zone are 3 Olympus Mons dreadnoughts, 17 Harrower-I cruisers, 7 Harrower-II carriers, 23 Gladiator light cruisers, and 44 Terminus destroyers. The total tally of combat ships at disposal for command is 84." He lowered his datapad and turned to Julia. "Your orders Grand Admiral." The Werwolf member of the Inner Council had her head lowered, concealing her expression from the other officers around her but a true wolfish smirk had embedded itself on her features. There was a murderous glint in her crimson eyes that announced that there lay a killer inside alongside the tactician. Being one of the Werwolf Original's, Kaalzebrutt was originally a frontline soldier, a super soldier at that even though she was a woman and so at the time not allowed in a combat role by the Imperial German Army. After the genetic warfare program was revealed when Germany began using the Ghoul defects as weapons of terror against Japan's cities, the super soldiers began serving in regular combat. Julia was present during the Southern China Campaign where some of the most violent fighting of the war took place and had garnered the moniker 'Butcher of Canton'.

Julia raised her head and addressed the officers around her with clear murderous intent in her voice. The elation in her tone carried across the pleasure she took in destroying her enemies. "Form up in Delta Formation and prepare to receive the enemy, following my declaration to the system we are likely to receive almost immediate contact, likely from Alpha Centauri-4 the nearest planet. We will greet these inferior dogs with the full firepower of our glorious Empire!" The conference was then ended and preparations were made to hijack every communications channel the technicians could for the Grand Admiral's broadcast to the enemy. With the amount of ships hijacking communications channels it would be nigh impossible to stop the extent of the broadcast.

The broadcast began with a projection of the Grand Admiral in all her glory; grey uniform hugging her well developed figure and set off by the shining black naval boots and black gloves, seven foot frame imposing even in a hologram. As a Werwolf Original her skin was as pale as a sheet of snow and her crimson eyes shined against such a backdrop, her platinum blonde hair flowing past her shoulders beneath a grey officers cap. With a smirk of sharpened teeth and menacing fangs, she began. "Attention to the inferior creatures inhabiting this star system, specifically the Japanese cowards who fled our righteous crusade against their fascist tyranny over two centuries ago during the Great Patriotic War! Long have you sheltered here, hidden away from the just vengeance you so surely deserve for all the crimes you have committed! Rather than stick it out till the end fighting and die like true warriors with honor, a principle the Japanese mongrels claimed to revere above all else, you cowards chose to run away and hide! Well you could only stay hidden for so long before justice found you! Our glorious Emperor, may his reign be eternal, has declared that all the cowards be exterminated, that all those who associate with the cowards be exterminated! The Europan Empire will wipe away every last trace of your civilization from existence! DOWN TO THE LAST BEING! YOUR ARMIES WILL BE SUBDUED! YOUR CITIES WILL CRUMBLE! YOUR WORLDS WILL BURN! AND I WILL SINK MY TEETH INTO THE NECK OF YOUR BITCH OF A SHOGUN AND ENJOY THE TASTE OF HER BLOOD! THERE WILL BE NO QUARTER! NO MERCY! ONLY JUSTICE AND VENGEANCE! FOR EUROPA AND FOR HIS MAJESTY! THE EMPIRE IS ETERNAL!" The broadcast then ended.

Julia looked out the forward viewport of the bridge at the distant star and planets, a hungry grin on her face as she licked her lips in anticipation of the battle to come. 'Let them come, all of them. We will carve a path through them and leave a sea of blood in our wake! LET THEM COME!'

[The Union of British North America]

SDIS Endeavor, Alpha Centauri-4 Orbit

The bridge crew was indeed having their backs up against the helm consoles. A few officers had hands on their sidearms, retrieved from the bridge's small armory. But Captain Klein ordered no resistance. The bridge crew stared back at the enemy boarders, waiting for the Captain to speak.

Before the enemy boarding party broke through the main airlock, the Captain ordered purging of all data and other information banks. Even if they were just research ships, they still had data on making the right jumps to Sol. Nothing on Sol, CON-SDI, or anything else was allowed to fall in enemy hands. Per Admiral Lord Cole's Special Protocol Order 209-B, aka the Cole Protocol.

And now he began the final act of his plan. One by one, the bodies of the bridge crew collapsed, their consciousnesses transferred to an experimental but promising device on board the ship, somewhere in the cargo hold. The Captain stared at the slightly startled boarding party as several people started collapsing to the ground. Finally, he said, "see you later space cowboys..." he collapsed as well.

[b}Endeavor's cargo hold[/b]
Hawthorne woke up in his little cryo-container pod. "My, what a long nap. Approximately 5 light years from Sol to AC and that took only 24 hours." Though the subspace's internal properties were favoring them for this journey--normally it would take 36 hours. He got up and stretched, though that was instinctual, not really required for a full-armored cyborg.

"I sense we are near an old place marker from long ago. I must have have set it here on this planet, with my fellow explorers, right before we headed for what they call Terra, or Earth." he said to himself.

Hawthorne wasn't his real name; he has forgotten it due to the passing eons of time. He remembers being rescued by people from a large continent-spanning country on Earth. He was fished out of a area of an adjacent ocean known to be cursed for aircraft pilots and ship captains. They called it the Bermuda Triangle.

He also vaguely remembers why he came to Earth all those centuries ago. He was part of a three-member team that explored the stars for Elder Ones. They traveled to this planet, what the Terrans have designated as Alpha Centauri-4, and placed a cache of technology for later use by 'blessed species', intelligent life chosen to receive advanced technology. They did the same for Earth, the final destination of the expedition.

"Earth, Earth did not turn out the way we expected. We expected peace for every cache placed. Instead, the Terrans' propensity for violence led them down this path." he said. He turned to face at his pod. Suddenly, Dr. Glassman emerged from hiding. "I was wondering when you would wake up. The boarders have started searching the cargo holds, and I have been dodging them ever since. You're sure it's here?" asked Glassman. "Yes. My memories are coming back. I sense one of my brothers has been here before. We Elder Ones are able to leave what you might call 'mental imprints' or 'mental footprints'. Only species with our neurology are able to sense these things. You could call it a 'sixth sense', to refer to one of your North American movies." replied Hawthorne. "Alright. Now we need to get down to the planet without getting too much heat, though they erected a huge planet-city dome barrier." said Glassman. "Not a problem if you have that device right? The consciousnesses of the bridge crew and the stunned crew should help with processing power. We can make a hole, figuratively." said Hawthorne.

The two heard the automatic door open. "Poor bastards, as you would say." whispered Hawthorne as they both took cover. "Hey, I remember a way to get to the escape pods." said Glassman. "Lead the way, and I'll get our exit ready." said Hawthorne. They sneaked their way out of the cargo hold. They encountered some guards at the escape pod deck.

Hawthorne picked up a strange transmission in his cybercom: "...THE EMPIRE IS ETERNAL!". That sounds like Euro Basic... he said to Glassman over cybercom. Who is that? asked Glassman.

Rumbles and shakes took them by surprise. The guards by the escape pods left to go check what was going on. "Now's our chance." said Glassman. Glassman ran for the nearest escape pod. Hawthorne hacked into the central console to bring all of the port side's pods online for launch. "Technical failure, caused by enemy fire." said the alien cyborg. Hawthorne entered Glassman's pod. "Expect some minor turbulence." said Hawthorne. About 20 pods launched at the planet.

[Zipangese Star Empire]

Captured Europan Landing Party, Zipang-04
Ice Plains outside of Hachi

The highest ranking soldier present among the thirty man landing party was Sergeant Heinrich Öberhauser who had managed to make out some of what 'Governor Gegranne' had said in what he believed to be obsolete German, the language now having since evolved to one of the three forms of Europan Basic (English, French, German). None of what he could make out lifted his spirits any. Though by all accounts this Zipangese Star Empire did not know of the formation of the Europan Empire following the Great Patriotic War against Japan, and seemed to believe the German Empire still a separate entity on Earth, which was somewhat useful. As a matter of fact, there were seven German's, five Russians, eight French, three Hungarian's, four Italian's, and three Iberian's in the landing party, though the idea of individual nations in Europa was at least a hundred years gone by now. Sure the Europan Parliament was divided into groups based on their imperial state such as Germany, France, Iberia etc. the idea of European nations apart from the Europan Empire was inconceivable to Heinrich and any other Europan currently living.

As members of the Europan Imperial Star Corps, all the marines in the landing party were trained to be extremely and unwaveringly loyal to Europa and to the Emperor, to betray that oath and reveal critical information to an enemy would be a fate worse than death in the eyes of any of them. They would rather die than reveal information that could bring harm to the Empire or its people. Heinrich knew he certainly would prefer death to betraying the Empire.

The droids were moving about, clearly trying to identify the officers among them or anyone with high rank for that matter but Heinrich knew he was the highest ranking soldier present among the landing party. Rather smugly he identified this to the machines. "If your looking for the commander that would be me you useless bolt buckets. Sergeant First Grade Heinrich Öberhauser, Europan Imperial Star Corps, sorry just a noncom. No shiny badges or high rank that you can have posture himself in front of your senile bitch of a Shogun and beg for his life. The highest ranking Europan officer nearby just blew himself up on our command ship in orbit."

Southern Solar Edge of the Alpha Centauri System

One moment the vast emptiness of space on the Southern solar edge of the Alpha Centauri system was just that, empty save for the endless background of stars that made up the universe. The next, warships began ripping out of lightspeed into open space in alarming quantity and making no effort to conceal their arrival. Destroyers, Cruisers, Carriers, warships of all manner were arriving into Zipangese space and with clear malice as their intent, just the sight of the Harrower-I-Class Cruisers conveyed a sufficiently morbid feeling of doom. In the span of just five minutes, the Europan 12th, 7th, and 19th Fleet's entered open space from lightspeed, having traveled from the Sol System with one purpose in mind; the destruction of the Japanese refugees, now the Zipangese Star Empire.

At the center of the massive formation of warships was the SMS Tyranny, flagship of the new Olympus Mons-Class Dreadnought's and of Grand Admiral Julia von Kaalzebrutt, its size dwarfing all other warships around save the other two dreadnoughts in the fleet Ares and Titan. Aboard the bridge of the dreadnought, Grand Admiral Kaalzebrutt was at the central console in the operations center taking stock of the task force assembled for this mission, the entire force represented in a holoprojection for her to critique and change the formation. Attending this tactical conference by hologram were the commanders of the other two dreadnoughts, Vice-Admiral Ryder Sobek and Commodore Ignacio del Cortez, along with Julia's second-in command, Captain Argus Kaine. Kaine was giving them a rundown of the assembled fleet. "All warships have reported present in zone of operations and signaled ready for combat. Reporting in the operations zone are 3 Olympus Mons dreadnoughts, 17 Harrower-I cruisers, 7 Harrower-II carriers, 23 Gladiator light cruisers, and 44 Terminus destroyers. The total tally of combat ships at disposal for command is 84." He lowered his datapad and turned to Julia. "Your orders Grand Admiral." The Werwolf member of the Inner Council had her head lowered, concealing her expression from the other officers around her but a true wolfish smirk had embedded itself on her features. There was a murderous glint in her crimson eyes that announced that there lay a killer inside alongside the tactician. Being one of the Werwolf Original's, Kaalzebrutt was originally a frontline soldier, a super soldier at that even though she was a woman and so at the time not allowed in a combat role by the Imperial German Army. After the genetic warfare program was revealed when Germany began using the Ghoul defects as weapons of terror against Japan's cities, the super soldiers began serving in regular combat. Julia was present during the Southern China Campaign where some of the most violent fighting of the war took place and had garnered the moniker 'Butcher of Canton'.

Julia raised her head and addressed the officers around her with clear murderous intent in her voice. The elation in her tone carried across the pleasure she took in destroying her enemies. "Form up in Delta Formation and prepare to receive the enemy, following my declaration to the system we are likely to receive almost immediate contact, likely from Alpha Centauri-4 the nearest planet. We will greet these inferior dogs with the full firepower of our glorious Empire!" The conference was then ended and preparations were made to hijack every communications channel the technicians could for the Grand Admiral's broadcast to the enemy. With the amount of ships hijacking communications channels it would be nigh impossible to stop the extent of the broadcast.

The broadcast began with a projection of the Grand Admiral in all her glory; grey uniform hugging her well developed figure and set off by the shining black naval boots and black gloves, seven foot frame imposing even in a hologram. As a Werwolf Original her skin was as pale as a sheet of snow and her crimson eyes shined against such a backdrop, her platinum blonde hair flowing past her shoulders beneath a grey officers cap. With a smirk of sharpened teeth and menacing fangs, she began. "Attention to the inferior creatures inhabiting this star system, specifically the Japanese cowards who fled our righteous crusade against their fascist tyranny over two centuries ago during the Great Patriotic War! Long have you sheltered here, hidden away from the just vengeance you so surely deserve for all the crimes you have committed! Rather than stick it out till the end fighting and die like true warriors with honor, a principle the Japanese mongrels claimed to revere above all else, you cowards chose to run away and hide! Well you could only stay hidden for so long before justice found you! Our glorious Emperor, may his reign be eternal, has declared that all the cowards be exterminated, that all those who associate with the cowards be exterminated! The Europan Empire will wipe away every last trace of your civilization from existence! DOWN TO THE LAST BEING! YOUR ARMIES WILL BE SUBDUED! YOUR CITIES WILL CRUMBLE! YOUR WORLDS WILL BURN! AND I WILL SINK MY TEETH INTO THE NECK OF YOUR BITCH OF A SHOGUN AND ENJOY THE TASTE OF HER BLOOD! THERE WILL BE NO QUARTER! NO MERCY! ONLY JUSTICE AND VENGEANCE! FOR EUROPA AND FOR HIS MAJESTY! THE EMPIRE IS ETERNAL!" The broadcast then ended.

Julia looked out the forward viewport of the bridge at the distant star and planets, a hungry grin on her face as she licked her lips in anticipation of the battle to come. 'Let them come, all of them. We will carve a path through them and leave a sea of blood in our wake! LET THEM COME!'

SDIS Endeavor, Alpha Centauri-4 Orbit

The bridge crew was indeed having their backs up against the helm consoles. A few officers had hands on their sidearms, retrieved from the bridge's small armory. But Captain Klein ordered no resistance. The bridge crew stared back at the enemy boarders, waiting for the Captain to speak.

Before the enemy boarding party broke through the main airlock, the Captain ordered purging of all data and other information banks. Even if they were just research ships, they still had data on making the right jumps to Sol. Nothing on Sol, CON-SDI, or anything else was allowed to fall in enemy hands. Per Admiral Lord Cole's Special Protocol Order 209-B, aka the Cole Protocol.

And now he began the final act of his plan. One by one, the bodies of the bridge crew collapsed, their consciousnesses transferred to an experimental but promising device on board the ship, somewhere in the cargo hold. The Captain stared at the slightly startled boarding party as several people started collapsing to the ground. Finally, he said, "see you later space cowboys..." he collapsed as well.

Endeavor's cargo hold
Hawthorne woke up in his little cryo-container pod. "My, what a long nap. Approximately 5 light years from Sol to AC and that took only 24 hours." Though the subspace's internal properties were favoring them for this journey--normally it would take 36 hours. He got up and stretched, though that was instinctual, not really required for a full-armored cyborg.

"I sense we are near an old place marker from long ago. I must have have set it here on this planet, with my fellow explorers, right before we headed for what they call Terra, or Earth." he said to himself.

Hawthorne wasn't his real name; he has forgotten it due to the passing eons of time. He remembers being rescued by people from a large continent-spanning country on Earth. He was fished out of a area of an adjacent ocean known to be cursed for aircraft pilots and ship captains. They called it the Bermuda Triangle.

He also vaguely remembers why he came to Earth all those centuries ago. He was part of a three-member team that explored the stars for Elder Ones. They traveled to this planet, what the Terrans have designated as Alpha Centauri-4, and placed a cache of technology for later use by 'blessed species', intelligent life chosen to receive advanced technology. They did the same for Earth, the final destination of the expedition.

"Earth, Earth did not turn out the way we expected. We expected peace for every cache placed. Instead, the Terrans' propensity for violence led them down this path." he said. He turned to face at his pod. Suddenly, Dr. Glassman emerged from hiding. "I was wondering when you would wake up. The boarders have started searching the cargo holds, and I have been dodging them ever since. You're sure it's here?" asked Glassman. "Yes. My memories are coming back. I sense one of my brothers has been here before. We Elder Ones are able to leave what you might call 'mental imprints' or 'mental footprints'. Only species with our neurology are able to sense these things. You could call it a 'sixth sense', to refer to one of your North American movies." replied Hawthorne. "Alright. Now we need to get down to the planet without getting too much heat, though they erected a huge planet-city dome barrier." said Glassman. "Not a problem if you have that device right? The consciousnesses of the bridge crew and the stunned crew should help with processing power. We can make a hole, figuratively." said Hawthorne.

The two heard the automatic door open. "Poor bastards, as you would say." whispered Hawthorne as they both took cover. "Hey, I remember a way to get to the escape pods." said Glassman. "Lead the way, and I'll get our exit ready." said Hawthorne. They sneaked their way out of the cargo hold. They encountered some guards at the escape pod deck.

Hawthorne picked up a strange transmission in his cybercom: "...THE EMPIRE IS ETERNAL!". That sounds like Euro Basic... he said to Glassman over cybercom. Who is that? asked Glassman.

Rumbles and shakes took them by surprise. The guards by the escape pods left to go check what was going on. "Now's our chance." said Glassman. Glassman ran for the nearest escape pod. Hawthorne hacked into the central console to bring all of the port side's pods online for launch. "Technical failure, caused by enemy fire." said the alien cyborg. Hawthorne entered Glassman's pod. "Expect some minor turbulence." said Hawthorne. About 20 pods launched at the planet.

Captured Europan Landing Party, Zipang-04
Ice Plains outside of Hachi

"Commander." Another droid stated as it stepped up to the droid, clearly marked as such via it's unique paint job. "Roger, Unit B-3268?" The obviously in command droid turned to the other before the droids saluted each other and the droid of which began the conversation reported. "General Ayaka's cruiser is sending down a shuttle to ferry the prisoners to the Homeworld, it will be arriving shortly." The droid then turned and joined with the other ranks before the commanding droid turned back to Sergeant Öberhauser. "Irrelevant, prisoner. Ranks do not matter when dealing with criminals. To the knowledge of this unit, the German Empire is a defunct terrorist state, and any organic units captured are to be treated as common criminals." The droid would've gone on had it not noticed the roaring of engines, coming in the direction of the largely canvased area in which the droids formed around the prisoners. "That must be the shuttle." The droid stated before turning and leaving, awaiting the shuttle as it came down from the sky above, finally settling on the snow covered dirt.

Quickly soon after the hatch in the front of the shuttle had opened up and three figures stood in the doorway, two of which were clothed in the usual Imperial Zipangese Royal Guard garb, armed with short carbine like weapons while the middle wore a black uniform with cape and a Katana hanging off it's uniform, the two guards with it were clearly Senshi Usagi, very easily told by their long rabbit like ears protruding from the top of their heads, the middle figure however was clearly Zipangese. The two guards came down the ramp first, their weapons held at the ready while the black clothed figure made their way down last, the figure now nor obstructed by the light behind it was clearly more so than ever female, this was Lord General of the Imperial Zipangese Army, Kitagou Ayaka, a veteran of multiple anti-terrorist operations in North America and the 2017 war, coming down from the shuttle, she met the droid of which saluted her and turned, walking with her as she walked past.

"Lord General Ayaka, this is an unexpected pleasure, we're honoured to have you join us." The droid said as it followed behind General Ayaka to which she simply waved it off. "You may dispense with the pleasantries, commander. I'm here to take these prisoners off your hands." General Ayaka said as she finally came to, standing in front of the prisoners gathered of the landing party, her uniform was also clearly visible. Ancient by the standards of the ZSE's military, she retained her black tunic, however she changed form a skirt to pants and continued to wear knee high boots, however the pants were tucked into the boots. "Such filth... More children for the mines I suppose." Ayaka said, the last part in German, a smirk donning on her face before she switched back to Japanese/Zipangese. "Gather the prisoners up, get them loaded onto the shuttle... But get the collars on them first." Ayaka said as she stepped off to the side, there was a slight but noticeable limp in her right leg, however this wouldn't be noticed by anyone unless they were almost watching her legs precisely. The prisoners of the Europan landing group were then herded by the droids onto the shuttle and a number of them remained on it keeping their weapons trained on the prisoners, sitting on the floor of the middle of the ship while Lord General Ayaka boarded it with her two guards, then the door behind her sealed up and the ship rose into the air taking off to return to the fleet in orbit while Grand Admiral Thetch was left with a rather disappointing sight...

SDIS Endeavor, Alpha Centauri-4 Orbit

"Those fools took their lives with cyanide instead of surrender and face their punishment for their ancestor's dishonour." Princess Yoshiko said before walking over to one of the corpses, preceding to lightly tap the side of it with the tip of her boot. "I do not believe that is what happened." Thetch said holding his chin with his right hand while he held his right elbow with his left hand. "The history I've read of these... British as they are called does not draw me to this conclusion... I suspect where as the Germans have technological and genetic superiority achieved through means of which we use ourselves, the British only have a technological superiority... In which they allow themselves to be released of corporeal forms like the Ascended..." The theory sounded rather out there even for Thetch but with little known of the enemy aside from past history, it could be very well likely.. However he'd not be able to test his theory, there were other matters of which required his attention.

"Grand Admiral!" A young Zipangese Imperial Naval Officer, a lieutenant by his rank plaque entered the bridge and saluted the Admiral before reporting. "We've intercepted a transmission from a new set of ships entering the system. Some appear to match the design of the German Empire's ships however others appear to be dedicated star fighter carriers, destroyers, and possible dreadnoughts, these are rather only guesstimates from the size and energy signatures of the ships." Dreadnoughts? Dedicated star fighter carriers? Certainly it was very well likely a mostly German fleet, the UBNA to Thetch's knowledge was more likely to be geared towards a "peaceful" first contact, though the German's would very well likely be more geared towards war, this was much the same of how the ZSE operated, mostly heavily handed. Foreign Policy of the ZSE and the Empire of Japanese Pacific States was very much the same, heavy handed with a military first policy.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, now about the transmission?" Thetch asked, an eyebrow raised while Yoshiko returned and Imperial Navy troopers, signified by their black uniforms and large helmets entered the room with medical capsules, loading the corpses onto them for later disposal. "Ah yes... Of course." The Lieutenant produced a small data pad from a pouch on his belt and handed it to Grand Admiral Thetch of whom would read over the transcript while a hologram was projected from the pad showing the figure of whom was shown in the transmission, Thetch looked over the transcript and the figure with a rather... Disappointed, or unimpressed look on his face. The following past the end of the transcripts was received confirmation that the transmission was broadcast throughout the star system and beyond. In addition to this were new orders from IZN's fleet command, ordering Thetch to hold the enemy at bay and await reinforcements from the Homeworld and multiple other worlds, a fleet of over five hundred ships was on it's way to bear down on the enemy in addition to the previous two fleets of which would've numbered just over 110 ships. "Six hundred ships... For such a force? Command must not wish to leave anything to chance... Or perhaps... The Shogun might not.... Very well, lieutenant, the fleet is to move to defensive plan Alpha-13, Tactical Surface Fighters both onboard ships and on the planet itself are now to be put under my command, inform Lord General Ayaka she must take the prisoners back to the homeworld, alone."

"By your orders, Grand Admiral. Anything else?" The Lieutenant bowed his head and returned upright as he waited for Thetch. "Yes. We will return to the bridge and address this... Werewolf." Yoshiko looked to Thetch with an eyebrow raised and a look on her face of which seemed she was very clearly questioning the sanity of Admiral Thetch. "Werewolf? What do you mean? I don't see any dog like features on this woman." Yoshiko said, very sceptical of Thetch's observation. "M'lady, if you are to become a master of the art of war... To perfect it, to anticipate your enemy's moves, one must study everything of them. Including the rumours... Of which themselves hide a shred of truth about a species or a person.... The woman of which you see is a Werewolf.... Not in the sense of the old fairy tales, but that is what she is called. ...General Ayamine himself had come up against the woman of which you see... Is General Julia Kaalzebrutt... Scouts of the IJA before Alternative V was initiated had confirmed what was told to us by Colonel Storch, a man I believe you've met before. ...The one assisting Director Yuuko with her more.. Secretive works, for her to be present for this fight means the German Empire wishes to put up a stubborn first line of resistance against us. However... Her tactics are of the speciality of land or planetary based warfare, the German Empire has little practical military experience in space, however with a lack of threats to the Empire as of late we ourselves are lacking in experience.. We mustn't underestimate our new foe.."

Thetch began walking off the bridge of the Endeavour, returning to the Fusou he made his way quickly back up to the bridge of the ship, looking upon the new fleet of which appeared before the Fusou while it rejoined the fleet of which had managed to get it's ship back into working order. The second fleet under Admiral Rei Nishimura, a veteran of the 2017 war had finally arrived, it's ships coming out of portals of which looked much the same as when the first fleet had originally arrived, however the fleet had arrived on the western side of the planet while the first fleet remained on the eastern side. Finally after a orders were exchanged and ships were being deployed to strengthen the defence of the planet, Thetch got the opportunity to address the enemy fleet openly, his image would be broadcast to the enemy ships, at least his torso and head anyway. "General Julia Kaazlebrutt... At last we meet in this theatre of war.. However briefly, there will be no escape and your forces are badly outnumbered and outclassed, this... War as you call it, this attempt of killing the founders of a unified empire of multiple species ends just as quickly as it began... And after we finish up here, we shall turn your beloved empire to glass... You may missunderstand this message, as a method of reverse psychology, in order to attempt to force your surrender, however.... I am not accepting surrenders at this time, I want you to know failure, utter defeat, and that it is I who delivers it crashing down upon you. Now. Let us proceed."

Thetch's voice did not sound of one of arrogance, anger, or any aggression... Rather it sounded calm, confidant... Certain. With a not even a quarter of the military might of the ZSE about to bear down on this side of the star system, anyone who didn't know the situation on the side of the ZSE of course would mistake his words, his voice, his very language as arrogance... However the transmission of which was broadcast by Admiral Kaazlebrutt was indeed received all throughout the homesystem of the ZSE and broadcast to all the other corners of the Empire, whatever public support for a peaceful resolution with the two foreign powers of which intruded on the ZSE's territories now diminished. Meiya herself publicly declared later from her balcony in which she delivered her declaration of war against the Terrans of earth, that for every citizen of the ZSE who died a thousand more would take his place at the forefront against the enemy of which the ZSE now saw itself at war with to preserve it's very survival. Other regents of the Empire as well publicly declared their support for Meiya in this matter and began to mobilise their own forces to meet this new foe, however the quickest to do so were the Zetans, though new to the fold of the ZSE they wouldn't allow anyone to threaten their new position in the galaxy as members of the Zipangese Star Empire.

[New Decius]

Captured Europan Landing Party, Zipang-04
Ice Plains outside of Hachi

The highest ranking soldier present among the thirty man landing party was Sergeant Heinrich Öberhauser who had managed to make out some of what 'Governor Gegranne' had said in what he believed to be obsolete German, the language now having since evolved to one of the three forms of Europan Basic (English, French, German). None of what he could make out lifted his spirits any. Though by all accounts this Zipangese Star Empire did not know of the formation of the Europan Empire following the Great Patriotic War against Japan, and seemed to believe the German Empire still a separate entity on Earth, which was somewhat useful. As a matter of fact, there were seven German's, five Russians, eight French, three Hungarian's, four Italian's, and three Iberian's in the landing party, though the idea of individual nations in Europa was at least a hundred years gone by now. Sure the Europan Parliament was divided into groups based on their imperial state such as Germany, France, Iberia etc. the idea of European nations apart from the Europan Empire was inconceivable to Heinrich and any other Europan currently living.

As members of the Europan Imperial Star Corps, all the marines in the landing party were trained to be extremely and unwaveringly loyal to Europa and to the Emperor, to betray that oath and reveal critical information to an enemy would be a fate worse than death in the eyes of any of them. They would rather die than reveal information that could bring harm to the Empire or its people. Heinrich knew he certainly would prefer death to betraying the Empire.

The droids were moving about, clearly trying to identify the officers among them or anyone with high rank for that matter but Heinrich knew he was the highest ranking soldier present among the landing party. Rather smugly he identified this to the machines. "If your looking for the commander that would be me you useless bolt buckets. Sergeant First Grade Heinrich Öberhauser, Europan Imperial Star Corps, sorry just a noncom. No shiny badges or high rank that you can have posture himself in front of your senile bitch of a Shogun and beg for his life. The highest ranking Europan officer nearby just blew himself up on our command ship in orbit."

Southern Solar Edge of the Alpha Centauri System

One moment the vast emptiness of space on the Southern solar edge of the Alpha Centauri system was just that, empty save for the endless background of stars that made up the universe. The next, warships began ripping out of lightspeed into open space in alarming quantity and making no effort to conceal their arrival. Destroyers, Cruisers, Carriers, warships of all manner were arriving into Zipangese space and with clear malice as their intent, just the sight of the Harrower-I-Class Cruisers conveyed a sufficiently morbid feeling of doom. In the span of just five minutes, the Europan 12th, 7th, and 19th Fleet's entered open space from lightspeed, having traveled from the Sol System with one purpose in mind; the destruction of the Japanese refugees, now the Zipangese Star Empire.

At the center of the massive formation of warships was the SMS Tyranny, flagship of the new Olympus Mons-Class Dreadnought's and of Grand Admiral Julia von Kaalzebrutt, its size dwarfing all other warships around save the other two dreadnoughts in the fleet Ares and Titan. Aboard the bridge of the dreadnought, Grand Admiral Kaalzebrutt was at the central console in the operations center taking stock of the task force assembled for this mission, the entire force represented in a holoprojection for her to critique and change the formation. Attending this tactical conference by hologram were the commanders of the other two dreadnoughts, Vice-Admiral Ryder Sobek and Commodore Ignacio del Cortez, along with Julia's second-in command, Captain Argus Kaine. Kaine was giving them a rundown of the assembled fleet. "All warships have reported present in zone of operations and signaled ready for combat. Reporting in the operations zone are 3 Olympus Mons dreadnoughts, 17 Harrower-I cruisers, 7 Harrower-II carriers, 23 Gladiator light cruisers, and 44 Terminus destroyers. The total tally of combat ships at disposal for command is 84." He lowered his datapad and turned to Julia. "Your orders Grand Admiral." The Werwolf member of the Inner Council had her head lowered, concealing her expression from the other officers around her but a true wolfish smirk had embedded itself on her features. There was a murderous glint in her crimson eyes that announced that there lay a killer inside alongside the tactician. Being one of the Werwolf Original's, Kaalzebrutt was originally a frontline soldier, a super soldier at that even though she was a woman and so at the time not allowed in a combat role by the Imperial German Army. After the genetic warfare program was revealed when Germany began using the Ghoul defects as weapons of terror against Japan's cities, the super soldiers began serving in regular combat. Julia was present during the Southern China Campaign where some of the most violent fighting of the war took place and had garnered the moniker 'Butcher of Canton'.

Julia raised her head and addressed the officers around her with clear murderous intent in her voice. The elation in her tone carried across the pleasure she took in destroying her enemies. "Form up in Delta Formation and prepare to receive the enemy, following my declaration to the system we are likely to receive almost immediate contact, likely from Alpha Centauri-4 the nearest planet. We will greet these inferior dogs with the full firepower of our glorious Empire!" The conference was then ended and preparations were made to hijack every communications channel the technicians could for the Grand Admiral's broadcast to the enemy. With the amount of ships hijacking communications channels it would be nigh impossible to stop the extent of the broadcast.

The broadcast began with a projection of the Grand Admiral in all her glory; grey uniform hugging her well developed figure and set off by the shining black naval boots and black gloves, seven foot frame imposing even in a hologram. As a Werwolf Original her skin was as pale as a sheet of snow and her crimson eyes shined against such a backdrop, her platinum blonde hair flowing past her shoulders beneath a grey officers cap. With a smirk of sharpened teeth and menacing fangs, she began. "Attention to the inferior creatures inhabiting this star system, specifically the Japanese cowards who fled our righteous crusade against their fascist tyranny over two centuries ago during the Great Patriotic War! Long have you sheltered here, hidden away from the just vengeance you so surely deserve for all the crimes you have committed! Rather than stick it out till the end fighting and die like true warriors with honor, a principle the Japanese mongrels claimed to revere above all else, you cowards chose to run away and hide! Well you could only stay hidden for so long before justice found you! Our glorious Emperor, may his reign be eternal, has declared that all the cowards be exterminated, that all those who associate with the cowards be exterminated! The Europan Empire will wipe away every last trace of your civilization from existence! DOWN TO THE LAST BEING! YOUR ARMIES WILL BE SUBDUED! YOUR CITIES WILL CRUMBLE! YOUR WORLDS WILL BURN! AND I WILL SINK MY TEETH INTO THE NECK OF YOUR BITCH OF A SHOGUN AND ENJOY THE TASTE OF HER BLOOD! THERE WILL BE NO QUARTER! NO MERCY! ONLY JUSTICE AND VENGEANCE! FOR EUROPA AND FOR HIS MAJESTY! THE EMPIRE IS ETERNAL!" The broadcast then ended.

Julia looked out the forward viewport of the bridge at the distant star and planets, a hungry grin on her face as she licked her lips in anticipation of the battle to come. 'Let them come, all of them. We will carve a path through them and leave a sea of blood in our wake! LET THEM COME!'

SDIS Endeavor, Alpha Centauri-4 Orbit

The bridge crew was indeed having their backs up against the helm consoles. A few officers had hands on their sidearms, retrieved from the bridge's small armory. But Captain Klein ordered no resistance. The bridge crew stared back at the enemy boarders, waiting for the Captain to speak.

Before the enemy boarding party broke through the main airlock, the Captain ordered purging of all data and other information banks. Even if they were just research ships, they still had data on making the right jumps to Sol. Nothing on Sol, CON-SDI, or anything else was allowed to fall in enemy hands. Per Admiral Lord Cole's Special Protocol Order 209-B, aka the Cole Protocol.

And now he began the final act of his plan. One by one, the bodies of the bridge crew collapsed, their consciousnesses transferred to an experimental but promising device on board the ship, somewhere in the cargo hold. The Captain stared at the slightly startled boarding party as several people started collapsing to the ground. Finally, he said, "see you later space cowboys..." he collapsed as well.

Endeavor's cargo hold
Hawthorne woke up in his little cryo-container pod. "My, what a long nap. Approximately 5 light years from Sol to AC and that took only 24 hours." Though the subspace's internal properties were favoring them for this journey--normally it would take 36 hours. He got up and stretched, though that was instinctual, not really required for a full-armored cyborg.

"I sense we are near an old place marker from long ago. I must have have set it here on this planet, with my fellow explorers, right before we headed for what they call Terra, or Earth." he said to himself.

Hawthorne wasn't his real name; he has forgotten it due to the passing eons of time. He remembers being rescued by people from a large continent-spanning country on Earth. He was fished out of a area of an adjacent ocean known to be cursed for aircraft pilots and ship captains. They called it the Bermuda Triangle.

He also vaguely remembers why he came to Earth all those centuries ago. He was part of a three-member team that explored the stars for Elder Ones. They traveled to this planet, what the Terrans have designated as Alpha Centauri-4, and placed a cache of technology for later use by 'blessed species', intelligent life chosen to receive advanced technology. They did the same for Earth, the final destination of the expedition.

"Earth, Earth did not turn out the way we expected. We expected peace for every cache placed. Instead, the Terrans' propensity for violence led them down this path." he said. He turned to face at his pod. Suddenly, Dr. Glassman emerged from hiding. "I was wondering when you would wake up. The boarders have started searching the cargo holds, and I have been dodging them ever since. You're sure it's here?" asked Glassman. "Yes. My memories are coming back. I sense one of my brothers has been here before. We Elder Ones are able to leave what you might call 'mental imprints' or 'mental footprints'. Only species with our neurology are able to sense these things. You could call it a 'sixth sense', to refer to one of your North American movies." replied Hawthorne. "Alright. Now we need to get down to the planet without getting too much heat, though they erected a huge planet-city dome barrier." said Glassman. "Not a problem if you have that device right? The consciousnesses of the bridge crew and the stunned crew should help with processing power. We can make a hole, figuratively." said Hawthorne.

The two heard the automatic door open. "Poor bastards, as you would say." whispered Hawthorne as they both took cover. "Hey, I remember a way to get to the escape pods." said Glassman. "Lead the way, and I'll get our exit ready." said Hawthorne. They sneaked their way out of the cargo hold. They encountered some guards at the escape pod deck.

Hawthorne picked up a strange transmission in his cybercom: "...THE EMPIRE IS ETERNAL!". That sounds like Euro Basic... he said to Glassman over cybercom. Who is that? asked Glassman.

Rumbles and shakes took them by surprise. The guards by the escape pods left to go check what was going on. "Now's our chance." said Glassman. Glassman ran for the nearest escape pod. Hawthorne hacked into the central console to bring all of the port side's pods online for launch. "Technical failure, caused by enemy fire." said the alien cyborg. Hawthorne entered Glassman's pod. "Expect some minor turbulence." said Hawthorne. About 20 pods launched at the planet.

Captured Europan Landing Party, Zipang-04
Ice Plains outside of Hachi

"Commander." Another droid stated as it stepped up to the droid, clearly marked as such via it's unique paint job. "Roger, Unit B-3268?" The obviously in command droid turned to the other before the droids saluted each other and the droid of which began the conversation reported. "General Ayaka's cruiser is sending down a shuttle to ferry the prisoners to the Homeworld, it will be arriving shortly." The droid then turned and joined with the other ranks before the commanding droid turned back to Sergeant Öberhauser. "Irrelevant, prisoner. Ranks do not matter when dealing with criminals. To the knowledge of this unit, the German Empire is a defunct terrorist state, and any organic units captured are to be treated as common criminals." The droid would've gone on had it not noticed the roaring of engines, coming in the direction of the largely canvased area in which the droids formed around the prisoners. "That must be the shuttle." The droid stated before turning and leaving, awaiting the shuttle as it came down from the sky above, finally settling on the snow covered dirt.

Quickly soon after the hatch in the front of the shuttle had opened up and three figures stood in the doorway, two of which were clothed in the usual Imperial Zipangese Royal Guard garb, armed with short carbine like weapons while the middle wore a black uniform with cape and a Katana hanging off it's uniform, the two guards with it were clearly Senshi Usagi, very easily told by their long rabbit like ears protruding from the top of their heads, the middle figure however was clearly Zipangese. The two guards came down the ramp first, their weapons held at the ready while the black clothed figure made their way down last, the figure now nor obstructed by the light behind it was clearly more so than ever female, this was Lord General of the Imperial Zipangese Army, Kitagou Ayaka, a veteran of multiple anti-terrorist operations in North America and the 2017 war, coming down from the shuttle, she met the droid of which saluted her and turned, walking with her as she walked past.

"Lord General Ayaka, this is an unexpected pleasure, we're honoured to have you join us." The droid said as it followed behind General Ayaka to which she simply waved it off. "You may dispense with the pleasantries, commander. I'm here to take these prisoners off your hands." General Ayaka said as she finally came to, standing in front of the prisoners gathered of the landing party, her uniform was also clearly visible. Ancient by the standards of the ZSE's military, she retained her black tunic, however she changed form a skirt to pants and continued to wear knee high boots, however the pants were tucked into the boots. "Such filth... More children for the mines I suppose." Ayaka said, the last part in German, a smirk donning on her face before she switched back to Japanese/Zipangese. "Gather the prisoners up, get them loaded onto the shuttle... But get the collars on them first." Ayaka said as she stepped off to the side, there was a slight but noticeable limp in her right leg, however this wouldn't be noticed by anyone unless they were almost watching her legs precisely. The prisoners of the Europan landing group were then herded by the droids onto the shuttle and a number of them remained on it keeping their weapons trained on the prisoners, sitting on the floor of the middle of the ship while Lord General Ayaka boarded it with her two guards, then the door behind her sealed up and the ship rose into the air taking off to return to the fleet in orbit while Grand Admiral Thetch was left with a rather disappointing sight...

SDIS Endeavor, Alpha Centauri-4 Orbit

"Those fools took their lives with cyanide instead of surrender and face their punishment for their ancestor's dishonour." Princess Yoshiko said before walking over to one of the corpses, preceding to lightly tap the side of it with the tip of her boot. "I do not believe that is what happened." Thetch said holding his chin with his right hand while he held his right elbow with his left hand. "The history I've read of these... British as they are called does not draw me to this conclusion... I suspect where as the Germans have technological and genetic superiority achieved through means of which we use ourselves, the British only have a technological superiority... In which they allow themselves to be released of corporeal forms like the Ascended..." The theory sounded rather out there even for Thetch but with little known of the enemy aside from past history, it could be very well likely.. However he'd not be able to test his theory, there were other matters of which required his attention.

"Grand Admiral!" A young Zipangese Imperial Naval Officer, a lieutenant by his rank plaque entered the bridge and saluted the Admiral before reporting. "We've intercepted a transmission from a new set of ships entering the system. Some appear to match the design of the German Empire's ships however others appear to be dedicated star fighter carriers, destroyers, and possible dreadnoughts, these are rather only guesstimates from the size and energy signatures of the ships." Dreadnoughts? Dedicated star fighter carriers? Certainly it was very well likely a mostly German fleet, the UBNA to Thetch's knowledge was more likely to be geared towards a "peaceful" first contact, though the German's would very well likely be more geared towards war, this was much the same of how the ZSE operated, mostly heavily handed. Foreign Policy of the ZSE and the Empire of Japanese Pacific States was very much the same, heavy handed with a military first policy.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, now about the transmission?" Thetch asked, an eyebrow raised while Yoshiko returned and Imperial Navy troopers, signified by their black uniforms and large helmets entered the room with medical capsules, loading the corpses onto them for later disposal. "Ah yes... Of course." The Lieutenant produced a small data pad from a pouch on his belt and handed it to Grand Admiral Thetch of whom would read over the transcript while a hologram was projected from the pad showing the figure of whom was shown in the transmission, Thetch looked over the transcript and the figure with a rather... Disappointed, or unimpressed look on his face. The following past the end of the transcripts was received confirmation that the transmission was broadcast throughout the star system and beyond. In addition to this were new orders from IZN's fleet command, ordering Thetch to hold the enemy at bay and await reinforcements from the Homeworld and multiple other worlds, a fleet of over five hundred ships was on it's way to bear down on the enemy in addition to the previous two fleets of which would've numbered just over 110 ships. "Six hundred ships... For such a force? Command must not wish to leave anything to chance... Or perhaps... The Shogun might not.... Very well, lieutenant, the fleet is to move to defensive plan Alpha-13, Tactical Surface Fighters both onboard ships and on the planet itself are now to be put under my command, inform Lord General Ayaka she must take the prisoners back to the homeworld, alone."

"By your orders, Grand Admiral. Anything else?" The Lieutenant bowed his head and returned upright as he waited for Thetch. "Yes. We will return to the bridge and address this... Werewolf." Yoshiko looked to Thetch with an eyebrow raised and a look on her face of which seemed she was very clearly questioning the sanity of Admiral Thetch. "Werewolf? What do you mean? I don't see any dog like features on this woman." Yoshiko said, very sceptical of Thetch's observation. "M'lady, if you are to become a master of the art of war... To perfect it, to anticipate your enemy's moves, one must study everything of them. Including the rumours... Of which themselves hide a shred of truth about a species or a person.... The woman of which you see is a Werewolf.... Not in the sense of the old fairy tales, but that is what she is called. ...General Ayamine himself had come up against the woman of which you see... Is General Julia Kaalzebrutt... Scouts of the IJA before Alternative V was initiated had confirmed what was told to us by Colonel Storch, a man I believe you've met before. ...The one assisting Director Yuuko with her more.. Secretive works, for her to be present for this fight means the German Empire wishes to put up a stubborn first line of resistance against us. However... Her tactics are of the speciality of land or planetary based warfare, the German Empire has little practical military experience in space, however with a lack of threats to the Empire as of late we ourselves are lacking in experience.. We mustn't underestimate our new foe.."

Thetch began walking off the bridge of the Endeavour, returning to the Fusou he made his way quickly back up to the bridge of the ship, looking upon the new fleet of which appeared before the Fusou while it rejoined the fleet of which had managed to get it's ship back into working order. The second fleet under Admiral Rei Nishimura, a veteran of the 2017 war had finally arrived, it's ships coming out of portals of which looked much the same as when the first fleet had originally arrived, however the fleet had arrived on the western side of the planet while the first fleet remained on the eastern side. Finally after a orders were exchanged and ships were being deployed to strengthen the defence of the planet, Thetch got the opportunity to address the enemy fleet openly, his image would be broadcast to the enemy ships, at least his torso and head anyway. "General Julia Kaazlebrutt... At last we meet in this theatre of war.. However briefly, there will be no escape and your forces are badly outnumbered and outclassed, this... War as you call it, this attempt of killing the founders of a unified empire of multiple species ends just as quickly as it began... And after we finish up here, we shall turn your beloved empire to glass... You may missunderstand this message, as a method of reverse psychology, in order to attempt to force your surrender, however.... I am not accepting surrenders at this time, I want you to know failure, utter defeat, and that it is I who delivers it crashing down upon you. Now. Let us proceed."

Thetch's voice did not sound of one of arrogance, anger, or any aggression... Rather it sounded calm, confidant... Certain. With a not even a quarter of the military might of the ZSE about to bear down on this side of the star system, anyone who didn't know the situation on the side of the ZSE of course would mistake his words, his voice, his very language as arrogance... However the transmission of which was broadcast by Admiral Kaazlebrutt was indeed received all throughout the homesystem of the ZSE and broadcast to all the other corners of the Empire, whatever public support for a peaceful resolution with the two foreign powers of which intruded on the ZSE's territories now diminished. Meiya herself publicly declared later from her balcony in which she delivered her declaration of war against the Terrans of earth, that for every citizen of the ZSE who died a thousand more would take his place at the forefront against the enemy of which the ZSE now saw itself at war with to preserve it's very survival. Other regents of the Empire as well publicly declared their support for Meiya in this matter and began to mobilise their own forces to meet this new foe, however the quickest to do so were the Zetans, though new to the fold of the ZSE they wouldn't allow anyone to threaten their new position in the galaxy as members of the Zipangese Star Empire.

SMS Tyranny, Europan Expeditionary Fleet
Aloha Centauri System, Southern Solar Edge

’Hmm, so the Japanese have roped together an empire out of many wayward species. The Emperor was right after all.’ Julia thought as she studied Grand Admiral Thetch’s hologram, taking in every detail she could of his appearance and personality based on his speech, while also keeping an eye on a holographic projection of the enemy flagship which also seemed to be the main warship present in their forces. Judging by scans of the ships, their main battery was centered on either side of the bridge superstructure and there appeared to be a forward Starfighter hanger judging by internal scans so far, so rather than a shielding system they probably used bay doors of some kind. Best projections based on size and energy output were that the ‘Zipangese’ had developed these ships as a multirole warship most relatable to a cruiser class which could function as a carrier if need be. Julia had been studying space warfare tactics and application for the last thirty years since being made a Grand Admiral and participated in countless war games, all she lacked was the same thing the whole Imperial Navy lacked; combat experience against an equally skilled and equipped foe.

Not deigning to give a response to Thetch she ordered the transmission cut and turned to the matter of first strike. Right now both fleet’s, based on what could be learned of the enemies weaponry by scans in such a short amount of time, were conventionally out of range of each other, the key word being conventionally. The Tyranny and her sister ships Ares and Titan all carried the bow mounted Grade 6 EPSILON particle cannons of the Olympus Mons-class, and they had intersystem range capabilities; after all they were based on a weapon designed to destroy asteroids long before they became a threat to the Earth or another planet. From their current position, all three dreadnought’s had firing solutions on almost all the enemy ships with their particle cannons and could theoretically pick off the enemy from a distance until they engaged in close quarters combat. Julia turned to Lieutenant Kaine and began to direct him in selecting targets among the enemy fleet. “Don’t target their flagship, I want that Grand Admiral Thetch to watch his ships be torn asunder from afar by our cannons. While the cannons are primed, activate and deploy all War Frames to a vicinity around our capital ships, but do not yet deploy our starfighters, no use wasting fuel having them up in patrol patterns until the enemy’s close enough for them to be useful. Though keep the Gladiator’s scanning all around us for any abnormalities, specifically possible cloaked ships, I will not be caught unawares.” At her word it was all underway, though Julia knew one of the most important aspects of the battle would be the War Frames. It was unlike the Zipangese had abandoned their predecessors use of TSF’s and so the War Frames would be the primary defense against them. The latest S-Class were the very top of the line in Europan design and engineering. Since the end of the Third World War, Europa had dispensed with its piloted War Frame program and instead switched the program to fully automated. Helium-3 powered, supercomputer equipped machines with incredible speed, agility, and armor, and those were Frames for the Imperial Army. The War Frames employed by the Imperial Navy were shielded as well and had the processing speed of a whole Terminus destroyer. True they were fewer in number than piloted Frames would be but they made up for it in quality.

Lieutenant Kaine approached and saluted as the Grand Admiral continued to observe the battlefield holo, making a plan for every contingency she could dream up within reason, and some without reason. “Grand Admiral, we are prepped and ready to fire as are Ares and Titan. On your command.” Julia didn’t spare a moment’s hesitation. “Fire.” The entire dreadnought rumbled as the cannon fired, the spiral beam of blue energy shooting out from the bow-mounted cannon and right towards a ship in the enemy fleet over Alpha Centauri-4, as did similar shots from the other two dreadnought’s. On contact the beam from the Tyranny sliced one Type 229 right down the middle, cutting it in two before it erupted in fantastic explosions, with a similar fate befalling the other two Type 229’s targeted. It would take ten minutes for the cannon’s to recharge and another fifteen before they were ready to fire again leaving almost half an hour before Julia could use her ace in the hole again, she needed that time to plan and deploy her forces adequately.

“Form up in a battle line centered in three sections with a dreadnought to each section, the light cruisers are to disperse around the dreadnought’s to act as guards while the carrier’s will stick to the mid-rear of the battle line all across. Destroyers will be divided between the forward line and the rear, but split our cruisers between our flanks, I want them to bear on the enemy from either side when he engages in close quarters. Keep the War Frames flying in the vicinity of our capital ships with directives to engage any TSF’s which attempt to breach our line but only if they make it into the battle line. Carriers will begin deploying starfighters when in position with all squadrons having orders to keep enemy assault craft away from our flank’s, concentrate fighters at our flanks but the bulk of our War Frames in our center. Our destroyers and carriers have dedicated point defense systems so that alone will provide our center and wings adequate fighter defense. Use the light cruisers largely as target saturation around the dreadnought’s, the Gladiator is a useless class and its to be phased out of the Imperial Fleet in ten years so we’ll just reduce the number they have to take apart.” While the fleet was forming up in the chosen battle line, Julia delivered another much more threatening command. “Do not break from the battle line. If I see any captain moving his ship out of formation for a chance at glory, I will kill them myself. We do this for Europa! For His Majesty!”

[The Union of British North America]

b]President-General's Tower, Concordia Aerostat, Venus Mandate, Commonwealth SDI Territory[/b]

The PG's Tower was abuzz with activity. With the SDI Forces High Command giving out orders and notices to all SDI ships and ground units on the sudden mobilization of a huge portion of the Europan military to outside the system, and rumors of a hostile presence just a few light years from Sol, the President-General was giving notice to the three other Presidents of the various other Commonwealth Space Development Initiative Territories. President Josiah Bartlett of the Commonwealth Earth Territory, President Lakshmi Achari of the Commonwealth Venus Mandate, and President Sir John Dickinson of the Commonwealth Federated Asteroid Territories were all given notice of a hostile threat outside the system and to prepare the Commonwealth Territorial Militias and Marines for any attack. SDI Forces were ordered to Defense Condition Number 2. The Home Fleet (the naval fleet that protected Earth), the Asteroid Belt Fleet, and the Venus Fleet's dreadnoughts and heavy cruisers were activated with the orders to create rapid response forces with frigates and destroyers to any incursions into Sol. The carriers were placed along with the rapid response forces

Meanwhile, the High Command was having an emergency meeting with the President-General. The Captain of the Columbia was present along with the commander-in-chief of SDIF Intelligence, Admiral Serin Osman. After the Columbia's captain gave his report and left, Osman informed the President-General and High Command of the deeply held secret of the North American Intelligence Services from over 200 years ago. After she said that Intelligence has long suspected that the JPS rump-state may have fled to a local star system. "So, we have suspected this all along, and no one bothered to tell me?" said President-General Fontaine. "Ma'am, even I was skeptical when I heard about it when I was made CINC of Intel. The idea sounded like a conspiracy theory to me, but I was shown...evidence...that it was possible." The High Command looked at each other and then the President-General. "You're ... sure that the signals immediately detected by the Columbia are not alien per se but really the surviving government and a segment of the population from the old Japanese Pacific States? The government that surrendered to us over 200 years ago wasn't the real government? Imperial Japan was known for its perfidy, and I guess it still is." said President-General Fontaine. Osman was happy to hear the PG say that. She wasn't in trouble. "The JPS had over 200 years to prepare for this, they are going to invade. I have a feeling they will do so. The Europans will slow them down, but these Zipangese will invade. We must make preparations...None of you are to discuss this. This is in interest of Commonwealth security." The High Command stood up when the President-General stood, and saluted her. "Dismissed."

Undisclosed Location, Concordia Aerostat, Venus Mandate
A van pulled up to the abandoned factory in the peripheral district of the aerostat. Egret and Marinaris exited the van with two SDIF Intel operatives who said their names were Misters White and Black. Obviously the two knew they were just codenames. Even the summoning by their commanding officer for their logistical escort operation was a ruse. They were here for something else.

The four went inside, found a freight elevator, got on and descended. "We're going to the lowest level, the basement." said Mr. White. "What are we here for? Just because we are in the special forces and that we're Orbital Frame pilots?" asked Marinaris. "You catch on quickly, but you two are special. You are masters over the metatron, and are not affected by it when piloting your Frames. You are needed to be trainers. No secret missions behind enemy lines." said Mr. Black.

The elevator stopped and its doors opened. The four went into the basement, looked around and saw only crates. "So, where are the people we are training?" asked Marinaris. Mr. White walked over to a panel that was discreetly covered by some crates and tarps. He activated it and pressed some buttons on the touch screen. Several of the crates collapsed, revealing stasis pods holding what appears to be brain casings. "The people you are training are over 200 years old. Most of them are veterans from the Pacific War, also known as World War III." said Mr. Black. "Why these ancient cyberbrains?" asked Egret. "They are the only ones who know our enemy well." said Mr. White. "Who is the enemy? The Europans?" asked Marinaris. "No, an even ancient one." Mr. White tossed a holographic tablet to Egret, showing the intelligence report from the aborted United Terra Exploratory Mission to Alpha Centauri. "You mean...the enemy from over 200 years ago was not really defeated?" asked Egret. "Yes. These dusty old cyberbrains are the only TSF pilots that know how they work. TSFs fell into disuse after the Pacific War as they were expensive to build for us and the JPS--hell the war itself was the most expensive one in all of history. Plus, they were symbol of Japanese imperialism and the successor Earth state to the JPS, the Union of East Asia, decided to use more Commonwealth designs. Now, TSFs are the basis for our development of Orbital Frames and the Europans' current generations of WarFrames." said Mr. Black.

"Anyway, we're wasting time. We need to get these guys up to speed." Mr. White. He pressed another button on the panel that made several endoskeletons enter the room. "We're going to plug in these cyberbrains into these endos, and then the surgeons will come in for synthetic flesh additions. They'll be human looking but be touch sons of bitches. They'll be just like you guys." said Mr. Black to Egret and Marinaris.

After helping put the cyberbrains into the endoskeleton craniums, the surgeons arrived and they immediately began their work. Several hours later, the operations were finished. The four subjects looked human, but one could tell they were cybernetic if they looked really, really closely. "Let's boot them up." said Mr. White. The two agents, Marinaris, and Egret each took one of the four subjects and connected them to a special computer. After a few minutes, one came alive. "Wha...who....where...am I?" asked one of them. "Major Yuuya Bridges. It has been a while for you." said Mr. White. Who is this guy, thought Egret to himself. Yuuya Bridges, according to the file on the holotablet. North American Army, experimental pilot. Japanese North American. The synthetic flesh surgery was done so that each subject would look like what they did 200 years ago, to mitigate shock, though becoming a cyborg must still be a big shock for them if they even realized it.

The others were booted up. "Ladies and gentlemen, the year is 2230. You have been preserved by order the North American government at the time, and now have been reactivated under this current government. The world has drastically changed, but you will find some things are still the same as 200 years ago." said Mr. White.

Quite the understatement, thought Dingo Egret.

[New Decius]

Das Kaiserhalle, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
German Empire, Europa Prime, Empire of Europa

Unaware that his expeditionary fleet was about to meet bold resistance, the Emperor was confident that he had only one foe left standing in the way of his ‘Eternal Empire’; the Commonwealth of Nations and their Space Development Initiative. It was time to show them that Europa would inherit all and that they would be crushed under their boot like the insects they were, not to mention that Hohenzollern traitor’s line in South America, and the Free Iranian Republic and the puppets in East Asia which the CON supported. Right now the Europan Imperial Armed Forces were amassing for lightning blows against Iran, the free African nations, and, most importantly, Japan, while the Fleet was preparing to attack the CON-SDI on multiple fronts, specifically the CON Mining Association’s orbital refineries at Saturn and their fleet staging areas. The largest attacks would be on the CON Settlements on Mars by the colonial forces of the Ares Mandate, and the assault on the Concordia Aerostat on Venus by the Imperial Navy. Half the Inner Council was off making preparations for this, the last war Europa would have to fight before it assumed dominance of humanity and began its expansion throughout the galaxy, while the rest were present in full uniforms and regalia for the Emperor’s broadcast to all human stations in Sol. It would be the first time he had appeared in public in almost a hundred years, though his image would not be altered, he would let the public see his wrinkled sunken features, the price he has paid for extended life.

The various European monarchs were given a direct link via holo to the Throne Room so they could be visible in the broadcast giving full support to the war, with each state’s head of parliament also attending by holo. Next to him was the Emperor’s technical ‘successor’, His Imperial Highness Gottfried Augustus Stadtfeld di Europa, the Emperor’s eldest great-great Grandson at 76 followed by the rest of his great-great grandchildren which ranged from boys and girls of seven all the way to men and women of seventy, and totaled at 34 Prince’s and Princess’ in all. The Germania dynasty technically still ruled the Imperial State of Germany and the Royal State of Prussia but different relatives held the title of German Emperor and Prussian King now and the titles were separately held. Originally, after the death of Crown Prince Franz at age 3 in 2017, there had been a constitutional crisis because the passage of the throne was male primogeniture, and Kaiser Erwin’s only other child was his one year old daughter Ingrid meaning that any sons afterward would technically not be eligible due to a constitutional rule requiring both male and eldest primogeniture or else the succession is passed to another house, in that case Kaiser Erwin’s eleven year nephew Heinrich Bülow Albert von Wittelsbach the Crown Prince of Bavaria. In order to prevent the passage of the Imperial Throne from the hands of the New Prussian’s, as the Germania Dynasty was known as, Kaiser Erwin enacted a constitutional amendment stating that the sovereign shall have decision over succession to the throne regardless of age, purity of blood, or gender, effectively letting him choose his successor and changing the entire political game for nobility. Though they had all long since learned that Erwin was doing his best to postpone his death for as long as he could, having already seen his daughter Ingrid and six following sons and daughters pass before he did from old age along with an entire generation of great-grandchildren. Half of them died during the Europan expansion on Mars and the construction of the orbital habitats over Neptune.

General Hans Günsche of the Imperial Werwolf Corps had a place on the right of the Emperor’s dais along with a number of Admiral’s, General’s, and other military officers on the Inner Council, while the administrators and politicians were on the other side. The monarchs of the Europan Imperial States were lined up in ranks before the Emperor on holo, each ready to step forward and pledge themselves to the conflict. Hans had been alive since 1984 had just turned 246 years old, but still looked no older than 27 which was the age he became a Werwolf, the First Werwolf Original, the first successful super soldier Germany produced. He had seen more war in his lifetime than any other living being on Earth that he knew of, and with the freaky science used to alter him his life may just never end, and he had been at the frontlines for most of it. The Levant Crisis in 2007, Russian Revolt in 2010, the Third World War, the Middle East Invasion in 2040, the Russian Consolidation in 2043, and various rebellion crushing since then. He was perhaps the most seasoned soldier on Earth, in the whole of the system maybe, but the one thing he longed for more than anything else, was death. However, his wish was nigh impossible because it was nigh impossible for him to die; he’d once taken a 110mm shell to the chest and found himself still standing there a moment later, his entire body from the shoulders down regenerating. And he couldn’t age because his cells kept regenerating in an odd way as well, his body wouldn’t age. He was what most dreamed of being, immortal, like all the other Original’s. But because he was the first, he wasn’t conditioned for loyalty like the followers, wasn’t conditioned to ignore the desire to just end, he still had his free thought.

Hans thoughts were cut off when he heard a loud ping which signaled the broadcast had started. The Emperor was speaking now, to every communications signal on Earth that connected to a Europan satellite, and to the citizens of the other worlds of Sol. ”Citizens of our great Europan Empire, children of noble Europa, I am your sovereign and father of the Empire, Erwin Ludwig Stadtfeld di Europa von Germania, Emperor of Europa and former Emperor of Germany. I am 232 years old thanks to genetic conditioning and the strength of my will to keep living, though I have not spoken publicly in almost a century, I have been constantly working for the good of our empire, the good of our people, though my appearance may be morbid it is the sacrifice I make for our glorious nation. In the Great Patriotic War we crushed the Japanese Empire under our boot and united Europa as one, but were prevented from exacting due justice due to the soft-hearted individual’s running the Commonwealth. However, I can tell you now that a portion of the Japanese fled Earth, fled the Sol System for a distant star, to escape us out of fear of their ultimate destruction, and have rebuilt into a new ‘empire’ that threatens us now. Though this threat is being dealt with by the might of our Imperial Navy which has sent a force to neutralize this threat once and for all, to end the Japanese menace at long last.” He paused to let that sink in before going on. ”But, there remains another foe blocking our rise, our path to the rightful destiny of Europa, our fate as an Eternal Empire that will bring enlightenment to all existence with our mastery of science and our strength of arms. That foe is the Commonwealth of Nation’s and all the so-called ‘independent’ powers aligned with them on Earth; The Free Iranian Republic, the East Asian puppets of the CON, and the Hohenzollern traitors in South America, all of them stand in our way to true greatness. We must remove this blocker from our road and advance onwards to the march of time, for only Europa can truly bring salvation to the universe. We are a people of genetic superiority to the common humans of these other nations, we Europan’s and our Werwolf brethren are inherently superior to all others by the right of our genetic science! It is our destiny to dominate the Earth and the cosmos! It is our right! And we will not be denied!” Even from deep inside the Imperial Palace, the occupant’s could hear the roar of the crowd outside in the streets of Berlin, reacting to the Emperor’s speech. The Emperor was coming to a close now. ”Therefore I have declared a state of war to exist between Europa and all other Terran nations! Until such a time they submit to the indomitable will of our Empire, be it through capitulation or annihilation! Long Live Europa! The Empire is Eternal!”

With that the various monarchs of Germany, France, Russia, Iberia, Italy and so on, each loudly proclaimed their support for the war, while the military took a different message from it. ‘Execute Operation Endwar’, the last war Europa would have to fight...

Venus Mandate, Commonwealth-SDI Territory

Without warning, Europan warships began ripping out of jump portals in the space around Venus, opposite the CON-SDI forces defending the planet. The fleet was composed of Harrower-I Cruisers and Harrower-II Carriers with four imposing Olympus Mons Dreadnought’s also accompanying the assault force aimed at striking at the seat of President-General Fontaine’s government before the CON-SDI had time to fully mobilize. About fifty warships were now closing on Venus, threatening the CON-SDI fleet protecting the planet from the Europan’s though with the Emperor’s declaration only having just gone out, they would have had no warning an attack might be coming, especially not so soon. But one had arrived, and in full force, just as the Europan Imperial Navy would also be making attacks against CON-SDI assets in the Outer System beyond the Asteroid Belt and the Ares Mandate colonial forces would be attacking CON-SDI settlements on Mars. On Earth itself, Europan Imperial Army forces would be making attacks on the independent African nations and Iran, while the airship (Basically the descendants of the helicarriers I was preparing to field in Pacific War) fleet secured the skies over Japan and Northern China.

Admiral Ramsus Helingrath looked out the viewport at the CON-SDI fleet opposing them and scoffed. Though formidable in their own right depending on their classification, CON warships were still outclassed by their Europan counterparts in terms of firepower, hell Europa’s military industrial complex outclassed the entire CON by itself. Since the CON relied on the contribution of military forces by member nations, its strength depended on all members putting a lot towards their militaries, but only a few could afford to field a space fleet and that was nothing to match the massive Europan military industrial complex which had the resources of half of the Earth and the Sol System to draw on directly for expanding the armed forces and the Fleet in specific. A single Europan Harrower-I by sheer firepower was probably worth two or three CON cruisers and an Olympus Mons was probably worth five. The fact was that Europa had been dedicated to military science in a unified manner as opposed to a collective one.

Ramsus turned to his second-in command, Commodore Ivan Killian, and gave his commands. “Commence attack. All ships fire at will and launch all fighters, War Frames will stay close to their home ships to watch out for enemy Orbital Frames and have orders to neutralize any enemy fighters or mechs attempting to assail the fleet. Use our dreadnought’s particle cannons to destroy their heavy warships one by one while we close in.” Within moments, the entire ship shook as the Juno fired its particle cannon at a CON Dreadnought, an Indian one judging by its colors, and destroyed it in the same shot. The other three Olympus Mons also opened fire with their particle cannons on CON dreadnought’s, destroying them in short order while the rest of the fleet opened fire on the CON-SDI defense forces from long range with their main batteries, waves of starfighters flowing from the fleet and towards the enemy forces.

Ramsus smirked with a murderous nature as he delivered another order. “Send a transmission to the Venus Mandate. There will be no mercy, no quarter, no prisoners. Unless the Venus Mandate completely surrenders to us immediately, we will execute our mission to its absolute completion.”

[Zipangese Star Empire]

Das Kaiserhalle, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
German Empire, Europa Prime, Empire of Europa

Unaware that his expeditionary fleet was about to meet bold resistance, the Emperor was confident that he had only one foe left standing in the way of his ‘Eternal Empire’; the Commonwealth of Nations and their Space Development Initiative. It was time to show them that Europa would inherit all and that they would be crushed under their boot like the insects they were, not to mention that Hohenzollern traitor’s line in South America, and the Free Iranian Republic and the puppets in East Asia which the CON supported. Right now the Europan Imperial Armed Forces were amassing for lightning blows against Iran, the free African nations, and, most importantly, Japan, while the Fleet was preparing to attack the CON-SDI on multiple fronts, specifically the CON Mining Association’s orbital refineries at Saturn and their fleet staging areas. The largest attacks would be on the CON Settlements on Mars by the colonial forces of the Ares Mandate, and the assault on the Concordia Aerostat on Venus by the Imperial Navy. Half the Inner Council was off making preparations for this, the last war Europa would have to fight before it assumed dominance of humanity and began its expansion throughout the galaxy, while the rest were present in full uniforms and regalia for the Emperor’s broadcast to all human stations in Sol. It would be the first time he had appeared in public in almost a hundred years, though his image would not be altered, he would let the public see his wrinkled sunken features, the price he has paid for extended life.

The various European monarchs were given a direct link via holo to the Throne Room so they could be visible in the broadcast giving full support to the war, with each state’s head of parliament also attending by holo. Next to him was the Emperor’s technical ‘successor’, His Imperial Highness Gottfried Augustus Stadtfeld di Europa, the Emperor’s eldest great-great Grandson at 76 followed by the rest of his great-great grandchildren which ranged from boys and girls of seven all the way to men and women of seventy, and totaled at 34 Prince’s and Princess’ in all. The Germania dynasty technically still ruled the Imperial State of Germany and the Royal State of Prussia but different relatives held the title of German Emperor and Prussian King now and the titles were separately held. Originally, after the death of Crown Prince Franz at age 3 in 2017, there had been a constitutional crisis because the passage of the throne was male primogeniture, and Kaiser Erwin’s only other child was his one year old daughter Ingrid meaning that any sons afterward would technically not be eligible due to a constitutional rule requiring both male and eldest primogeniture or else the succession is passed to another house, in that case Kaiser Erwin’s eleven year nephew Heinrich Bülow Albert von Wittelsbach the Crown Prince of Bavaria. In order to prevent the passage of the Imperial Throne from the hands of the New Prussian’s, as the Germania Dynasty was known as, Kaiser Erwin enacted a constitutional amendment stating that the sovereign shall have decision over succession to the throne regardless of age, purity of blood, or gender, effectively letting him choose his successor and changing the entire political game for nobility. Though they had all long since learned that Erwin was doing his best to postpone his death for as long as he could, having already seen his daughter Ingrid and six following sons and daughters pass before he did from old age along with an entire generation of great-grandchildren. Half of them died during the Europan expansion on Mars and the construction of the orbital habitats over Neptune.

General Hans Günsche of the Imperial Werwolf Corps had a place on the right of the Emperor’s dais along with a number of Admiral’s, General’s, and other military officers on the Inner Council, while the administrators and politicians were on the other side. The monarchs of the Europan Imperial States were lined up in ranks before the Emperor on holo, each ready to step forward and pledge themselves to the conflict. Hans had been alive since 1984 had just turned 246 years old, but still looked no older than 27 which was the age he became a Werwolf, the First Werwolf Original, the first successful super soldier Germany produced. He had seen more war in his lifetime than any other living being on Earth that he knew of, and with the freaky science used to alter him his life may just never end, and he had been at the frontlines for most of it. The Levant Crisis in 2007, Russian Revolt in 2010, the Third World War, the Middle East Invasion in 2040, the Russian Consolidation in 2043, and various rebellion crushing since then. He was perhaps the most seasoned soldier on Earth, in the whole of the system maybe, but the one thing he longed for more than anything else, was death. However, his wish was nigh impossible because it was nigh impossible for him to die; he’d once taken a 110mm shell to the chest and found himself still standing there a moment later, his entire body from the shoulders down regenerating. And he couldn’t age because his cells kept regenerating in an odd way as well, his body wouldn’t age. He was what most dreamed of being, immortal, like all the other Original’s. But because he was the first, he wasn’t conditioned for loyalty like the followers, wasn’t conditioned to ignore the desire to just end, he still had his free thought.

Hans thoughts were cut off when he heard a loud ping which signaled the broadcast had started. The Emperor was speaking now, to every communications signal on Earth that connected to a Europan satellite, and to the citizens of the other worlds of Sol. ”Citizens of our great Europan Empire, children of noble Europa, I am your sovereign and father of the Empire, Erwin Ludwig Stadtfeld di Europa von Germania, Emperor of Europa and former Emperor of Germany. I am 232 years old thanks to genetic conditioning and the strength of my will to keep living, though I have not spoken publicly in almost a century, I have been constantly working for the good of our empire, the good of our people, though my appearance may be morbid it is the sacrifice I make for our glorious nation. In the Great Patriotic War we crushed the Japanese Empire under our boot and united Europa as one, but were prevented from exacting due justice due to the soft-hearted individual’s running the Commonwealth. However, I can tell you now that a portion of the Japanese fled Earth, fled the Sol System for a distant star, to escape us out of fear of their ultimate destruction, and have rebuilt into a new ‘empire’ that threatens us now. Though this threat is being dealt with by the might of our Imperial Navy which has sent a force to neutralize this threat once and for all, to end the Japanese menace at long last.” He paused to let that sink in before going on. ”But, there remains another foe blocking our rise, our path to the rightful destiny of Europa, our fate as an Eternal Empire that will bring enlightenment to all existence with our mastery of science and our strength of arms. That foe is the Commonwealth of Nation’s and all the so-called ‘independent’ powers aligned with them on Earth; The Free Iranian Republic, the East Asian puppets of the CON, and the Hohenzollern traitors in South America, all of them stand in our way to true greatness. We must remove this blocker from our road and advance onwards to the march of time, for only Europa can truly bring salvation to the universe. We are a people of genetic superiority to the common humans of these other nations, we Europan’s and our Werwolf brethren are inherently superior to all others by the right of our genetic science! It is our destiny to dominate the Earth and the cosmos! It is our right! And we will not be denied!” Even from deep inside the Imperial Palace, the occupant’s could hear the roar of the crowd outside in the streets of Berlin, reacting to the Emperor’s speech. The Emperor was coming to a close now. ”Therefore I have declared a state of war to exist between Europa and all other Terran nations! Until such a time they submit to the indomitable will of our Empire, be it through capitulation or annihilation! Long Live Europa! The Empire is Eternal!”

With that the various monarchs of Germany, France, Russia, Iberia, Italy and so on, each loudly proclaimed their support for the war, while the military took a different message from it. ‘Execute Operation Endwar’, the last war Europa would have to fight...

Venus Mandate, Commonwealth-SDI Territory

Without warning, Europan warships began ripping out of jump portals in the space around Venus, opposite the CON-SDI forces defending the planet. The fleet was composed of Harrower-I Cruisers and Harrower-II Carriers with four imposing Olympus Mons Dreadnought’s also accompanying the assault force aimed at striking at the seat of President-General Fontaine’s government before the CON-SDI had time to fully mobilize. About fifty warships were now closing on Venus, threatening the CON-SDI fleet protecting the planet from the Europan’s though with the Emperor’s declaration only having just gone out, they would have had no warning an attack might be coming, especially not so soon. But one had arrived, and in full force, just as the Europan Imperial Navy would also be making attacks against CON-SDI assets in the Outer System beyond the Asteroid Belt and the Ares Mandate colonial forces would be attacking CON-SDI settlements on Mars. On Earth itself, Europan Imperial Army forces would be making attacks on the independent African nations and Iran, while the airship (Basically the descendants of the helicarriers I was preparing to field in Pacific War) fleet secured the skies over Japan and Northern China.

Admiral Ramsus Helingrath looked out the viewport at the CON-SDI fleet opposing them and scoffed. Though formidable in their own right depending on their classification, CON warships were still outclassed by their Europan counterparts in terms of firepower, hell Europa’s military industrial complex outclassed the entire CON by itself. Since the CON relied on the contribution of military forces by member nations, its strength depended on all members putting a lot towards their militaries, but only a few could afford to field a space fleet and that was nothing to match the massive Europan military industrial complex which had the resources of half of the Earth and the Sol System to draw on directly for expanding the armed forces and the Fleet in specific. A single Europan Harrower-I by sheer firepower was probably worth two or three CON cruisers and an Olympus Mons was probably worth five. The fact was that Europa had been dedicated to military science in a unified manner as opposed to a collective one.

Ramsus turned to his second-in command, Commodore Ivan Killian, and gave his commands. “Commence attack. All ships fire at will and launch all fighters, War Frames will stay close to their home ships to watch out for enemy Orbital Frames and have orders to neutralize any enemy fighters or mechs attempting to assail the fleet. Use our dreadnought’s particle cannons to destroy their heavy warships one by one while we close in.” Within moments, the entire ship shook as the Juno fired its particle cannon at a CON Dreadnought, an Indian one judging by its colors, and destroyed it in the same shot. The other three Olympus Mons also opened fire with their particle cannons on CON dreadnought’s, destroying them in short order while the rest of the fleet opened fire on the CON-SDI defense forces from long range with their main batteries, waves of starfighters flowing from the fleet and towards the enemy forces.

Ramsus smirked with a murderous nature as he delivered another order. “Send a transmission to the Venus Mandate. There will be no mercy, no quarter, no prisoners. Unless the Venus Mandate completely surrenders to us immediately, we will execute our mission to its absolute completion.”

The Imperial Palace, Zipang Prime, The Zipangese Star Empire.

After she had seen off to the fleet leaving the Capital world, Meiya had given a rousing speech, one of which was recorded and to be played upon the ZSE's navy entering Sol. After this she had returned to the Government Hall where Regents, Moffs, Governors, Admirals, and Generals of the ZSE had gathered to watch the situation of the war. The Empire was mobilising all it's forces to crush the enemy fleet of which if it had known any better, or if the German Kaiser knew any better, was a grave error on his part... Returning to her seat she was shown the signal intercepted by probes sent to Sol to attain information on the enemy. The hologram projector built into the table had played the captured message from the German Kaiser, he declared war on the only other nation capable of helping him in the war against the Star Empire. Meiya could only barely contain her laughter. More so because it was her oldest enemy still at the helm of the German Empire. After the speech was over Meiya could only rise from the table and halfheartedly clap in a sort of evil amusement. Her oldest rival was still alive. And just isolated himself from the UBNA, or as she had come to known them, the CON-SDI.

Meiya's laughter unnerved even the Ascended, devoid of their bodies and emotions.. After she had finally stopped, Meiya looked upon the Regents, Moffs, Governors, Admirals, and Generals all present at the table, a smile, twisted as if something had overcome her... Something inhuman had awoken in Meiya. A lust for blood, for death, for the destruction of her foe. The one mostly responsible for the Japanese, now Zipangese government's exile to Zipang. She wanted to see Erwin's dreams come crashing down around him. And that he would know, she was responsible. "Gentlemen, ladies.... My fellow compatriots." Meiya said, the twisted smile not leaving her face. "Our foe has just isolated himself.... Shot himself in the foot so to speak. In his arrogance he has just sealed his fate.... However we must take full advantage of this. The fleet is not to leave the system for four months. Ample time for us to build our invasion fleet and allow both the Germans and CON-SDI to tear each other to shreds. ..Enough time for us to cement ourselves as the masters over the Terrans, enough time to wipe the Germanic race from existence! To put them to the sword and remind them of what we are, to remind them of their insolence as a species. They shall burn, their cities shall burn, their children will live in shackles as they had intended for us, to serve us the rightful rulers of Terra! We shall remind them that our species, our combined might, our will is indomitable!" At that moment, everyone both human in some sort of origin or extraterrestrial knew. Meiya was devoted to this fight goosebumps were mutually felt by all organic species that could have goosebumps. At that moment, the representatives of the species of the ZSE rose as one from the table and saluted Meiya in the one universal way that was known. They bowed their heads to her and in unison yelled. "Yes ma'am!"

Zipangese Type 229 Star Cruiser/Starfighter/Tactical Surface Fighter Carrier Zipang-Class, The Fusou, Flagship of the Imperial Zipangese Navy.

After a three ships of Thetch's fleet had been destroyed he had noted... Only a few of the Enemy's ships had such capability to cause the destruction he had witnessed. He would have to thin their numbers. "Open the ventral hanger bay, deploy the TSFs, fighters, and bombers. Have the Nagato, Ashigara, Nachi, and Mikasa swing around Hachi, first evacuate most of the crews of these ships, key bridge crew personnel are exempt from this order. They are to ram into the enemy fleet and detonate their G-Reactors amongst the enemy ships! TSFs are to follow and use the planet's gravity to swing around and into their fleet meanwhile droid fighters, piloted fighters, and bombers will enmasse swarm the enemy from the front. Second fleet is to commence firing on the enemy's flank." Thetch yelled, and the bridge crew of the Fusou complied, one of the bridge crew yelled to the Grand Admiral. "Grand Admiral, my lord! The third fleet has arrived, multiple other ships from the Empire have also arrived as reinforcements! I count 75! Mostly Raiden-Class destroyers, four Katori-Class Carrier/Star Destroyer/Dreadnaughts, a handful of Fuso-Class Cruisers, and ten Zeta-classes!" The crewman of the rank of lieutenant reported much to Thetch's joy. However suppressed it might be. Princess Yoshiko however was very notably joyful. "Very good. Support the third and second fleets! Press the attack, all ahead battle speed, heavy cannons to open fire first! However, keep clear of the enemy fleet until the Nagato, Ashigara, Nachi, and Mikasa detonate their reactors."

Thetch watched while the fighters and bombers of the second, third, and support fleet from other species of the Zipangese Star Empire moved into the fray, firing on the enemy fleet while Thetch's plan was put into action. It was the will of the Shogun to see these terrans burn, and he would. The ships of the Zetans, their respective Zeta-class moved to the front of the Fusou, close enough to share shield energy and hopefully deflect any further shots towards the Grand Admiral's flag ship.

Zipangese dropship escorting prisoners back to the fleet.

Lord General Kitagou Ayaka watched from the shuttle's cockpit while the battle ensued. Her own cruiser was destroyed by the Germans. However the Fusou was still up and operation, directing the pilots to the Fusou she had it land in the ventral hanger after all starfighters and TSFs were deployed, the Ventral Hanger was then sealed shut and pressurised while Droids and General Ayaka's guards, notably of the Senshi Usagi race began offloading prisoners, and taking them to a cell block on the ship, prisoners were tossed in and a shield activated at the door to act as a sort of "door" it was now General Ayaka and her guard's responsibility to keep an eye on the prisoners, the Senshi Usagi after finally getting settled down removed their helmets to show the metal "ears" protruding from the top weren't a sort of "joke" instead that there were actual ears under their helmets. "Lord General, how long do you suspect we'll have to watch these scum? I'd like to get back to the homeworld as quickly as is possible then drop them off to whomever will be responsible for them and come back to join the fight." Ayaka looked to the Senshi Usagi and smiled. "Soon, Tozama. Soon. Worry not. We'll drop these children off to the corrections authority and they'll join the other criminals in the mines."

[Rupudska]

Christophorus-Palast, Rio de Janeiro, Holy Roman Empire of Karlsland

Dozens of holoscreens showed the news of Europa's betrayal of Earth, even in the face of potential invasion from the Zipang Empire. Wilhelm III, along with several of his generals and admirals, sat in the war room in a mix of stunned silence and silent fury - in the Kaiser's case, a little of both.

The good news was that, despite decades of advancement, Europan War Gears still proved no match in agility for a well-trained Witch, and decades of genetic engineering and research had greatly increased the number of Witches Karlsland could field. As a result of this, the Europan attacks on Karlsland's military fortifications were expected to go slowly, and be limited to the northern and southern portions of the Empire, with the north being hit first due to its proximity to the Commonwealth's territory. Due in part to the massive laser anti-air network, the Atmos Rings, protecting the capital - similar networks protected other major cities but Rio was by far the most heavily defended, and a massive combined air-and-army base in the center of the Brazilian pampas, the central part of the nation around the capital was expected to fall last.

Hands steepled, the Kaiser watched in furious silence as Europan bombers were torn out of the sky by Witches over Caracas and Fortaleza, while missile strikes over San Jose were thinned out by a mix of laser and Gauss cannon anti-air batteries. In the Atlantic, a cargo ship licensed by the Reichsmarine was split in half by a War Gear.

At the very least, they weren't attacking hospital ships. Yet.

"How many?"

"E-Estimates state... current death toll already in the hundreds of thousands worldwide, fifteen thousand so far in Karlsland, and expected to only get higher... Your Holy Majesty."

"I see. Have they been discovered?"

"They?"

"Our seafighters? Our supercavitating warships to launch them?"

Admiral Stanislav Rowecki winced. Meant to be Karlsland's trump card against Europan shipping should war ever come to pass, the supercavitating fleet was meant to move faster and deeper underwater than the War Gears could reach without risking damaging themselves, or being too late to stop them from tearing up the Europan vessels. Most importantly, they and the seafighters could surface and operate in the air, meaning that even airships weren't safe. They weren't as fast as a War Gear in the air, but no War Gear could match them for speed in the water, and as far as firepower went they were roughly equal - seafighters relied more on projectile weaponry and missiles.

"They are undetected so far. Most are still in the hangars in Tierra del Fuego, but some are on a shakedown run in the Arctic Ocean."

"Order them all to attack any military ship flying the Europan flag, and any airship they encounter with Europan IFF, at once. Order the SMS Cronus to wartime alert, and the Transasteroid Fleet to attack any Europan fortification or ship they encounter, and aim for capturing prisoners. If this is impossible, destroy them. I need to write a message."

Offices of the Emperor of the Romans

Christophorus-Palast
Quinta da Boa Vista - São Cristóvão,
Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 20940-040, Karlsland
VERSCHLÜSSELUNG: KEINER
ZU: Emperor of Europe

---

I see you have decided to make known your plans to spread Europan ideals to the world. How I wish you could have decided to do so with the pen, instead of the sword, but here we are, and I suppose there is nowhere else we could have ended up, with the mindset of your generals.

I beg of you, one final time, reconsider your plan for a world under the Europan flag. There is enough in the Solar System for all mankind, this is unnecessary - and in the light of the revelation of the 'empire' of Zipang, downright foolish.

If, however, your mind is set on this course, let it be known. Karlsland fought off an enemy that sought to claim its land once, and by God we will do so again, with every drop of blood in our bodies, until the oceans run red with blood - ours, or yours.

And if you cannot be convinced, perhaps your generals or soldiers can. To them, I say this - I have heard tell that some of you have referred to myself, or the soldiers of Karlsland, as dogs.

If that is the case, then you would be wise to beware our fangs.

Regards,
Wilhelm III

[New Decius]

Olympus Mons, Europan Colonial Capital, Aries Mandate
256 Meters Underground, Facility Vers Alpha

Brisk footsteps echoed through the long dark corridor as a blond haired man in a red blazer and trousers and black military boots marched towards the entrance to the facility. A middle aged man in a scientists white lab coat was rushing along next to him trying to keep up and protesting something as well. “But My Lord Count Troyarde, His Imperial August Majesty is confident we shall win this war and be masters of the cosmos! Not to mention the project isn’t nearly close enough to completion! We don’t have enough reactor cores built yet, we’ve only just completed enough for the Orbital Castle’s!” Count Troyarde did not even bother to spare a glance towards the scientist as they approached a massive metal door sealed shut. “Dr. Vietin, I have my orders direct from His Imperial Highness, we are to make all haste to prepare Project VERS for execution within as brief a period of time as possible. Prince-General Dietrich would’ve delivered the message himself but he’s busy directing the Imperial Army forces launching the invasion of South Africa. He gave express instructions that I am to oversee the execution or Project VERS.” Dr. Vietin stopped and stared. “But what about Countess Cruhteo?”

“She will stand down from her post as commander of Project VERS.” The door before them opened and revealed a massive underground factory where mechs of a strange kind were being produced on assembly lines and the room was bathed in a strange white light not produced by any Terran technology. Indeed, nothing in this facility was Terran technology, otherwise this facility wouldn’t be resistant to anything short of tectonic shift, even being able to sustain an orbital bombardment of the planet’s surface. The facility was also not even at its deepest and if one looked down, they would see it went on for many hundreds if not thousands of meters further and there were large cylindrical spire-esque spacecraft lining the walls, each about two kilometers in length and a kilometer in diameter at their widest in the center. Exactly 37 of these craft were positioned throughout the facility, each in a different factory shaft, these shaft’s in fact being a mix between factories, loading docks, and launch centers. The Orbital Castle’s were powerful enough to break through the over two hundred meters of surface rock above them and rise into orbit under their own power and that was what they would do some day. Right now, Count Troyarde was not concerned about any of the fantastical technology around him, rather he was focused on the present situation.

When Terran’s first colonized Mars in 2050, it had been unknown that Mars had once been inhabited, in fact it was dominated by a unified planetary state known as the Vers Empire which possessed technology which even at that time, over a billion years ago, was far more advanced than anything so far developed by any Terran state and presumably these Zipangese as well. The Vers Empire had been a humanoid race which, utilizing its advanced technology, managed to stay intact even after Mars lost both its breathable atmosphere and magnetic shield thus rendering the planet effectively dead, but during an extremely intense solar maximum never before seen, the star Sol scorched the planet and brought the Vers Empire to ruin. Over the course of a billion years their civilization withered away until there was no trace left, at least on the surface. In 2189, Prince-General Dietrich Augustus Stadtfeld di Europa, one of the Emperor’s great-great grandsons and 27th in line for the throne with his age of 17, along with a squad of soldiers led by then Commander Slaine Troyarde, before he was made a Count of the Realm, uncovered the hidden Vers capital chamber underground after a Aries Mandate drill site caved in and the Imperial Army was sent in to rescue some thirty Europan workers and ten security guards (Though not the seven hundred Ghouls working as slave labor). It was there that they discovered Aldnoah. The reason for the Vers Empire’s technological marvels.

Aldnoah was and is a power source more powerful than nuclear energy, solar energy, tidal generators, and even Helium-3, the very energy source which had allowed Europa to advance further militarily than any of its opponents. And it was far more powerful even in the smallest of quantities. For instance, a artificially solidified slab of Helium-3 that was four inch by two inch, could power the city of Berlin for half a decade, whereas an Aldnoah sphere core of about the size of a football (OOC: Soccer for the American’s) would power Eurasia for half a decade. That is so long as the activator was still alive. Aldnoah was gifted to Vers by a transcendent supremely advanced species only ever referred to as the Elder Ones, but to prevent widespread misuse of it, only a few were granted to access it, the activation factor was burned into the genes of the Vers Emperor and his bloodline. The Emperor would bestow the activation factor on certain nobles and Knights of Vers though an Aldnoah drive would stay active until the drive itself was destroyed or the activator died. That was Vers’ problem during the solar maximum, every Knight in orbit on their castles died when the intense solar waves destroyed their Orbital Castles, and the nobles and the Imperial family died when the waves reached the surface. Everything powered by Aldnoah shut down and the civilization of Vers, which had reigned on Mars as a unified state for over twenty-thousand years, came to an abrupt and brutal halt. The planetary shields protecting Mars from the intensity of regular solar winds and previous solar maximums, crumpled like paper and the biospheric shields across the planet which generated the artificial atmosphere, could not keep out such energy and the surface scorched. Had the whole of the Imperial family, the nobility, and the Vers Knight’s not been killed, then at some part of the planet, at least a portion of Vers may have survived, but with all Aldnoah activators dead, everything shut down. The biospheric shields cut out and scientists estimate that Mars ran dry of any oxygen supply within a month at most judging by fossil data.

Prince-General Dietrich had ordered the drill site workers and Ghouls eliminated to keep the secret, and then killed the entire squad single handed, leaving Commander Slaine Troyarde bleeding on the ground, and offered Slaine a choice; Either bleed out and die like a rat, or swear loyalty to the Prince and be a part of not just Terran but galactic history. Slaine chose to swear himself to the Prince and in return, not only had the Prince patched him up and saved his life, he made him a Count of the Realm in a ceremony at the Palast des Mars in Paris. Since then, Count Troyarde, along with 36 other since chosen Count’s and Countess’, were building up an army and a fleet for the Prince in secret using Aldnoah technology, utilizing Aries Mandate scientists and trusted individuals the Prince sent their way. The goal, extrasolar colonization of another star system, essentially to abandon Sol when all was lost, the Prince having long since revealed to his 37 Count’s of the Realm that the Emperor was foretelling an old enemy returning and he had deduced that Europa, all Terran’s, would lose the coming war. So they were to prepare to depart with the best and brightest that could be hidden away over the years and colonize another star when the time came. The reason they all followed the Prince was because when he stepped into the Aldnoah Reactor Activation Chamber, the ancient but highly advanced technology recognized him and his bloodline as the true heirs to Aldnoah and burned the activation factor into his genes. Now normally one might be worried because the Prince has many siblings, half-siblings, nieces and nephews since the Emperor has 34 heirs all either great-great grandchildren or great-great-great grandchildren, and technically they all have the same genes. However, the Aldnoah is very strict in that only Dietrich and his bloodline succeeding him, his children and their children and so forth, will possess the activation factor, though his future spouse will not. Thus it was widely understood across Project VERS, that if and when this plan was put into place, Dietrich would the next Emperor of what would succeed the Europan Empire.

Finally arriving at one of the docking pads for an Orbital Castle marked by red trimmings on its exterior and the numeral IX in red of each of its folded wings, Count Troyarde looked up at a mech circling the spire of the Castle, overseeing adjustments to the structure being done by drones. The mech was unlike any War Frame, Gear, or TSF ever designed or built by a nation on or originating from Earth, for it was none of those. The ancient Vers Empire had not fielded massive armies of drone War Frames as Europa did, or a swath of piloted and drone Gears as the CON did, rather relying on a small group of Aldnoah powered mechs called Kataphrakt’s. There were 50 of them, one for each Knight of Vers and their Orbital Castle. Compared to the mechs used by the Terran powers, the designs pulled on the Kataphrakt’s and now implemented using revived Aldnoah technology, were gods among machines. In a secret test, a company of A7O9 ‘R’ Series Tactical Assault War Frames, up till introduction of ‘S’ Series in 2209, Europa’s most advanced infantry assault and close quarters drone, was wiped out in combat with a prototype Kataphrakt called the Pegasus, originally intended to be the Kataphrakt of Count Troyarde until another, more interesting design was created. Currently, 17 of the Count’s of the Realm had their personal Kataphrakt’s completed while the remaining 20 were under construction. Sadly only the Kataphrakt’s belonging to the individual’s gifted with an activation factor by the Prince could be made to be as supremely powerful as they were while the normal Aldnoah powered Kataphrakt’s manufactured here were powerful but not nearly as powerful as their lords. That was why each group of newly built ‘soldier’ Kataphrakt’s was assigned to a certain Orbital Castle and would require the authorization of that Castle’s liege every time an activation was needed.

Count Troyarde called out to the white mech circling the spire of Castle Cruhteo, his voice carrying through the chamber. “Countess Cruhteo, please come down here at once.” The kataphrakt turned to see who had called out to it and Slaine could feel the eyes of its pilot narrowing in his direction even if he obviously couldn’t see them directly. For a moment, the Tharsis, as was the name of the beast, did nothing but hover where it was, then it flew down towards the docking pad Slaine was on. Upon landing, there was a hiss as a hatch opened on the mid-back and a ladder came down, followed by Countess Cruhteo. Dressed in a similar fashion to Count Troyarde, Countess Cruhteo approached with a cold and unwelcoming aura emanating in all directions, particularly towards Slaine. It was well known that she was bitter towards him because he was technically the leader of the 37 Count’s directly beneath the Prince. While Slaine had been there when the Prince discovered the Vers ruins, Elaine Cruhteo was the daughter of General Hubertus Cruhteo who was on the Europan General’s Staff and had known the Prince when they were children, been one of his closest friends over the years, and still she was not the leader. She spoke with ice in her voice to Count Troyarde. “What do you want Count Troyarde?” She spat out “There are still many preparations to be made and with the war on we must take even more precautions to be discreet or we will be discovered by the Empire. I have a great amount of work to do so make this as quick.”

Slaine smirked at her arrogance. “Very well, I shall keep it as brief as possible Countess Cruhteo. Per orders of His Highness, I am assuming command of Project VERS and I will inform you that plans have changed. We have four months to launch.” Before she could become furious over her loss of command, Elaine was stunned silent by the deadline that Count Troyarde produced. Four months! The enemy were coming within the next four months and the strongest Terran powers were now at war with one another. The Zipangese would roll right over what was left of the Terran nations, the Emperor’s Eternal Empire burned to ash in their wake. Yet before she could respond, the Count questioned her regarding the state of Project VERS. “Countess Cruhteo, am I correct that all thirty-seven Orbital Castle’s have been completed and only await completion of their military force consignment?” Elaine could only nod, still too shocked to speak. “We shall have to make quick work completing the last twenty nobility kataphrakt’s before the deadline. How many Aldnoah cores have been completed and prepped for stabilization during transport?”

Back to her usual self, Elaine fixed him with an icy glare before answering. “In total, some three thousand are completed and awaiting transfer to an Orbital Castle, given their small size its easy to store many in a single Castle. Already loaded on is a total of approximately two thousand, altogether thats enough cores to power Earth as it is now about five hundred times over but just ten of these cores could power the entire planet of Earth without needing a backup from any other energy generator.” Count Troyarde nodded and then produced a document from inside his jacket and handed it to Elaine. “Your new orders. Your to take charge of the 67th Army Corps here on Mars in seizing the United Kingdom’s main shipyard on planet, Durian and Kyber Military Shipyards, as well as the Indian’s experimental Helium-3 reactor they’ve been testing on this planet for the last thirty years or so.”

Europa had quickly gained a monopoly on production and control of Helium-3 following the Pacific War, having used it power the war machine that brought down Japan. Even after the UN declared Luna to be neutral territory, Europa already controlled the largest deposits of Helium-3 on the surface of the moon and on the surface of Earth, and it was the one resource that Europa refused to share and the technology regarding it was guarded with every tool Europa had at its disposal. The CON-SDI had tried many times diplomatically, and through covert operations, to get the secrets of Helium-3 extraction and usage from Europa and always failed because the Europan’s were hardly going to give them the very resource through which Europa had achieved technological mastery over its opponents. Of course the Commonwealth wasn’t exactly full of idiots, though no CON member had a large enough deposit of Helium-3 (Extremely rare on Earth’s surface and extremely common on the moon and Gas Giant’s) for experimental study and application, even collectively it wasn’t enough for a reactor. But in 2199, the Indian’s uncovered a deposit of Helium-3 on Mars and, at the CON’s behest, constructed an experimental reactor in secret hoping to achieve technological parity on all fronts with Europa by 2250. What they didn’t know was that the Emperor knew about their secret reactor and was going to destroy it.

Count Troyarde turned back to Dr. Vietin with a look of question. There remained one more matter to discuss. “Dr. Vietin, there is one more Orbital Castle we unearthed but have not yet begun reviving isn’t there? Would you say its launch chamber is still in operational condition?” Vietin nodded. “Good, begin work to bring it Aldnoah drive back online and fill it full of as many thermonuclear warheads as you can get your hands on. Preferably in the range of 50 to 150 kilotons and preferably about thirty warheads.” Countess Cruhteo was quite confused by this. That sounded as if they would be turning an Orbital Castle into a bomb. “What is this for Count Troyarde? Are you creating a bomb out of a Castle? Will one of us, the 37 Lord’s of the Realm, be expected to sacrifice themselves for our Highness’ cause?” Slaine shook his head and smirked. “Far from it. His Highness intends to deny the Zipangese a vital goal they are reaching for and that is an intact Earth. As you know, an Orbital Castle on an assault descent can have the impact of a 1 megaton thermonuclear weapon on impact with the planet’s surface. This Orbital Castle will be essentially dropped down into the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the impact alone will create tremors and tidal waves that affect the America’s, Europe, and Africa while the detonation of the nuclear weapons will affect the larger world. In specific, our scientists predict that a number of the larger groups of islands in the world will be pushed under the sea, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand, Cuba, and most importantly Japan.” Now Countess Cruhteo saw the beauty of this plan.

As Europa and the other Terran powers were forced to flee Sol, Prince Dietrich would deny the Zipangese their claim to their former home by plunging it under the sea. A fair bit of revenge.

SMS Tyranny, Europan Expeditionary Fleet
Battle of Zipangese Star System

So you’ve decided to come out and play eh? Well you’ll be shown the foolishness of attempting to fight Europa!’ Kaalzebrütt thought as she observed the enemy fleet, now much larger due to reinforcements, new ships classes as well this time, moving to engage her own with their conventional weapons. Her aide, Lieutenant Kaine, piped up at the moment. “Grand Admiral, hostile starfighters and bombers approaching the fleet along with what appear to be Tactical Surface Fighter’s. Your orders?” Julia shook her head, this Thetch probably expected her to act irrationally and deploy her own fighters and War Frames to counter, hence leaving the fleet with no fighter cover within its ranks. “Maintain previous orders. War Frames will stick to our capital ships and engage any target that gets close while all squadrons have orders not to go forth and meet the enemy head on. Wait for the enemy to enter our line and then engage the hostiles.” She turned back to the holographic projection of the battle on the console behind her and cursed. She didn’t have the numbers to win this battle anymore, and with how heavy enemy jamming was it would take a while to get a message to Sol requesting reinforcements. Still even if she was heavily outnumbered, her forces carried a lot of firepower with them, particularly the particle cannons. If she could keep picking off the larger enemy warships until they were close enough to engage conventionally, they may still win this.

“Grand Admiral, we’re registering signatures from the crew members of the Expedition team sent down to the surface of AC-4, locator chips implanted in the spines of all Imperial Marines. They appear to be coming from one of the enemy vessels indicating they have been captured. What do we do with this information?” Julia bowed her head as she said a silent honor for the loyal Europan’s who killed themselves and destroyed their ships to deny the enemy access to any information. Marines were the most fanatically loyal of all, they would gladly die for Europa. So they would. “Activate the emergency destruct program in the chips. We will not allow the enemy to torture our men and women for secrets that shall never be revealed, spare them the pain later on.” Argus nodded and relayed the orders, while the Tyranny shuddered as it fired its particle cannon again...

Fusou

Leaning against the wall of his cell, Heinrich Öberhauser sighed at the futility of the situation and the knowledge he would never likely see his wife Lana or his five children again. Not that he would want them to see him again now, the shame his capture would bring to his family name, his whole community in the city of Namur, his great homeland. It would be unbearable! Why couldn’t that damn officer Captain Van Doorn have activated the Marines implants before he blew himself to pieces!? Every Imperial Marine had a locator implant in their spine which also served as an anti-capture suicide device in the event they should ever be captured by hostiles. To Heinrich’s knowledge, the device had never before been needed because no truly dangerous force ever captured Imperial Marines; oh sure terrorists sometimes ‘captured’ Marines but those were usually ISB (Imperial Security Bureau) operations where Marines allowed themselves to be captured in order to find a terrorist base. Never had a genuine enemy captured Imperial Marines before.

Just then, there was a moderately loud bang from the cells down the way and he saw his captors outside turn with a look of alarm on their face, only to turn in the other direction when more bangs were heard. The small explosions were getting closer and closer to his cell as they proceeded, within three minutes he had counted twenty-seven which meant only three left. He smirked, some smart person close by had activated the Marines implants to deny them the torture they were sure to endure, and to save their honor. He looked outside and saw the rabbit women had pulled the other two out of their cells to try and demand an answer from them. The Polish male Marine and French female Marine just smiled right before their heads exploded in a shower of blood, bone, and brain all over the guards and the walls.

’My turn now I suppose.’ Heinrich smiled and closed his eyes, leaning back thinking of Lana and his children. Then he thought of Europa and his smile only grew. “Long live Europa, the Empire is Eternal.” Then he too was silenced.