Princess Anna's Civil War (Closed, New Hyperion regional RP)

[Terra Novam]

Princess Anna's Civil War

The date is January 24th, 3223 on the Terran Common Calendar, and chaos reigns on both ends of the Origin Wormhole, the tunnel connecting two galaxies and two filial Human powers: the libertarian Terra Novam in Aura Hyperia and the fascist Terran Empire in Via Lactea.

On January 12th, a classified correspondence between Novan Minister Ari Dayan of Domestic Affairs and Stanislaw Lavrov of Foreign Affairs was forwarded to Director-General Shae Fletcher of the Department of Special Intelligence and Investigations by Director-General Dimitri Suvorov of the Internal Security Agency. Fletcher, in turn, contacted her old friend Lieutenant-Kommander Gerna of the Aesir Empire, requesting Aesir help in containing the situation before it would explode.
The correspondence, which was done at a classification level so high that people unauthorized to be aware of its very existence would be executed along with all living relatives and associates going 3 generation both ways, made mention that the mighty Terran Empire, the hegemonic hyperpower in control of most of the Via Lactea Galaxy and the nation Terra Novam split off from in 2185, had been all but taken over by Superintendent of State Elisabeth Pretorius, Imperial Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gartan Kondraki, and their xenophobic Black Hand Party, who have silently couped President Shasta Tani and Premier Tanna Ventis and now dictate a largely powerless Imperial Senate.
Pretorius aims to merge the Terran Empire and Terra Novam into a superstate called the 'Terran Federation", with the goal of first building up a military force twice as large as that of all other Lactean and Hyperian powers combined, and then using that force to subjugate or exterminate all Xenos species in Aura Hyperia while they were busy fighting the Ruinous Powers of Chaos in coalition with the Federal Armed Services of Terra Novam, whose majority of frontline forces are currently fighting in the Warp Storm known as the Great Sargasso and therefore unable to disengage to come to the aid of Novan independence in the face of the IDF juggernaut.

The Troika of Novan rulers: Emperor Zoey Shae Autumn, her husband Premier Castor Faust, and mutual friend President Marius von Ravensburg, feel that they have no chance to fight Elisabeth and the Black Hand, and have all but capitulated to their rule. The Novan Imperial Cabinet splits apart, with a faction consisting of Dimitri Suvorov, Ari Dayan, Stanislaw Lavrov, and Lord Admiral Zoe Laskaris, led by Crown Princess Anna Erzsébet Ásztipádi; retreating to the distant Fortress World of Tyros, where at its capital Tal-Sour the Liberators Party is proclaimed, which forms a splinter government at the Pentastar Planets in opposition to the Terran Empire.

Not that this split was possible without blood being spilled. When news reached Pretorius that her plans had been blown wide open, she ordered an IDF army and fleet under General Carlos Mendoza to occupy Fort Alcatraz, seat of power of the Imperial Free State, and from there work with Alexa Covacs and her Novans to nip the rebellion in the bud. Colonel John Colin Carter and the Alcatraz Guard of Honor fought ferociously against the invaders, but much of the city was lost in a single week of fighting.
The Novan dissenters do not stand alone, however, as the Free State's allies in the Aesir Empire and Romulan Star Empire work together to evacuate Princess Anna, her cohorts, and their relatives to safety, with the fearsome IDF Kill Teams hot on their backs. The Aesir Embassy is stormed by a squadron of Kill Teams and both sides take heavy losses, but the Aesir Ambassador personally cuts down the last Kill Team trooper and the Liberators make good their escape; aided by Emperor Autumn ordering the Novan fleets above Nova Terra to blockade the Terran warships and not fire on her adopted daughter's Liberator forces.

And now, the Imperial Free State of Terra Novam, not a few months ago a shining beacon of liberty and cooperation, has been largely taken over by an ultranationalist government headed by rogue Novan General Alexa Covacs, disciple of Elisabeth Pretorius, the infamous Superintendent of State of the Terran Empire. The Liberator government at Tyros is quickly set up, and a third faction in the form of the Commonwealth of Meridian declares its secession from Terra Novam under the leadership of Minister of War Kate Donner and former Premier Nerissa Volkova, who align themselves with the Liberators and their Xenos allies.

As the Meridians strike out against occupied Terra Novam in all directions and the Covacs Quick Response Force has been destroyed at the Corillia-Lemonum Star Route, Generals Covacs and Mendoza are at each other's throats as uprising become increasingly frequent in Terra Novam, and power plays within the Terran Senate destabilize the entire country as President Tani tries to edge out Pretorius and regain her rightful place as ruler of Terra without plunging the nation into civil war.

As of January 24th, 3223 CC, the situation is looking dire for both sides.
Terra Novam has virtually ceased to exist, much of its Frontier regions under self-rule and controlled by nobody, the Northeast under the Liberators, the Southeast ruled by the Commonwealth of Meridian, and the rest of the country occupied by Pretorius forces.
The Battle of the Pentastar has been won by Anna's Novans and the Aesir military, aided by the entry of the Federal Conglomerate of Terra Dysonia,
In the Terran Empire, the war with the Scrin Dominion and neverending Chaos incursions limits the IDF's ability to operate in Terra Novam, and the looming war with the Terrasphere Alliance takes up even more manpower - the one thing the IDF never has quite enough of. But this does not stop them from reinforcing General Mendoza's stretched-thin troops, and in conjunction with Covacs forces they plan to launch a dual assault on Utica, Princess Anna's homeworld, and Orar, a strategic Northern world from where Tyros can be attacked directly. The Meridians, though holding strong, are running out of steam; and under Senator Kiara Williams the IDF is for the first time in its long history building up to full wartime strength, meaning the Terran armed forces will increase in number four-fold in less than 5 years.

And this is not all. Both sides are developing doomsday weapons: on the Terran side, the aptly-named "Armageddon Gun", a planet-killing tachyon cannon, and on the Novan Black Hand's side, the Andromeda-class Super Battleship, whose details and capabilities are unknown at present.

All the while, General Jackson Vaughn and his shadowy Black Guard have been launching attacks seemingly at random, with their every action pushing the Terran Empire closer to open war with its neighbor and gargantuan vassal state, the Terrasphere Alliance; even as the High Council of the very same Alliance is falling over itself, hung up on whether or not to exploit the instability in the Terran Empire to redress old wounds and avenge themselves of the string of humiliating defeats at the Terrans' hands almost 7 centuries ago.

Despite the Liberators' victory, the cost was high, and unless something happens to turn the tide, the Pretorians will emerge victorious through sheer attrition. The impending Terran war with the Alliance will serve as a distraction, but an Imperial victory is certain, so time is of the essence. The infiltration efforts of the United Terran Republics have hampered the Terran Empire's advance, as has the nuclear bombing of the city of Paradizna by what appear to be Terrasphere terrorists.
For the ailing Liberators, it is do or die, their only chance at losing Terra Novam altogether and opening the way for an Imperial conquest of the entire Aura Hyperia galaxy lying in quickly recapturing Nova Terra and blocking off the Origin Wormhole, which will cut off the Imperial Terrans and leave them to face their home galaxy's downward spiral alone.


FACTIONS

Pretorians
- The Black Hand (Terran Empire - Elisabeth Pretorius)
- The Black Hand (Terra Novam - Alexa Covacs)
- Covacs FAS (Terra Novam - Alexa Covacs)
- Pretorius IDF (Terran Empire - Gartan Kondraki)

Liberators
- Liberators Party (Terra Novam - Crown Princess Anna Erzsébet Ásztipádi)
- The Aesir Empire (Jarl Brunnhilde)
- The Romulan Star Empire (Imperator Caesar Tiberiore Dorek)
- The Federal Conglomerate of Terra Dysonia (Zeydaan Zokah Lokaliin)
- The United Terran Republics (President Arthur Mode)

Others
- Ultranationalist Coalition (Terran Empire - Senator Kiara Williams)
- The Pseudo-Fascist Bureaucracy of Corcetia (Allied to the Pretorians - High Chancellor Kroindaal)
- FAS Expeditionary Forces (Neutral Terra Novam - Emperor Zoey Shae Autumn)
- IDF Expeditionary Forces (Neutral Terran Empire - Senator Thalia Ryan)

[Aragonn]

Last moments of the RMB...

Terra Novam
The Pentastar Planets
On the East flank, the battleships bought precious minutes holding off the Aesir onslaught to buy the rest of the fleet time to escape – or so they thought. After Commodore Johnston’s message and noticing that the Aesir only fired on those ships that were actively engaging, even ignoring combat-capable ships in retreat, most of the battleship captains took the chance and ceased fire, redirecting all power to engines and FTL drives and scattering to the four winds. A dirty dozen didn’t get the message and incessantly kept firing off everything they had left on the largest Aesir vessels until finally being silenced, but they went down fighting and did the damage to show for it.
The North flank was a different story, as the Terrans were hell-bent on breaking out of the surrounding Liberator fleets through brute force. The confusion and sense of desperation that had accompanied the start of the retreat had turned to anger, and there would be no reasoning with these Imperial astronauts anymore. They would break the blockade, or die trying; and if the latter, take as many Xenos as they could down with them out of sheer spite. The formation was being reduced as more and more ships were disabled, but rather than crumble the fleet simply contracted and in doing so concentrated their firepower in a smaller area, making it that much more dangerous to approach them. The Terrans were almost in the midst of the Aesir now, moments away from crashing into the Xenos frontline, and when that moment came all sense of order would evaporate and every ship would have to fight for its own survival in a mad chaotic scrum.

I.S.S. Austerlitz
Streams of shells pitter-pattered over the Austerlitz’s hull, blowing out chunks of armor as the explosions of missiles and torpedoes rocked the ship and tore through his insides. The Aesir kept throwing ships into the retreating Terran fleet’s frontal arc regardless of losses, and as the fleets closed on each other the fighting grew more intense as the Terrans unleashed everything they had left to break the blockade.
“It’s over.” Alex told his bridge crew as the auditory emulators failed, and the noise of battle ceased, leaving only the sounds of electrical fires and the screaming of injured astronauts to assault the ears. “All hands abandon ship.”
Not a man on the bridge acknowledged the Vice Admiral’s order, only turning to look at their commander with resigned, contented smiles on their faces. They had been defeated, but they would not suffer the undignified fate of capture. They would die like warriors, going down with their Admiral, and in what were to be the final moments of his life Alexander Schwarzkopf had never felt more proud of his men.
Recomposing himself, he gave his orders: “Target the nearest nuke-driver (OOC: Longboat) and rapid-fire everything we have left on him. Give me flank speed and go to afterburn on my mark. Bring Armageddon Gun to critical charge, but do not connect firing tube to force chamber. Set for manual detonation.”
As the bridge crew carried out the Vice Admiral’s final instructions in silence, Alex himself opened a fleet-wide comm channel: “All ships: get clear of Austerlitz! We’re going to self-destruct and secure you an exit route. Good luck, everybody. Schwarzkopf, over and out.”
“Now, open a channel to the Aesir flagship.” The Vice Admiral ordered.
“Impossible, sir. Directional transmitters have been destroyed.” Came the reply.
“Very well then – open-channel broadcast, all bands and frequencies.”
Once the comm line had been confirmed opened, Alex sent his last message, no fear in his voice as he accepted his fate.
“Aesir commander, I am Vice Admiral Alexander Schwarzkopf of the IDF First Expeditionary Fleet. I respect your courage and fighting spirit, and your decision to take a stand. And I know you think that what you’re doing is right, but just as you fight to protect your people, I fight to defend mine. I fight for the future of Earth. Even if I die, I can’t let the Aesir reach Nova Terra or Novi Soyuz. I’m grateful to have faced a warrior like you. Glory to the great Aesir Empire, and glory to Holy Terra. Peace through power!”
The Terran formation promptly reformed while the Admiral’s message was sent, the wedge inverting itself so that the pointed end now faced the Dysonian-MDF pursuit force, and quite some distance was placed between the Austerlitz and the new Imperial front line. This slowed down the Terrans and allowed the pursuers to close the distance and completely surround the Imperials, but as the Austerlitz pointed his bow at the Aesir capship, went to afterburn, and moments later disappeared in a tachyon explosion that released the energy equivalent of a small galaxy, the survivors hoped the delay would be worth it.

Terra Dysonia
The Battle
Upon the sudden deceleration of their enemy, the Dysonian formations quickly banked off and around the Terran fleet, with a number of unlucky Dysonian vessels falling prey to the lateral and frontal firepower of the IDF ships. From the Morkokei, both Vice Admiral Uuzmak and First Admiral Munah commanded their forces to corral the IDF as they had with the Covacs fleet. They began encircling the battered IDF vessels and made swift attack runs at maximum range, aiming for weapons systems and propulsion only. The admirals hoped, and perhaps misguidedly, that if they could force a surrender rather than outright destroying their opponents, they could send a wider message to the galaxy at large; a clear message that theirs was the side of peace and coexistence, and that the Terran conspirators and their Novan supporters were a common enemy of all.

[Aragonn]

Eastern Flank

With the majority of battleships ceasing fire and retreating, all forward firepower was focused on the remaining few battleships who refused to back down. One barrage of Nova shells struck at the Aesir before the full fury of the ships in range was transferred to the forward weapons and towards the battleships, tearing them apart. All hostile ships had been destroyed, disabled, or had retreated. The guns finally ceased firing, and reports of damages and casualties were being formed. The battle against the Terrans had been won, but the next battle, getting damaged ships back up to strength, had just begun.

---

Northern Flank

Throwing themselves in the path of the ISS Austerlitz had its desired effect...somewhat. The ship did die, but only after ramming into an Aesir longboat class warship and detonating with a massive release of tachyons. Both ships just vanished from existence along with a dozen other Aesir vessels. With the Austerlitz destroyed, the Aesir ships pulled back and allowed the remaining Terran fleet to retreat. Damage and casualty reports were drawn up, and what repairs were possible had begun.

[Terra Novam]

The Pentastar Planets
[u]F.A.S. Eclipse
As Austerlitz exploded in a spectacular white flash, releasing enough energy to overload every non-optical sensor in the combined Novan-Belderian fleet and force a reset, those instruments that still worked showed the Aesir fleet parting ways to allow the surviving Terrans to withdraw. Most of said Terrans had finally ceased fire and were hightailing it out of the battle zone as fast as they could, though a single battlegroup lingered and began launching recovery shuttles to retrieve what survivors they could from the thousands of wrecked Imperial starships.
“What are they doing?” Laskaris wondered out loud.
“...The same thing we would.” Anna replied. “Cease fire. Break off pursuit.”
The MDF and Iron Guard ships still chasing the retreating Terrans received orders to hold position and begin recovering survivors and obeyed, albeit the latter not quite willingly.
The Battle of the Pentastar Planets was over; and would go down in history as one of the longest non-stop engagements in Novan warfare. Preliminary casualty reports attested to the ferocity of the fighting: 30% of the FAS and MDF starships had been destroyed or disabled, and the Iron Guard Navy didn’t have a single ship left which didn’t bear impact and burn marks. Admiral Stoltz’s IGN Vectarion was barely a ship anymore as much as a hulk held together by single wires, but did have a dozen capital ship kills to its name to make up for this. And the Pretorians had suffered even worse, with nearly 70% of the Covacs fleet eradicated and almost 2/3rd of Schwarzkopf’s First Expeditionary Fleet destroyed.

As soon as survivor recovery and what repairs could be made in space were underway, the Crown Princess broadcast an open-channel message:
“To our friends from abroad: I am Anna Erzsébet Ásztipádi, Crown Princess of the Imperial Free State of Terra Novam. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for putting your lives on the line to preserve Novan independence and keep the Pretorius madwoman from turning us again one another.
The Covacs FAS is on the run, but the IDF are moving more and more troops into Nova Terra Sector. The Novan traitors are preparing to defend the perimeter while the Terrans are making ready to launch a counteroffensive, but my sources tell me that there is much doubt among the Imperial Terran generals. It seems they are not as committed to this war as the fascists would like.
We are thus presented with an opportunity to strike a death blow to the Lactean cabal's plans. I doubt the average Terran foot soldier likes the prospect of dying on foreign soil millions of light years from home, so if we can bust down the door of the Covacs FAS at Calix Sector I predict the Imperial Terrans will mutiny. Forward to victory!”

Lord Admiral Laskaris asked on a directed channel: "Aesir and Dysonian fleets, what is your condition? Do you require assistance?"

Moments later, another message came through, originating from deep within Aesir space. Its sender: Shae Fletcher.
“Excellent work, everyone! Now that their Rapid Reaction forces are in tatters, FAS has been neutered for the time being. The Planetary Defense Forces and System Defense Fleets in the North have sided with us, so between the local forces, Anna's regulars, and the international intervention forces, we should now have numerical parity with the traitors, at least for the time being. Still, I'd like to avoid a full-scale war if we can - we're going to need everyone if we want to stand a chance against the Ruinous Powers when the time comes!”


Novi Soyuz
Curia of the State
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, I am here to discuss a grave issue. Military Intelligence has just confirmed that the Terrasphere Alliance has begun mobilizing its military, and is exploiting loopholes in the Treaty of Treason to expand its forces to far beyond what the agreement allows. Our sources tell us they mean to triple their troop and ship count by next year’s end. We don’t have enough soldiers or ships to deal with such an armada if they are allowed to achieve this goal.” Senator Mark Lassiter, Governor of Alpha Centauri, opened this Wednesday session; the weekly meeting where the Senate dealt with issues requiring immediate attention.
“As long as we have Tiberium and they have no cure, the Alliance won’t dare attack. We infected half their population last time, and the only reason the galaxy’s list of sentient apex species isn’t 450 names shorter is because we saved their lives in exchange for surrender.” Rajesh Patil of Special Weapons Command commented. “We don’t need to increase our troop count. The deterrent of Element 133 will suffice.”
“Our military is ONE-FOURTH the size of what it OUGHT to be, and only ONE-TENTH of what it COULD be!” Mallory Jäger shouted furiously. “Deterrence only works if it’s matched on every level. We need both WMD’s, bioweapons, and conventional forces to run such a strategy.”
“There is no need for maintaining a wartime-level military. Quadrupling our forces will bring 2% of the population under arms. Increasing it tenfold will raise that number to 5%. While it is theoretically feasible, do I need to explain the economic ramifications of such an act?” Rajesh Patil replied. “There is a reason my department exists. It exists so we don’t need a large conventional military. The Empire has never had a large conventional force. We’ve never gone above 0.8% population-under-arms in the direst of circumstances. Biogenetic Warfare is a sufficient deterrent to hold the Alliance at bay. It can kill the Scrin in droves. And it will stand up against the Aesir.”
Mark Lassiter didn’t like that one bit. Standing up, he bellowed: “Then maybe it’s time we DID build up to a sufficient conventional army? The Scrin have increased their pushbacks tenfold in the last month alone! And what does the great and powerful Terran Empire do? What is the response of this august Senate? Nothing! You are afraid that by reinforcing the Scrin Theater the Empire won’t have the power left to deal with the Novan rebels and their Aesir allies. Which only proves Miss Jäger’s point! So I say that if we [i[don’t[/i] do so right now, there won’t be an Empire left to defeat the rebels! And are we really that afraid of a single Xeno empire when we have faced much more terrible odds before? Wake up, you fossil, and show some pride in our IDF! Or are you afraid that if the conventional forces prove themselves, you will lose face as your department loses power? Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate: I hereby motion that we deploy Fleet Admiral Daniel ben-Shoshan of 7th Assault Fleet, Fleet Admiral Dinyah Mittelmeyer of 5th Assault Fleet, and Army General Savi Petrakis of the Alcazar Expeditionary Army to the Scrin Theater forthwith.”
“I second that.” Charles Smith said without hesitation. “Supported.” Said Kiara Williams, Thalia Ryan, and Amal Nasir with one voice. Nasir further commented: “Looking at our history, how much could have been different if we’d maintained a 2% standing army? The Coalition Wars would have been that much shorter and easier. The Terrasphere would have been too intimidated o betray us in the first place. Even the Scrin in 2499 defeated us by a knife’s edge. 1 billion more soldiers and 8,000 more capital ships would have made the difference, as Mil-Intel has calculated a thousand times over.”
“I concur. We need to build up a properly sized standing army and fleet. And do it now.” Neferi Nishi, IDF Supreme Commander Ground Forces, said. The Egyptian almost never spoke, so when she did open her mouth, people knew to listen.
“Not to mention”, Defense Chief Marianna Drexler noted, “the proposed goal of the Terran Federation’s military was to have twice the soldiers and warships of all other neighboring powers combined. I see no reason to not kickstart that program on our lonesome bar immediate monetary and resource costs.”
“Very well.” Minister of Defense Garus Rostam said. “I will speak with Treasury, Trade, and National Defense to plan this. We will need to shore up our economy if we’re going to quadruple our forces.”
Thalia Ryan wanted to know: “But training a Guardsman takes 7 months. An Army soldier a full year. Building a battleship: 18 months. We estimate we’ll have 4 months before the situation in Aura Hyperia becomes untenable. How can we work with that timetable?”
It was at this point that Alexa Covacs, who was not a Senator but still a voting member, spoke up: “Miss Ryan, are you familiar with the Andromeda Plan?”
“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?” She answered.
“Because you only know part of the story.” Alexa said. “If all IDFSC and National Defense commanders could join me in the Curia plaza so I can explain?”
“Very well. I approve of Senator Lassiter’s motion, and also concur with Miss Nishi. We will begin preparations immediately. Session adjourned.” President Tani concluded.
Once again, the Senate meeting was livecast to all Liberator intelligence commanders by Malcolm Reid, who as personal aide to Defense Chief Drexler had virtually unrestricted access to the Imperial command structure.

[Terra Novam]

Only a handful of Class A Mind Warriors were needed to mask an assault on a planetary scale to appear to be conducted by an entirely different faction or even another species.
And so Planet Duran, a Fortress World in the Eastern Expanse of the Terrasphere Alliance – an area on the brink of unilateral secession – found itself in the sights of Master Gunner John Kelsey of the Black Guard's Strike Force One - and for all the Duranians knew, the approaching fleet was one of the militaristic, xenophobic Kennic species, one of the 3 great High Council races who were infamous for advocating extermination of entire families of species as the go-to solution for any infraction, from full-scale invasion to things as petty as writing something anti-Council in one's personal diary.
It would this be seen as nothing out of the ordinary for a Kennic battlefleet to launch an assault in the Eastern Expanse, since this region was politically unstable and rife with anti-Council sentiment, its annexation into the Alliance centuries ago still not having suppressed nationalist identify and independence movements and its newfound independence only flaring up old tempers.
Of course, the Corps could not hide its true self from the Duranians' recording equipment, but for the battle to come they would make those watching perceive the Guard fleet as being Kennic in nature. Once footage found its way to the Council, they would see the true version of happenings, but by then the damage would have already been done - the Kennics would stand accused of unprovoked mass murder, and their insistence to the contrary would only inflame the Easterners even more. And since nobody could possibly trace the Black Guard's warships to the Terran Empire, since even the few IDF officers who were actively involved with the Guard did not know what they looked like from the outside, the Kennics would be faced with an implausible deniability crisis, potentially weakening their position in the High Council and thereby driving the proud species that much closer to launching an actual invasion of the Eastern Expanse.
The masking operation was headed by newly-promoted Class A Mind Warrior Steven Anderson, for whom this task would be a trail by fire. Though the actual battle would be led by Asimov-class Command Carrier Non Compos Mentis, the masking would be coordinated from Flayer-class Battleship Baphomet, ensuring that critical operations would not be conducted in the same spot.
The Duranians never kne what hit them. The “Kennic” assault fleet entered Duran System after using the Blackout-class Recon Corvettes to knock out the system’s long-range telemetry and defense satellites on the coreward side, altering Duran that something was amiss. The Duranians dispatched their quick reaction fleet to this area, allowing the Siphon-class Stealth Frigates to slip into the system elsewhere and begin bombarding the outposts around Duran Prime. Panicked, the Duranians order their fleets back home to Trespond, but the Siphons go back into stealth mode and linger in the area, taking potshots and then disappearing again. This ties down the Duranian fleet but does not do much damage, but the distraction is used by Strike Force One to knock out the entire defense perimeter and enter the system, putting the star between them and Duran Prime to cover their entry. The Duranians are now convinced the Kennics are invading, and send out distress calls to Overseer Shapur. Once the SOS is dispatched, the Blackouts totally jam all communications, and the Bloodhounds, Flayers, and Dominators begin the general attack. Unable to utllize their true strengths, the Guard fleet is forced into a straight-up battle, but making use of their masking abilities to make ships appear to be in a slightly different position, making other ships unseen, and making nonexistent ships appear, the Mind Warriors ensure that not a single one of Controller Lennox’s vessels is lost. Unable to adequately coordinate their defense, the Duranian fleet is swept aside and the anti-orbital defenses soon come under attack. The Asimovs punch several holes in the shield and begin bombarding Duranian cities, with the planet broadcasting its surrender after 20 minutes of this. Frank Lennox, posing as High Councilor Arid, declares that Duran must be cleansed of all life for its seditionism, and bombing continues for another 15 minutes when Overseer Shapur and 6,000 Alliance warships exit FTL at the system’s edge. Anderson making sure Shapur gets a good eyeful of the “Kennic invasion fleet” and Kelsey expertly destroying Shapur’s lead elements, Lennox soon orders SF One to break off attack and go straight to FTL, the effect of doing this so close to the surface of Duran Secundus baking half the planet’s surface.
The operation complete, Duran System has lost 15% of its population, over half its fleet, and the two most important worlds have been severely damaged. Open war between the Expanse and the Council was now inevitable, and Shapur utterly convinced that the Terrans were a better ally than Avspar had ever been.

[Terra Dysonia]

The Battle

The Dysonian fleet continues harassing the fleeing Terrans, breaking off their pursuit when the stand down order came from Morokei. Those Terran vessels that could not escape with their fellows were anchored with tractor buoys while Dysonian Void Rangers were beamed in to pacify the crews. They were all given orders to capture Frigates and smaller scouting vessels begin sweeping for hostiles while larger cruisers begin search and rescue operations among the battlefield's numerous destroyed and disabled ships. It had been a long fight, and it had cost the lives of nearly 5,000 Dysonian navy men and women including one of its rising Officers, Viihr. Nearly a quarter of the Uuzmak Task Force had been destroyed, as well as a fifth of the Munah reinforcements, totaling some 780 vessels. However, as the damaged was assessed and the fallen were mourned, the Task Force was preparing to go once more unto the breach.

The Morokei

"This is good news. You should all be proud of the work you've done today.
Uuzmak and Munah stood before the main viewer as they reported back to the Zeydaan on the current situation. He had been congratulating his admirals, but it was clear that Uuzmak was far from feeling accomplished. "Sir, I am grateful for your words, but it does not excuse my failure to command my fleet. I should have gone down with my vessel instead of my XO, and will accept a full reprimand and demotion for this egregious stain against our great nation." Uuzmak kneeled and saluted the Zeydaan, a Dysonian means of showing deep respect for a comrade. A mild chuckle comes from the viewer as the Zeydaan smiles. "Yleez, what your fleet has accomplished today should not be looked at as failure. You faced down one of the largest forces in the galaxy and not only came out alive, but drove them out of the system." Raising his eyes to the rest of the bridge crew. "You have all proven yourselves worthy of respect from not only Dysonians, but species across the galaxy. You have shown our neighbors that despite our peaceful ways we will fight to the last man those who would oppress and slaughter us. Thank you for your sacrifice." With that, the viewer returns to the standard readout. Uuzmak stands, greeted by Munah with a hand on her shoulder. "Let's get back to work," he said. "That report isn't righting itself."

"Incoming Transmission from the Eclipse." the comms officer announces. With a nod from Munah, the transmission from Laskarsis is received. "Thank you for your concern, Lord Admiral. We will accept any help in recovering lost personnel and vessels, with our nanite repair drones standing by to return the favor. We are also carrying out operations to pacify those enemy personnel who didn't escape with their fellows. Any assistance you can lend us in apprehending them would be greatly appreciated."

Edit: Forgot to respond to the hail because I was half asleep drafting this.

[Aragonn]

Pentastar Planets

What few fighters and bombers were left began landing in the surviving landing bays. Valkyries were sent out to disabled Aesir ships for search and rescue and potential ship repairs. Aesir and Fenrir engineers were hard at work getting the fleet as close to running order as possible.

"Damage report," the Lieutenant Kommander ordered.

"Nearly half of our destroyers have been destroyed," reported his tactical officer. "The other half has had their prow armor stripped by Terran weapons. Frigates and carriers have taken heavy hits from enemy attack craft. Thirty percent of frigates have been disabled or destroyed, and the landing bays of sixty nine percent of the carriers have been destroyed. Cruisers have lost thirty two percent, battlecruisers have dropped twenty four percent, battleships are down thirty five percent, and longboats are down fifty six percent. Eighty seven percent have reported turrets destroyed, and ninety three percent need replacement capacitors for forward deflectors. Returning to Aesir space for repairs is highly advised."

"Very well. Issue the order for all damaged ships to return home."

"Incoming transmission," announced the communications officer.

"Play it."

“To our friends from abroad: I am Anna Erzsébet Ásztipádi, Crown Princess of the Imperial Free State of Terra Novam. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for putting your lives on the line to preserve Novan independence and keep the Pretorius madwoman from turning us again one another.
The Covacs FAS is on the run, but the IDF are moving more and more troops into Nova Terra Sector. The Novan traitors are preparing to defend the perimeter while the Terrans are making ready to launch a counteroffensive, but my sources tell me that there is much doubt among the Imperial Terran generals. It seems they are not as committed to this war as the fascists would like.
We are thus presented with an opportunity to strike a death blow to the Lactean cabal's plans. I doubt the average Terran foot soldier likes the prospect of dying on foreign soil millions of light years from home, so if we can bust down the door of the Covacs FAS at Calix Sector I predict the Imperial Terrans will mutiny. Forward to victory!”

"Another transmission. Playing it."

"Aesir and Dysonian fleets, what is your condition? Do you require assistance?"

"This is Lieutenant Kommander Grimmr of the Aesir Empire. Roughly forty percent of our fleet has been destroyed or disabled, and the greater majority of our surviving ships are in need of repairs at Aesir shipyards. I am sending these ships back for the repairs they need, but the remainder of my fleet will remain here with you. Another force almost twice the size of my initial force will be arriving here within the week to reinforce our position. I will be ready to continue our advance the moment of their arrival."

"A third transmission, Sir."

“Excellent work, everyone! Now that their Rapid Reaction forces are in tatters, FAS has been neutered for the time being. The Planetary Defense Forces and System Defense Fleets in the North have sided with us, so between the local forces, Anna's regulars, and the international intervention forces, we should now have numerical parity with the traitors, at least for the time being. Still, I'd like to avoid a full-scale war if we can - we're going to need everyone if we want to stand a chance against the Ruinous Powers when the time comes!”

"I cannot make any promises for your own nation, but the Aesir Empire will still survive a Chaos incursion. It is how many offensive forces are lost in this civil war of yours which will determine my nation's ability to strike back at the forces of Chaos."

[Terra Novam]

City-Planet of Novi Soyuz
Curia of the State
Thursday morning

10:00 to 16:00 on Mondays, 10:00 to 18:00 on Wednesdays, and 10:00 to 18:00 on Fridays, keeping to New York time. Those were the standard meeting times for the Imperial Senate, with Monday session covering a summary of last week, Wednesday sessions dealing with matters requiring detailed attention, and Friday sessions dealing with the regular affairs of State.
But a special session could be called by any Senator, at any time, if they felt like there was a pressing issue that could not wait until a regularly scheduled meeting and they had the seconding of a fellow Senator.
In this case, the Senator who called for a special session was CinC Security Belt Kiara Williams, and she was seconded by her girlfriend and closest confidant, CinC East Thalia Ryan.
Senator Williams, who either despite or because of her Kondrakist beliefs was also an acclaimed Xeno-sociologist, -historian, and -paleontologist, had through her Military Intelligence contacts in the faraway Messier 33 been picking apart this galaxy's history, and had come up with an idea she thought momentous enough to warrant the calling of a special Curia session so soon after the last meeting after putting together some of the puzzle pieces connecting the Milky Way to Aura Hyperia.

Kiara started the session with an animated, rapid-fire introduction: "My fellow Senators: I won't keep you guessing and get straight to the point. My M-33 Xeno-history Intelligence Branch has recently discovered the existence of two long-since fallen Hodgkin's Law Human hyperpowers in Messier 33, or what the locals call the Aura Hyperia galaxy. These were called Yamato and Hyperion, and controlled about 85% of the galaxy between them. They kept the Xenos of their galaxy in check, but were unable to bring them all to heel because the idiots were more interested in fighting each other. It seems that this was the reason the Xenos were able to exploit the war between Yamato and Hyperion, waiting until they had weakened each other and then banding together to strike the death blow which shattered them both. They were aided in this by Warp Storms that carved up the Great Human Powers, but these have since weakened and mostly disappeared. The Novans’ very own Great Sargasso is the most active of them all, as a matter of fact. Moving on: The Aesir Empire was one of those Xeno nations that withstood Humanity centuries ago, and was at the forefront of its collapse. The Hyperian Empire's technology was remarkably similar to our own, as was their culture. Both our nations seem to have developed along similar lines, and shared similar social and political ideas. Now, here's the important part: Both Hyperion and Yamato are successor states of a so-called "Central Authority" that spanned most of the galaxy. A Human federation that mirrored our own civilization to a degree barring coincidence. Thus, by invoking our Cultural Heritage Law, we can send colonists into Messier 33 and re-found the Hyperian Empire, thus giving us the right to claim a sizable chunk of the galaxy which is currently mostly uninhabited, and providing us with a brother state to both act as a counterbalance to Terra Novam and buffer zone against the Aesir Empire."
"That is all good and well, Senator Williams," Senator Grayson said, "but are you forgetting that Heritage only applies to territories formerly controlled by Earth?"
"Oh, but I have taken that into account." She waved CinC West off. "This is where things get really interesting: we may have solved the mystery of the Origin Wormhole the Novans have been keeping a lid on. Data recovered from a Hyperian shipwreck salvaged by Novan Exploratores last week indicated that both nations descend from a fabled Human homeworld far away... A planet called Earth." Kiara dropped the bombshell.
"But that's not possible! We would know if our own people had gone to Messier 33 before the Wormhole opened. We didn't have the technology, we still don't have the technology, to travel between galaxies, and even then, sleeper ships sent out as early as 2038 would still be on their way now." Rajesh Patil mused aloud. "And we have no authority over Hodgkin's Law Human states. If these people claim to be from Earth, it must not be our own Earth."
"Exactly." Kiara answered. "Tying that hypothesis in with the Origin Wormhole's odd properties, I think the Central Authority was the Terran Empire of an alternate timeline. Thus, in essence, they were us. And 2+2 means the Wormhole is transposed in space-time, which means that our Messier 33 is NOT New Hyperion, and our Via Lactea is NOT the Hyperians' Milky Way, which further means that through our genetic relationship with our Novan cousins, we can stake a Heritage claim on the lands formerly of the Central Authority, and thus their successors Yamato and Hyperion!" Kiara proudly proclaimed, never doubting the patently absurd logic behind her line of reasoning.
"Yamato and Hyperion, you say? Don't the Novans have a Planet Hyperion and a Hyperion Sector? Is there a connection between the Novans and the Hyperian Empire?" Patil inquired.
"Indeed they do, but these are named after the legend of King Hyperion of Ancient Greece. No relation to the Triangulan nation." Kiara answered.
Now it was Senator Lassiter who had something to say: "And what of this 'Yamato' you mentioned? That name sounds distinctly Japanese. Like, Meiji Empire Japanese. Earthen! One of our own successor states, the Teikoku Asahi and its Emperor Hijikata, would be quite interested in hearing about this. Since the Asahi is a descendant of the Terran Empire, our Cultural Heritage Law extends to them as well. And since we are allied to Asahi, we could, technically speaking, re-found both Hyperion and Yamato. This time without a massive conflict between them, but rather as part of a fraternal species-wide alliance."
President Tani, however, had her reservations: "Well said, Senator. However, having read your report, I gather there are several remnant states of both Hyperion and Yamato still in existence? Their claims to their old Empires are more valid than ours. Especially Magna Hyperion could overrule any Terran Heritage Law claim."
Kiara had already prepared a retort to any such question: "This is true, but also consider that apart from Magna Hyperion, the remnant states are political eunuchs. They have no galactic-scale influence, and lack the population and military forces to really stand against their Xenos neighbors. I dare say we can convince the remnant states to confederate with our colonists, especially since the new Hyperion and Yamato would not be ruled as extensions of Novi Soyuz but rather sovereign allied nations. Also, the PFB Corcetia has already expressed its goodwill towards our regime, and is a potentially formidable ally. If Corcetia stands with us and Magna Hyperion does not, that's a Value-150 claim versus a Value-100 counter-claim, and Magna Hyperion's right to the Hyperian name would be overruled. This could make the Terran Federation a reality even without Terra Novam."
"And what of the Democratic Empire?" Patil spoke up again.
"What of the Democratic Empire?" Senator Williams scoffed. "They are a Hyperian successor state, sure enough, but also a breakaway splinter state that stood with the Xenos in their war against Humanity's empires. They have no legal right to the Hyperian Empire, and they have already denounced our Terran government due to our actions in Terra Novam. They see us as the enemy, so I see no reason to not simply sweep them aside if they offer military resistance or ignore them if they don't."
"This is certainly food for some very serious consideration, Miss Williams. Provided we can work out the legalities and logistics of setting up new countries in what is not only another galaxy, but quite possibly a different reality from our own, how do you propose we populate these nations? Not to mention, how would we even get there if the Novans expel us from Nova Terra and control the Wormhole?" Senator Grayson wanted to know.
"For the latter, I have no idea, but the Science Directorate is already working on the problem, That is all I can say for now." Kiara said apologetically, before perking up again. "The first, on the other hand! Our own population is smaller than the Novan population, and spread out over 6 times as many planets. So sending many of our own people is out of the question, especially if we want to be able to colonize the lost worlds we are recovering day by day. However, there are many people in the Successor States who would jump at the chance to relocate from the hardships of the Milky Way to the purported placidity of Ara Hyperia. We can expect enrollment in the hundreds of billions once we get the ball rolling." Sensing the ever-doubtful Rajesh was about to bring up another issue, she answered his question before he even voiced it: "'What if the Yamato and Hyperion successors want nothing to do with us, and refuse to federate?' I can hear some of you ask. Hear this: we can offer them things the Novans possess but have not shared. Things that we would be willing to give. The resources of Tiberium. The ageless immortality of the FEV. The power of the IDF. Humanity restored to its throne of glory, a return to the old balance of power under a united species! They would be fools to turn us down."
Senator Charles Smith, whose company Biological Systems Intelligence was the source of many of the Empire's gene-tech advances, now brazenly broached a taboo subject: "What about cloning to increase the population size?" Seeing 797 faces drop in shock, only himself, Williams, and President Tani herself holding their composure, not even Elisabeth Pretorius steeling herself against this unheard of suggestion, he rushed to defend himself: "I know that cloning living people is illegal. I also know that is because in the past we cloned living people, made carbon copies of them. The backlash was tragic and understandable, and I'm not suggesting we lift the ban on copying our citizens." Seeing the Senate relax, he continued more calmly: "What I'm suggesting is that we utilize a sort of gene-splicing model, akin to IVF, where we take genetic materials from people and combine them to incubate fetuses. This is not too different from how we normally reproduce already. 1,000 years ago, society expected women to carry around life-draining parasites for 9 months and then push them out of their bodies. They would have been disgusted at our incubation method." The Senate collectively nodded, more than a few nauseated by the images his words evoked. "So why not introduce another paradigm shift, and instead of just couples and their children, have volunteers donate DNA so that we can mix and match and make more people? They wouldn't just be clones, but unique, fully individual citizens... But we would never have to worry about population levels again."
"You should be one to talk, Charles Smith!" Connor Grayson chuckled. "Remember we are being addressed here by the director of the company that once tried to genetically engineers ducks to speak English, only for them to do nothing but criticize people's fashion sense."
Half the room burst out laughing, causing Charles' face to turn as purple as a turnip. Damn it all, he thought, he had just lost all his credibility to a joke.
"Then again," Grayson continued, "The success of Project Gamma-155 shows your capabilities and brilliance. Thus, you can count on my support."
"Ladies and gentlemen, I think that's enough for one night." Elisabeth spoke. "Senators Williams and Smith have given us a lot of information in a few minutes, and I think we all need some time to think things over."

[Terra Novam]

Planet Thuringia, the capital word of the smaller of the 2 systems ruled by the old German House of Schleswig-Holstein and half of a modern recreation of the German Empire, had along with the larger system Neusachsen declared against the Covacs-Mendoza alliance, and paid the price for it as the IDF and Covacs FAS had launched a punitive expedition against both worlds.
It had seemed as though this had quelled the rising revolt, but in reality the people had only calmed down to make the Terrans lower their guard, and as soon as the Germans were ready, they entered open rebellion and quickly expelled the Pretorians from their planets.

General Mendoza knew that Imperial morale was sagging. Revolts and uprisings shook Terra Novam to its core, and were increasingly more difficult to contain. On several worlds, IDF and Covacs troops were confined to the larger cities as the hinterlands were too dangerous to patrol, crawling with resistance fighters. The Terrans had failed to account for the Novan population having access to main battle tanks and artillery guns by their Constitutional right, and did the Imperial Senate's assumption that Novans were as easily suppressed as Imperial Terrans if the aggressor was not Xeno had come back to bite the occupation forces hard.
The Liberators, in control of Terra Novam's largest industrial region, had held off the Imperial attempt to restore control over their capital Tyros, the fearsome Meridians had struck out from their subsector, captured several strategic worlds, and were holding fast in the face of the Pretorian counteroffensive, and just when it seemed that the Mendoza-Covacs forces were gaining the upper hand against the Meridians, Teveria Subsector declared its cesession from the Pretorius Regime and had sides with the Liberators, putting pressure not only on the Pretorian South flank of the Meridian Front but also threatening the borders of Nova Terra Sector.

Thus, the open rebellion of the Schleswig-Holsteins and their pair of adjacent systems provided Carlos with the opportunity to strike a quick, decisive blow against the pro-Liberator FAS forces garrisoning the German worlds.
FAS as a whole had stayed neutral up until this point, since it was Novan custom that during a civil war, which this conflict was considered to be, armies would be comprised out of volunteers loyal to the factional leaders and the regular armed forces would serve as a watchdog to ensure the factional combatants did not break military law or target civilians.
But Alexa Covacs' crackdowns on pro-Liberator civilian settlements had triggered a shift in FAS' behavior, and the Federal Armed Services were beginning to openly divide their forces between the Liberators and Pretorians. Liberator FAS forces were moving to Thuringia and Neusachsen in relatively large numbers to prevent the Pretorians from retaking control over them, making Carlos believe that their spirit could be broken along with the rebellious planets.
Unable to send his own troops, as all had been engaged, the arrival of General Antonio Quintana and his forces gave Mendoza the forces needed to launch his attack. Unlike Mendoza's own army, which was an Imperial Guard force with some detachments of Imperial Army soldiers as a core, Quintana's force was an Imperial Army expeditionary army bolstered by Imperial Marines - a smaller, but more powerful fighting force that, at full strength and totally fresh, was immediately launched to overwhelm the hostile worlds.

The battle for Thuringia began with a naval engagement between the world's 1,000 defending warships being attacked by 500 Terran warships, of which 200 were Battleships and Heavy Cruisers. Being outnumbered 2:1, the Terrans took the initiative by firing their A-drives and emerging from FTL right on top of the Novan formation and opening fire with their MAC and particle cannons as soon as they appeared. Caught by surprise and with their Void Shields down, 200 Novan vessels were disabled in the initial volley, and the Novan center broken. The Novans quickly turned their line to catch the Terrans between them and returned fire, with the Terrans continuing to unleash gunfire. Several dozen ships were lost on both sides as the Terrans withered under the sustained barrages of heavy-caliber Novan MAC shells, much larger and more destructive than the Terrans' own. Novan MAC shells burrowed into Terran armor, piercing the hull before exploding and blowing out entire chunks of ships, while Terran MAC shells struck Novan hulls and sent out directed-energy explosions that left large holes in the Novan vessels' armor, particle blasts then tearing up the hull and smashing innards.
Still, although the Terrans were dealing much more damage, they could not hold up against the Novans' volleys, and the Terran Rear Admiral in charge decided he'd had enough. Splitting his fleet to where the two sides were back-to-back, bows facing the Novan broadsides, a wave of torpedoes was sent out that depleted the Novans' Void Shields, followed by a flurry of anti-ship missiles that savaged the Novan vessels, who soon succumbed under sustained MAC and PAC fire. The hail of Terran weapons-fire was overwhelming, and before long the Novan fleet had been torn to pieces. It was now a matter of clearing out the orbital defenses before Terran ground troops could begin landing on Thuringia.

At the same time, a much larger naval battle took place at Neusachsen, where an expeditionary fleet of 10,000 Terran warships squared off with 30,000 ships of the Eastern Frontier Sector Fleet out of Carillon, whose Lord Admiral Ziva bat-Aryeh had sided with the Liberators.
The initial fleet battle had started in the Terrans' favor, their Alpha strike disrupting the Novan forward line and allowing the Terrans to close the range. The Terrans would traditionally approach rapidly with all guns blazing, break through the enemy center, and mop up the survivors piecemeal, but the Novan ships were so sturdily built and able to continue operating at full effectiveness even when heavily damaged that the Terran strategy failed, and the IDF was forced to fall back to longer range, sustaining serious losses to their more powerful yet more fragile ships in the process.
The Terrans went to FLT to seemingly try and escape the pursuing Novans, who by using their more advanced Distortion Drives were rapidly gaining on the Terrans when they hit a trap: an experimental trans-dimensional FTL interdiction field developed by Raukov NMI that worked like a charm. The Novan fleet was abruptly brought to a halt and forced back into Realspace, where the Terrans emerged in a horseshoe formation around them and deployed antimatter torpedoes. With the Novans again disrupted, the nimble Terran ships shot into the Novan fleet, firing left and right as they dodged and rolled to evade counter-fire, losing ships to the powerful Novan MAC guns and Lance weaponry, but also causing the Novan ships to hit each other as often as they did a Terran vessel and firing deadly particle accelerator cannons at point-blank range all the while. Despite the Novans' sheer toughness and firepower they could not weather this storm, and turned about to go to conventional FTL, where the Terrans gave chase, their A-drives being faster than the Novans' gravitic FTL drives, and forcing them to fight a rearguard action until the Terrans had expended most of their ASM stores and broke off pursuit.
Having lost a third of her ships against only 1,600 Terran vessels, Ziva fell back to Carillon for repairs and had no choice but to leave Neusachsen to be besieged by the IDF.

Back at Thuringia, the IDF Starfleet had been reinforced and the operation to clear out the orbital defenses commenced. Attack fighters were launched against the defense satellites, targeting the shield generators of each cluster. The Terran fighters launched a missile volley at long range, and followed closely behind. When the Aegis orbital defense grid opened up to take out the missiles, the Terran craft activated WEP (War Emergency Power), went to afterburn, and closed the distance to the satellites, firing off another missile volley and destroying many of their targets before turning back to the fleet; in and out before the Novans knew what had hit them.
The Terran frigates then advanced to bombard the weapons satellites and battle stations, skirting the range of effective fire and covered against enemy missiles and torpedoes by interceptor smallcraft. Within the hour, 20 battle stations and 600 clusters of armed satellites had been destroyed at the cost of 10 Terran frigates and 120 interceptors, and the Aegis had been sufficiently holed for ground troops to begin landing.
A swarm of attack planes and fighter-bombers descended upon Thuringia's surface, plasma rockets, particle pulses, and graviton accelerator cannons smashing the Scutum Planetary Defense Grid's AA and SAM installations to pieces until a landing area was cleared. A flight on troop transports bearing shock infantry and light cavalry descended onto the planet's surface covered by ground attack fighters, and even though the Novans attacked immediately with every unit available in the vicinity the Imperial Defense Forces were simply too strong, and within hours, they were in control of the area, at the low cost of 40 IFV's and 300 infantrymen.

Likewise, an operation against Neusachsen's defense grid took place., and again, this engagement was orders of magnitude larger than its counterpart.
The first Terran attack, with thousands of strike craft and attack fighters, had succeeded in destroying or crippling thousands of orbital defense platforms, but almost 1,800 IDF smallcraft were lost to the Aegis' defenses.
After fighters had been retrieved, the Rear Admiral in charge dispatched a force of Frigates and sub-capital ships to directly assault the Aegis and supporting Planetary Defense Flotilla and System Defense Fleet. Initially successful, the Terran drove a wedge through the Novan fleet, destroying many ships in the process. But when the Novans regained their composure, it led to a point-blank fleet battle wherein both sides suffered heavy losses. However, this was all part of the plan, as the Terran capital ships used the distraction of the battle to completely envelop the Novan fleet. After firing a volley of antimatter torpedoes, the Terrans advanced behind a screen of continuous ASM launches. Realizing that further resistance was pointless, the remaining Novan defenders surrendered to the IDF. Terran Imperial Starfleet had won the crushing victory Carlos Mendoza so desperately needed, losing 350 ships and killing 1,500 Novan vessels.
The Scutum PDG remained intact, however, but the Rear Admiral had a trump card to deal with this: his flagship, I.S.S. Methuselah's main gun, a miniature version of the Armageddon Gun. A hellish white light shot out from the Terran Dreadnought's "mouth", smashing through the planetary Void Shield and Storm Shield networks in sequence before impacting the ground and slagging the top-layer surface in a 300-kilometer radius... Along with 24 Novan infantry battalions dispatched to defend what would be the Imperial landing site.

At Thuringia's Planetary Command Base, a small force of foot-mobile infantry troops arrived from the capital city - barely a battalion of what had been a mechanized division. The division commander explained to the base commander that his troops had simply started disappearing, contact being lost with squadrons of APC's, IFV's, SPG's, and entire infantry platoons at a time, and when other units were dispatched to their last known location not a trace of their comrades could be found. Realization of what was going on struck the Lieutenant-General commanding the division when at dawn the following day, the Novan flag flying over the Planetary Curia had been replaced by the Globula of the Terran Empire, and he had gathered his remaining forces and made a quick escape towards the Command Fortress.
Having no reason to disbelieve the Lt-Gen, the Major-General commanding the base issued a general readiness alert moments before a barrage of subnuclear artillery shells struck the base's Northern fortifications, killing 500 troops including both Generals. Two more artillery barrages followed, compromising the base wall's integrity, while the garrison troops went to Combat Alert and made ready to repel attackers. This task would be made much more difficult as a missile volley from MLRS launchers blanketed the base from North to South end, immediately followed by a second missile barrage that went South to North.
As the stricken Novans tried to regain their bearings, all hell broke loose as Terran fighter-bombers came screaming in overhead, dropping plasma bombs on the hapless Novans' air strips and almost completely wiping out the base's air defense fighters, the protective SAM batteries not even having time to respond.
Imperial Army ground troops, a phalanx of assault tanks followed by a line of IFV's and APC's backed by SPG's, came rushing in immediately after the bombing run, strike fighters providing CAS as the Imperials engaged the Novans' Northern defenses. By now, the FAS troops had manned their weapons and returned fire on the Terrans, but they just kept coming. The amount of firepower it took to take down even a single Imperial tank was astounding, and they were moving in at such a speed that the armor rolled right over the trenches and through the gaps in the walls before the Novans fully knew what was happening. Before long, the Terran infantry disembarked and flooded into the trenches, entering a brutal melee with the FAS troops while IFV's supported from a little further back.
The rest of the Terrans continued into the Command Base, plasma bombs and artillery shells reducing the Novan positions to nothing as the handful of aircraft they still possessed and managed to get airborne were quickly shot down by Terran interceptors. Only the Novan heavy armor was able to effectively engage the Imperials, but their numbers were simply too great to stem, and less than two hours after the first subnuclear shells had landed, Thuringia's Planetary Command Base had fallen to the might of the Imperial Defense Forces.
Not only had the capital city and Command Base been taken by the Terrans, General Quintana's army had also captured the 6 largest Novan Army and Guard bases on Thuringia and his Marines were currently besieging its second-largest city.
With all offworld communications jammed by the IDF, knowing that Neusachsen was facing a similar assault and reinforcements would not come, and their military infrastructure decimated in the first two days of fighting, the second city soon surrendered, giving the Imperials effective control over Thuringia at very little cost to their own number. The purported superiority of the IDF over FAS in open battle had been put to the test, and decisively proven true.

The battle for Neusachsen was, however, quite a different story.
The IDF on Thuringia had been able to take the capital city in a surprise attack, but the defenders of Neusachsen's capital were ready to face the Imperials. The walled city, divided into 20 sectors around the Government District, found its static defenses, powerful armored and shielded walls stacked to the brim with various weapons that proved impenetrable to Daemonic hosts, were as easily brushed aside by the Terrans as a Medieval castle would have fallen to a 21st-century tank army. Terran forces flooded into Sector 17 where they were tied down by Novan armor, but elsewhere the IDF penetrated all the way into Sector 5 where a Novan counterattack was routed and the Sector abandoned. Over the city skies, Novan and Terran smallcraft battled for air supremacy, managing to keep most of the Terran bombers at bay only through taking massive losses. The Northern city was soon overrun, with its defenders falling back to the Government District to regroup, slowed down by having to protect evacuating civilians whom they protected at the cost of their own lives. The Novan 5th Heavy Tanks division, one of the few Army units bolstering the Guard, executed a suicide charge to halt the Terrans' advance in the North, succeeding in stopping the Imperials but losing 80% of its combat effectiveness and its survivors stretched thin holding a long ad-hoc defensive line. A regiment of Novan Imperial Marines found itself surrounded in the Eastern city and was slowly but surely being reduced to nothing, but since they tied up so much of the Terrans' attention they resolved to go down fighting and slow down the enemy's advance for as long as they could. When the Marines inevitably died, Main Base gave the order for a general retreat to make a last stand at the city center. The Novan air force was now destroyed, and Imperial bombers pelted the Western bastion at Sector 12 to allow their infantry to overrun the stalwart Novans. In Sector 10, the defenders repelled the first Imperial attack, and requested armored support to shore up the defenses which Main Base denied, forcing the remaining troops to fall back as well.
The Novan troops rallied at the city center and struck out against the Terrans' field base they'd established at Sector 8, managing to drive off the Imperials at a heavy cost. The Novans brought up their armor and artillery reserves and pursued the Terrans through Sector 9 into Sector 10, where the Imperials bulwarked themselves and engaged the Novans for 3 more hours before the Novans' staying power proved too much and the IDF broke off its attack on the capital. Too few Novan soldiers remained to pursue and drive of the IDF, however, and even though reinforcements managed to make their way into the city before it was blockaded the Terrans managed to establish a siege of the city. Many buildings had been destroyed or damaged, and even though nobody said it, the Novans knew they would not be able to withstand another Terran attack.
The Planetary Command Base was not so lucky, as its troops were quickly being overrun by the Terrans. The Imperials gave no quarter and killed soldiers and civilian staff alike, Novan troops trying to hold off the Terrans long enough to evacuate the noncombatants and largely failing. Those who tried to surrender were literally shot to pieces by Terran graviton accelerator rifles, each pulse punching a gory hole in its target. Within an hour, 85% of the base's occupants were dead, and Terran LAV's and strike fighters were harrying the convoys of retreating personnel, bombing and shelling without mercy. 20 minutes later, not a single Novan had survived - less than 2,000 Terran dead to show for having killed 50,000 soldiers and twice that number in civilian contractors.
With its Planetary Command Base slaughtered and the capital reduced to rubble by neverending streams of cannon- and missile fire, Neusachsen surrendered after 2 weeks of bloody siege.

General Mendoza was happy that the rebellious Germans had been brought to heel and the rebels' morale crushed, and General Quintana was already pleased that he had served his country and his direct superior well, but General Covacs insisted on punishing Carillon for its resident Battlefleet having come to the Schleswig-Holsteins defense. Arguing that letting Carillon get away unpunished would be a sing of weakness and a quick-decisive strike on this pro-Liberator world could be the death knell to the resistance within Pretorius-controlled space; Mendoza approved an attack on Carillon, but insists that the Covacs FAS execute the operation without IDF support. Eager to show her competency, Alexa readily agrees.
After becoming aware that Thuringia and Neusachsen have fallen, and how this came about, the Liberators' leaders have guessed correctly that Carillon would be the next planet to fall under Pretorian attack, and have dispatched reinforcements there. The Tyros Splinter Government, preparing for its next major operation, cannot spare any manpower, and neither can Teveria, being so close to the heart of the Covacs Regime, but with pressure on the Meridian Front slackened, the Commonwealth can afford to dispatch 2 of its most elite divisions, the 550th Meridian Shock Troops and 576th Meridian Lifeguard, the latter under the personal command of Princeps Kate Donner and the former commanded by veteran General Dieter Johanssen, with the defense of Meridian itself being left to Imperial Marshal Gustaf Hellstrand.
The Meridian ground troops, transported by Belderian Iron Guard Navy vessels, arrive at Carillon to find the planet already under siege by the Covacs FAS.

The Covacs fleet had moved to Carillon only to be hit by an interdiction field thrown up outside Carillon System, bringing it to an abrupt halt. Novan attack drones and smallcraft were closing from every direction, engaging the Covacs ships in direct combat after overwhelming its fighter screens, since most of the Covacs smallcraft were still stationed aboard their carriers. Said carriers were the first vessels targeted, the Liberator craft focusing fire on launch bays, catapults, gravity arrestors, and hangars to prevent smallcraft being able to take off. Novan starships' AAA being designed for casual defense, since Novan Starfleet relied on its own fighters to deal with hostile smallcraft unlike Terran Starfleet and its integrated, multi-layer AA network, the Covacs found it difficult to hold off this smallcraft attack, but the combination of the sheer number of AA guns and the Novan craft running out of ammunition forced them to retreat without dealing too much damage, leaving the Covacs forces free to continue on their way as the damage to the carriers was quickly being patched. The forward columns suddenly stopped as explosions from out of nowhere destroyed several ships, and more explosions began blossoming across the fleet's leading elements as unseen objects pitter-pattered across hulls. The Covacs' Storm Shields absorbed most of the damage, though several Escorts were unable to last and went down in flames. It didn't take the Covacs admiral long to realize that his fleet was being assailed by mobile self-replicating mines, made invisible by installing Romulan-acquired cloaking technology. But while this strategy would work excellently against the IDF, the Covacs FAS had an easy way around the minefield: simply diving into SD-space and bypassing it through this lower dimension, which is exactly what they did. Had Admiral bat-ARyeh deployed the mines and FTL interdictors together and not in separate lines, the Covacs fleet would have been stopped cold, but alas, she had expected a Mendoza force and planned accordingly.
As the Covacs fleet emerged in front of the Novan defenders of the Sector Fleet, the Pretorian fleet got off the first heavy weapons volley. This meant the advantage immediately went to Covacs' fleet, and the Pretorians pressed their attack against Ziva bat-Aryeh's battered fleet. Both factions brought a vast arsenal of ballistic cannons, particle guns, Lances, torpedoes, and missiles to bear on each other, creating a nigh-literal wall of ammunition that met at the halfway mark and destroyed so much of each other that too little ordnance remained to do noticeable damage to either fleet. The Liberators turned to broadside and fire their rows of large-caliber MAC cannons against the Covacs, who showed the Liberators their prows and fired off volley after volley of torpedoes, heavy ASM's, and Lance shots; the result being that the Liberators dealt steady damage and the Covacs struck periodic hammer blows. But where the Covacs ships could pull back behind their firing line when the shields were down and wait to recharge, the Liberators in their checkerboard formation could not counter the massive strikes the Covacs ships were launching, focusing down one Liberator capital ship at a time and slowly but surely destabilizing the entire fleet. Just as the battle seemed lost, the Iron Guard arrives and takes up assault positions, charging forward under the cover of the Carrilonian heavy guns. Knowing that letting the Belderians get close amounts to suicide, the Covacs admiral backpedals to keep the distance, allowing the Carillonians to turn their bows forward and advance, supporting the Belderians with their own torpedoes and lance batteries.
The Liberators' victory was nigh when disaster struck. Ahead of schedule, the super-battleship Andromeda jumped in, charged its main gun, and targeted the Iron Guard fleet in front of it. A short charge-up. A lance of hellish, white light that overpowered the luminosity of Carillon's blue giant star. A wave of tachyon energy washed over the Belderians... Seconds passed, and vision returned to normal... And the Belderians were no more, as the Iron Guard fleet had been literally shaken apart to atoms. Andromeda herself had been heavily damaged by the firing sequence, her bow half-melted, engine room on fire, and a gaping hole blown in her keel. The Amdromeda was dead in the water, but Covacs ships were already being detached to tow her back to Nova Terra while the main fleet pressed forward once again, this time successfully scattering the Eastern Frontier Sector Fleet and putting Carillon under siege. The Iron Guard troop transports carrying the Meridian soldiers had no choice but to fall back to the Commonwealth, as the Tyros Splinter Government was deprived of avenues into Covacs-controlled space and the recalcitrant Novan State apparatus in Occupied Terra Novam effectively capitulated, though civilian armed resistance, although diminished, would continue to challenge the Pretorian occupation.

[Aragonn]

Jarl Brunnhilde
Undisclosed Location Within The Aesir Empire
Encoded Communication With Fletcher, Princess Anna, and Terra Dysonia Leadership

Communication with three Novan planets have been lost. Our assumption is that these planets have fallen to the oppressive Pretorian regime under military force. We must move more quickly to remove this threat before more lives are lost. And while I want to aid in the liberation of these planets, the military resources spent would be too great at the moment. We must double down on our push for Nova Terra and the wormhole. More resources and personnel are being sent to help achieve this. My hope is that the Pretorian forces will be routed before long.

[Terra Novam]

The Battlespace
The Dysonian Void Rangers teleporting in to pacify the disabled Terran ships were in for a rude awakening as they instantly found themselves under small arms fire, the Terran naval soldiers (troops halfway between Novan Armsmen and Naval Infantry in terms of training and equipment) that made up half an IDF starship’s crew deploying mobile shield generators and opening fire with graviton accelerator rifles, the exotic nature of this weapon making them far harder to defend against than Novan MAC rifles. The naval soldiers, clustered in and around critical areas of ships, were ordered to hold their sectors till the last breath, while the cosmonauts spread out across the interior and intended to make the Dysonian boarders ay for every step they took.
For a Terran, it was better to die than be captured, and not just for honor’s sake. Imprisonment, no matter how briefly, would completely and irrevocably shatter a Terran’s mind, thus death in combat was by far the preferred outcome; especially since the Dysonians’ horrific appearance in the Terrans’ eyes heralded a fate worse than death if taken alive. Thus, the fight merely moved from being between to being within starships.
As Commodore Johnston tried to relay this information about the Terran mindset to Admirals Uuzmak and Munah, a broadcast was sent over those still-functioning tannoys on a few of the Terran ships; in English rather than Russian so the Dsonians would hopefully understand: “Attention, boarding parties. We may be defeated, but we will not be put in cages. Self-destruct in T-minus ten minutes and counting.”

F.A.S.Eclipse
Laskaris received Vice Admiral Uuzmak’s transmission with a smile as allied casualties seemed to be light relatively light, which turned into a worried frown with the message’s last part.
“Uuzmak, Laskaris. Recommend you withdraw pacification parties immediately, unless you want them spaced. You cannot pacify Terrans, only make them defect. Do not, again, do NOT try to capture them! I will have my naval infantry move in and secure the Terran ships if there’s still time.
As for repairs, I appreciate the offer. We can repair most of our damaged systems on the go, but hull and armor damage is extensive. It’ll require weeks, if not months in drydock, time we don’t have. If you could send your repair drones to mend our bodies, I’ll send over medics and engineers to help with casualty recovery.”
From the Novan and Belderian carriers, a small armada of smallcraft was launched, loaded with personnel and supplies to aid the Dysonians and extract survivors from fallen enemy ships.
Now addressing LK Grimmr, she continued: “These are terrible losses. We did not foresee such a… persistent engagement. If you need any help, I am at your disposal. I can only hope those reinforcements arrive on time – a week is all we may have before the enemy regroups and strikes us again. I’m not sure we can hold off another direct attack on Tyros now that they know what we’re capable of.”

I.S.S. Marathon
The Marathon had an hour before been a proud vessel, a Battleship of the new Hypaspist class that bore 1/3rd more firepower, 20% heavier armor, and almost twice the shield strength of its predecessor Phalangist class. One of said Phalangists, I.S.S. Thermopylae, drifted lifelessly some 500 kilometers away, most of his innards gone and only the stern section anything resembling intact.
Two Sarissa-class Dreadnoughts, the grandiosely named Semper Dominus (Always the Lord) and ironically named Ius Triumphanis (Triumph of Justice), were also present in the general area, their hulls pockmarked with shell craters and entire sections missing where torpedoes and ASM’s had hit. The Dreads’ engine plants had been entirely destroyed, and they were slowly but surely burning to a crisp. Amazingly, not a single Alexander-class Dreadnought was present in the debris field, these top-of-the-line ships making good their escape.
Marathon had fared better, all things considered, but still the vessel looked like a charnel house. The corridors were a burnt mess, battered bulkheads sticking out in all directions, wires and cabling drooping out of holes in the inner hull, the floor painted yellow with the blood of killed crewmen, some of whom still hadn’t been moved to the morgue.
The scene inside the reactor room, where the command crew had transferred to after the bridge was about to fall to the Void Rangers, was not any better than the one in the corridors-- plasma fires incinerating corpses, electrical explosions from overloading circuits, severely wounded crewmen at every other door. A cosmonaut was propped up against a bulkhead, unconscious, most of his left arm missing with only a cauterized stump remaining where a sprung plasma line had seared it clean off. Another man, an older naval soldier by the rank of Sergeant-Major, lay half-buried under a pile of ceiling struts, groaning for help and kept alive only by the virtue of the heavy ceramite plating keeping his blood inside his burst veins. A medic, half his own body covered in burns, was trying to keep the man alive and stabilize him enough to remove the plate trapping the soldier’s crushed legs. A young woman whose face was as black as her hair from being covered in dust, grime, and far less pleasant substances, overlooked the scene of horror below, clutching her GRAL (graviton accelerator) rifle and keeping it trained on the entrance. Said entrance had been sealed shut, but the Dysonians were cutting their way through, and would enter at any moment. That moment came all too soon; and as the Void Rangers moved into the room the medic pulled out his pistol and shot himself in the head, the trapped veteran Sergeant picking it up and opening fire on the one who seemed to be the officer in charge of the terrifying Xenos. The limbless cosmonaut remained passed out, and the girl on the catwalk, no older than 16 or 17, snapped off an accurate GRAL burst, punching two Xenos off their feet before ducking to cover, not bothering to confirm any kills; and fetching her four high-explosive shrapnel grenades. The first she lobbed over to where the Xenos had advanced to, followed by a few more bursts of GRAL pulses. The second grenade went at the entrance to kill any stragglers, the third down the staircase she was next to; the soldier removing the pin of the fourth but keeping it in one hand, discarding her GRAL rifle for a heavy-caliber particle pulse pistol in the other.
The side rooms the catwalks connected to were full of the dead, dying, and medics, and they needed time to escape deeper into the confines of the ship. “I can’t keep them at bay for long!” She shouted. “Fucking run! I’ll hold out as long as I can!”
Sensing a Xeno heading up the steps, she blindly fired the particle pistol, hearing a satisfying *thud* as those crewmen who could still walk started doing so. One of the wounded soldiers swiped the GRAL rifle, having lost his own, and headed off with a solemn salute. The girl kept firing the particle pistol until it clicked dry, its demanding power cell depleted, and looked down at the last grenade. “Son of a bitch, never thought I’d die like this…”
Trembling, she got up and held the device high, bracing for the storm of fire that would end her short life. “Come and take it!” She shouted in Russian, not that the Xenos would understand, but the signal would be clear – death before dishonor.

F.A.S. Eclipse
Shae replied to the Lieutenant Kommander: “We’ll try to bear the brunt of the frontline combat ourselves if you wish it, we Novans are as a species probably more capable of sustaining these losses, if only due to a larger population. This war may knock us out of the fight against Chaos, but at least b winning it we will prevent a second, equally terrible enemy from opening an entirely new galactic-scale war at the same time as Chaos presses our borders.”
Just then, Jarl Brunnhilde’s message was received by Eclipse’s Vox operator and relayed to the command deck. Confirming that all commanding officers had heard it, and the Jarl and Fletcher were both on the open channel, Laskaris looked at Anna, who nodded imperceptibly.
“Alright, open a multi-way vidcom. Laskaris here. I read you loud and clear, Jarl Brunnhilde.”
“As do I. I’m just now getting the reports myself.” Shae followed. “This General Quintana is currently redeploying, believed to be moving for Orar to fortify that world. It is of no consequence unless they can get a fleet assembled there, which isn’t possible without bypassing us or going East, which we’d see. My sources tell me there’s nothing there but token garrisons.”
“We don’t have the numbers to fight the Terrans on every front. I agree Nova Terra and the Wormhole should be our highest priority.” Anna stated.
“It is decided then.” Laskaris came. “Our next objective will be Fortress Calix and Admiral Jason Hunter.”

[Terra Novam]

OOC
After talking with UTR on Facebook (Since he CTE'd a while ago), I am assuming executive control over the United Republics.
Hereby the second half of the raid on the Iskander Megaplex Armageddon Gun facility. (Officially UTR approved!)

IC
(...)
But despite the care the team took, they could not have foreseen the RIA operatives deploying low-powered, short-range signal jammers that severed the already splotchy communication between the team and the base, nor could they have anticipated Major Nelson and his cloaked elite troopers to use their jump packs to dart from one OkUb to the next, taking down all 8 Assassins in short order. The LAV-A29's gunner opened up at random, sending grenades and autocannon shells flying in every direction as the Wolverine breaks hard, swivels to the right, and tries to hightail it back to base, vainly signaling for help. The LAV's fire was, naturally, ineffective, as the UTR troopers had already repositioned well clear of the danger. A quick sniper shot to the back of the driver's head was all it took for the racing LAV to spin out of control and flip over, at which point it was only a matter of closing the distance and cutting the throats of the dazed technicians and their guards.
Nelson and his team now moved to strip the bodies of their uniforms and armor and put them on themselves, producing mobile cloaking generators and hiding their own battlesuits in case another patrol came along, and making their way back to the perimeter guard station on foot.
Upon arriving, the RIA operators informed the section commander that the weather was getting too intense to survive, and both the Mod. 90S robots and Wolverine had been damaged beyond repair. The section commander relayed this to Central Control, who ordered the base to be put on Severe Weather Warning lockdown, and ordered Nelson to report any findings to the base commander in his office.

Having infiltrated the Iskander Megaplex's nerve center, Lee went to meet with the base commander while the rest of the team split up to locate the facility's main data center and stash themselves away to regroup with the commander later.
Said Major, upon meeting with the base commander, had informed the IDF officer that the "crashed object" was, as expected, a communications satellite, which had been damaged beyond repair and would not be worth the risk of trying to retrieve while the storm raged. The base commander decided to wait until weather conditions improved and then send out a salvage team, before issuing a new LAV and Assassin complement to Lee's "IDF security team" and sending the Major on his way, the RNMI officer too cowed to ask for the credentials of a man he'd never seen before. Blind adherence to the show of authority among enemy ranks did have its benefits, Lee mused as he planned his next move.
Nelson and his unit soon regroup at Iskander's primary server park, and after flaunting their authority to get the technicians out of the area for a "crucial safety inspection", commenced isolating the system, tapping into it, and beginning a data mining operation that would copy every bit and byte of information that the extraction algorithm flagged as being relevant to the Armageddon Gun's development and technical details. The OkUb squad under Nelson's control was brought into the room as additional security, in the event that something were to go awry and needed correcting by the liberal application of firepower.

The mission was proceeding as planned, with only the occasional flash of IDF military credentials needed to ward off unwanted RNMI personnel intruding, when a serious problem threw everything off. I.S.S. Fuso, the battleship that had just finished its firing trial, had been in the process of sending a transmission to Command - which, due to atmospheric conditions, could only be sent through a narrow band of ultra-low-frequencies, resulting in it taking well over an hour to e complied - that informed Iskander that the vessel had spotted what appeared to be an unidentified spacecraft entering the corporate planetoid's defense zone. In response, Base Command ordered the installation's DNA scanner arrays to conduct an active sweep of the facility, which pinged Nelson and his men as not being registered on either the RNMI or IDF base complement - which prompted an immediate security alert which automatically put the base on lockdown, trapping the team within the data center.
Instantly aware that the mission had gone belly-up, Nelson and his men take up flanking positions covering the doors while the Assassins were placed facing the entrances, the sturdy robots drawing fire and allowing the RIA agents the pick off Iskander's security personnel while the data mine finished up.
The first wave of RNMI security personnel was cut down moments after breaching the doors, their grenades doing little against the OkUb's and being gibbed by said robots' plasma guns. The second group of security forces, now alerted to the presence of hostile OkUb's, did better, and managed to ingress the room, but were then cut down by the RIA troopers. By now, the data mine was complete, and Nelson knew that his primary objective of sabotaging the physical Armageddon Gun assemblies was impossible and he had to cut his losses. A third wave of hostiles, this one consisting of professional IDF soldiers and Gatling-cannon-armed OkUb Mod.70 Hunter ACP's (Autonomous Combat Platforms), stormed into the server park under the cover of grenade- and rocket fire that disabled Nelson's battered Mod. 90's, but created enough of a distraction for the RIA team to engage their cloaks and exfil the room. As the Terrans swept for hostiles, the UTR Major gave them a fiery parting gift in the form of compact shaped charges set on the mainframe servers that virtually erased the server park's databanks and threw up enough EM radiation to fry the Mod. 70's.
With the DNA scanners now unable to pinpoint the team's location, courtesy of their cloaks, Nelson and his men still found themselves trapped behind enemy lines, and needed to find a way off-world, for the moment their cloaks ran out of power, the DNA scanners would pinpoint their location to the square foot, making escape utterly impossible.
Using the distraction of the server park fiasco, which was now on fire and threatening to short-circuit half the base complex, the RIA team moved back to the Southern guard station, where a new LAV had indeed been provided, fully loaded and ready to go. The elite troopers had little trouble dispatching the handful of guards present, and piling into the LAV they blew through the doors, setting off an environmental alarm that overrides the security alert and hermetically seals off the southern portion of the command base, trapping the Terran pursuers inside.

With communication in shambles due to the storm and the combined fire and atmospheric breach rendering Iskander Megaplex's command infrastructure blind and deaf, almost all security personnel from the outlying stations were now congregating on the main base - a fact RIA was made aware of since their LAV's VoxNet system was still attuned to the Security frequencies. Having memorized the base's layout beforehand, Nelson knew that a stealth corvette was presently being retrofitted at one of the smaller orbital launch stations, and by now it would only be guarded by a dozen or so security troopers and maybe half that number in OkUb's. Thus, the RIA Wolverine sped towards this avenue of escape.
The raging storm masked the operators' approach, the Terrans unable to hear, see, or get a sensor reading until the LAV was upon them. As his troopers jumped out and moved to take up cover positions behind the ubiquitous rocks or inside one of the craggy terrain's many crevices, Nelson himself drove the Wolverine straight towards the Stealth Corvette, having its onboard VI going with all guns blazing, distracting the Terrans as the A29 rammed the corvette's airlock door.
The security troops congregated on the crash site, cornering Major Nelson, but this gave his team the opportunity to line up their shots. High-powered rifle rounds to the back of the head quickly dropped 4 Human guards, the RIA team then switching to compact rocket launchers that took out those Mod. 70's that survived the Wolverine's kamikaze run. Only 2 damaged Mod. 90's and 3 Human guards were left alive, and they did not last long against the well-covered, cloaked RIA operators.

As soon as the area was clear, Lee placed a breaching charge that blew the damaged airlock door off its hinges, his tech specialist's hacking worm taking care of the inner door.
The frigate's internal lighting sprang to life a consoles powered up, the ship's AI reading the team's biometric passes and flagging them as authorized personnel.
Nelson's team frantically worked the ship's command consoles, trying to bring shields, cloaking systems, and engines online as quickly as possible, which was being frustrated by the systems' stubborn insistence on following the required checklists - the engine simply would not start unless prescribed procedure was followed, and despite their best efforts the RIA could not override the Terran vessel, and was at one point even admonished for unsafe conduct by the increasingly annoyed AI.

To make things worse, a battery of artillery guns had zeroed in on the frigate's berth, which had been pre-sighted as soon as the group of 8 S1-LAV40 "Zhalo" (Stinger) self-propelled guns had arrived at Iskander to bolster its defenses against a ground incursion.

"Fire mission inbound!" The comms officer announced as word came in from Command that contact with the berth's defense team had been lost.
"Targeting coordinates acquired!" Master Gunner reported.
"Training guns... Target locked in!" Came the individual gunners moments later, followed by "Gun up!" when shells had been loaded.
"Fire for effect!" The battery commander shouted.
"Away!" Master Gunner reported as the Zhalos' deadly payload was sent arcing towards lower ground.

A tightly-grouped cluster of 105mm subnuclear shells, traveling at 3,102 meters per second (An astonishing Mach 10.5), fell just short of the vessel, bathing its berthing station in a flash as the synchronized shells detonated simultaneously, seemingly deleting half the station from existence and nearly shaking the small starship loose of its now-released moorings.

"Bad effect! Adjust fire, increase upward arc by 0.2 degrees, shift azimuth up 5 to 4675 mils!" Master Gunner instructed.
His subordinate gunners immediately followed suit: "Target locked, gun up!"
Battery Commander snapped "Send it!", the sharp crack of cannon fire preceded by the announcement "Away!".

The second volley saw 3 shells directly impact the frigate's hull. While this starship was not rated for ship-to-ship combat, its hull was still adequate protection against relatively low-caliber shells, and so the Prowler's armor withstood the volley with only armor damage.

"Good effect! Reload, quick!" Battery Commander demanded as he saw chunks of armor being blown off.
3 seconds passed before "Gun up!" was announced, followed by a snapped "Fire!"
Master Gunner reported "Away!", and within a second, the shells had struck.

This third volley struck home with 6 out of 8 shells, hitting the already-damaged part of the ship's armor, stripping part of it and crumpling some of the hull, though not breaching it just yet. But this volley did cause a nauseating shockwave, damaging the vessel's active stealth systems, and another volley would penetrate the hull and completely destroy the stern compartment.

It was standard practice for Terran artillery crews, especially with mobile artillery, to relocate with every few shots, but this Zhalo battery commander did not consider it necessary to take precautions against an inert target.
Only the frigate wasn't quite an inert target anymore. By the time the third volley struck, the shipboard AI had painted the guns as hostile despite their "friendly" IFF transponder readings. It saw that its ship was crewed by "authorized IDF officers", who were trying to take off ASAP, and taking effective, targeted fire. Sensing that no hostiles were in the area, the AI decided that the Zhalos had gone rogue and needed to be eliminated.
Bypassing secure startup protocol, the frigate turned on its engines, Void Shields, and weapons systems. The fourth artillery volley was intercepted by MUSIER systems that caused them to detonate well short of target, the explosions temporarily clearing the skies for a counterstrike.
The AI decided on a one-two punch of plasma rockets to drain the SPGs' shields and Tusk missiles to finish them off. Naturally the guns packed their own MUSIER APS, so the AI simply sent 16 plasma rockets per Zhalo, ensuring they would be overwhelmed.
By now the battery commander realized the danger and was moving to reposition, but it was too late - the inbound explosives found their targets and struck home.
The Zhalo crews never knew what hit them as the Tusks hit less than 60 milliseconds after the plasma did, putting only neat little holes in the guns' hulls but completely liquefying their innards, crew and all.

The Prowler's AI decided that standard protocol was no longer necessary in the face of danger, and finally released full control to the Human operators.
With the frigate airborne, the RIA wasn't out of the woods yet. Although Iskander's Air Defense wouldn't sight the vessel as hostile until it would be well out of range and the anti-orbital guns were unable to engage due to the combination of the storm and the chaos at Command, there was still the problem of I.S.S. Fuso, the Armageddon-class Super Battleship that was blocking the way between Nelson's team and freedom. Even with its fearsome main gun nonfunctional, the Imperial ship's PAC and MAC batteries, not to mention his glut of ASM, would make mincemeat of the small frigate, it being built for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering rather than direct combat. And to make things even worse, the ship's cloaking system had been damaged by the artillery barrage and refused to work at full capacity.
Fuso turned to broadside and trained his main batteries on the frigate, intending to blow the ship to oblivion.
Nelson needed to think fast. Fuso at first refused to fire, since its target was classified as a friendly vessel. It took some moments to enter a manual override, and open fire after all. The first volleys went wide thanks to the Prowler's E-warfare suites, its APS kicking in as the small ship closed. Nelson steered his frigate straight at Fuso's midships, opening bow tubes and loading a pair of heavy torpedoes and ASM's each. The frigate was now so close that Fuso couldn't fire his main guns without damaging his own hull, and although his secondary batteries were now hitting their mark, it was too late. The Prowler's 4 heavy weapons were fired off, and Nelson veered hard to starboard and jumped to safety with a micro-FTL burst whose wake disabled Fuso's shields. His CIWS was also knocked offline, meaning all 4 weapons struck home, one torpedo burrowing through the hull before exploding in the auxiliary engine room, disabling the vessel's main power grid. The other weapons did little more than superficial damage, but did manage to put a large hold in the hull, prohibiting the battleship from going to FTL without tearing himself apart.
As Fuso licked his wounds, the RIA vessel slipped out of the system and into neutral space, where he was retrieved by the Republic Intelligence Agency and teleported back home.

As by a miracle, neither Lee Nelson nor any of his operators were killed or wounded, and the information recovered proved to be a treasure trove, but overall the mission was a failure - and the Imperials were certain to respond in kind.

Back on the RNMI planetoid
The storm was starting to abate, and a team of security troopers sent out to trace back where Nelson's team had come from stumbled upon the abandoned LAV. A technician discovered traces of gunfire, while an engineer saw something much more interesting.
"Hey, look at these readings!" He shouted to his corporal, who came jogging over to look at what seemed to be recently-moved soil.
"I need a digger over here!" The junior NCO ordered, an automatic shovel brought up in response. Within minutes, it unearthed a set of armors...
"Looks like UTR to me." The engineer interpreted his readings. "Get this to NDC, right away. " The corporal ordered his Vox operator.
Not 10 minutes later, the preliminary incident report was on the desk of National Defense Chief Marianna Drexler.

[Aragonn]

"My fleet has sustained heavy armor damage," Lieutenant Kommander Grimmr responded to Laskaris. "Tactical projections show heavy losses if we engage the Terrans in another void battle. The forces and resources my fleet is carrying may remain in Terra Nova, but my fleet must retreat as soon as the new fleets arrive. Any forced void engagements will require my fleet to take up long range sniping positions." He then addressed Fletcher. "The main limiting factor for my nation currently is the distance our forces must travel to reinforce the line. Losses are not easily replaced. Damaged ships are not quickly repaired. And the trek back to Aesir territory is harrowing for any already damaged ships. This campaign, even with the full resources of my nation, is still a great challenge."

Brunnhilde jumped in after Grimmr finished. "I am attempting to provide a continuous stream of reinforcements escalating the strength of the forces with each arrival. Currently hundreds of thousands of ships and trillions of Aesir and Veidir are being prepared for departure. This battle has been enlightening not just for the Terrans, but for us as well. Sensor data indicates their ship systems are vulnerable to overload from gamma radiation. This may be exploited in future void engagements."

[Terra Dysonia]

The Void Rangers

The Talos Commandos engaged with the Imperial navymen, finding the task of subduing these ships every bit as impossible as Lord Admiral Laskarsis had said. While Void Ranger CENTURION-Class Powered Armor and accompanying regenerative personal shields were sufficient to defend their wearers against Imperial small arms for a time, the combination of tight quarters and concentrated fire was taking its toll on the elite soldiers. A number of Imperial Navymen and women of sufficient rank that were stunned before they could terminate themselves were tagged for emergency transport into the brigs of Talos vessels. The order to withdraw reached the majority of Void Ranger units and they made double-time for designated transport locations, but many were still in positions either too deep inside enemy vessels or in sections where transporters were inhibited. These commandos go down with the vessels that self-destruct.

The Battlespace
Numerous vessels rush away from self-destructing Imperial vessels after trying to corral them, getting the message that there was little to no chance of a peaceful resolution here. "Thank you for the warning, Laskarsis." Uuzmak says. "Our doctrine prioritizes capturing and pacifying enemy units rather than outright termination. However, it seems that that doctrine will have to waived during future confrontations with the IDF."

[Terra Novam]

Undisclosed starbase, the Aesir Empire
Shae Fletcher sat uneasily in her chair, patched in to the Eclipse through QEC and monitoring the goings-on in the fleet with one eye while keeping the other on Fort Alcatraz. Kommander Grimmr and Jarl Brunnhilde spoke to Lord Admiral Laskaris one after the other, the Jarl’s last comment drawing the Director’s attention.
The Admiral replied to the Aesir leaders: “I concur with your decision. This battle has taken a surprising toll. Reinforcements should arrive before the enemy can make another move. And my analysts agree that the Aesir fleet is best suited engaging at long range, out of the direct line of fire. Novan Starfleet is designed for sustained combat, so we will hold the front. The Dysonians are probably best used as specialists, but the choice is up to them. Anyway, your long resupply line can easily become a problem, that is self-evident. We will see to it your expeditionary fleets in Novan space are supplied and repaired to the best of our ability. But we’re going to need all the ships you can muster: we can keep the Imperials and Covac forces at bay, but the Aesir will have to be our punching arm before long. The Liberators simply don’t have the numbers to fight many more battles on this scale.”
Now Anna spoke: “As much as I hate to admit it, the Lord Admiral is right. My armies and fleets are well-equipped and highly motivated, but are only a small fraction of FAS’ full strength. We can’t count on the others, the one that haven’t sided with either us or Covacs are going to sit out the rest of it till the end. The military is apolitical, they won’t take action unless our existence is in danger. They’re more worried about Chaos than Pretorius… However, the same is true on the other side. The vast majority of the IDF has tunnel-vision focus on the Scrin Dominion. Apart from the Pretorius IDF and Black Hand, the Terran army doesn’t give a shit about politics. It’s ridiculous, but that’s th way we have done things for the past millennium. Honestly, we’re lucky. If FAS and IDF went at each other in an all-out war, Terra Novam would be wiped off the map in a year or so. Their apathy is what gives us a fighting chance. And even then we’re getting savaged by the Pretorian forces… I hate to imagine what a real war with Terra would look like. But I suspect we’ll never have to find out. We are brother species, after all, and most of us want peace.”
Sensing the officers on the Eclipse were finished, Shae spoke up, addressing primarily the Jarl: “Their ships are weak to Gamma radiation, you said? That’s peculiar… Our own Void Shields can hold up to it to a certain level.” She said. “And evidently their alliance with Covacs hasn’t mended that weakness. So either Alexa isn’t giving this tech to the Pretorians, or they don’t care to accept it. But it’s an easily exploited weakness, for however long it’ll last. I’ll see if the Science Directorate can whip up a gamma-radiation warhead we can mass-produce in short order. This is an excellent find, Jarl. We’ve just been given at least one victory on a silver platter.”


I.S.S. Marathon
“Pridi voz'mi eto!” Come and take it. But nothing came. No storm of laser fire to end the young soldier’s life, no squad of Void Rangers to try and capture her. Only the dead remained on the deck below, both Imperia’ and Dysonian corpses strewn about. To her bafflement, the Void Rangers had vanished.
“What the fuck?” She asked the air, rubbing her eyes in wonder.
The young soldier moved down the catwalk and onto the deck well, picking up a fallen soldier’s rifle and slinging it over her shoulder before making her way to an intercom panel. Those stations that responded reported all clear.


I.S.S. Monrovia
Dysonian Void Rangers marauded through the Hydaspes-class Heavy Frigate, sweeping and clearing the ship one section at a time, focusing on critical areas like the power plant and command center. As soon as an area was cleared of defenders, the Void Rangers would leave behind a squad to hold point before moving on to the next target, the Imperial defenders trying to stem the boarders’ momentum by avoiding direct combat with the Rangers and assaulting their forward posts once assault teams had moved out. But the shell-shocked Imperials could only do so much, restricted to small arms and carapace armor, or just flak vests in case of the cosmonauts, against the power-armored Dysonians. It took only a short while before the boarders had breached the command center and were converging on the bridge to try and subdue the command crew.
When the first squad of Void Rangers entered the bridge, they were not met with GRAL fire, but the bridge crew standing at attention at their stations, facing towards the captain’s platform in the center. The frigate’s Captain faced the Xeno squad leader, a dead man’s switch clutched in his one hand and a bolt pistol in the other, the mass-reactive weapon pressed against his temple.
“Gentlemen, welcome aboard I.S.S. Monrovia.”
These were the last words both Monrovia’s bridge crew and those Void Rangers present in the command center heard before the captain pulled the trigger. The frigate’s power plant detonated and everything turned white.


I.S.S. Septimius Severus
The disabled Menelaus-class Heavy Cruiser’s complement of naval soldiers had survived the space battle with light casualties, and bolstered by his cosmonauts under arms, was giving the boarding Void Rangers a hell of a tough fight. This was one of the vessels that had managed to distribute heavy weapons on time, and thus even the Dysonians’ Centurion-class power armor didn’t hold up well. The Void Rangers’ shock tactics faltered against the Terrans’ own assault tactics, Imperial staying power proving superior; and Septimius Severus’ crew having the home advantage, they began baiting the Void Rangers into killzones, only an incessant stream of reinforcements keeping the boarders in the fight. When the announcement came: “All hands, this is the captain. Vessel will self-destruct in 3 minutes. Good luck.” The Dysonians left aboard were ordered to withdraw, only to find themselves boxed in.
“They’re trying to break through to the spooling deck! Shields are down there, they can teleport away!” A tech soldier shouted. “Like hell they are! This lot isn’t escaping!” An armsman replied, popping out of cover and firing a burst of GRAL pulses at the nearest Void Ranger, punching through armor and crushing his chest before the Terran’s head burst from 2 simultaneous phaser hits.
Only 4 Imperial soldiers stood between the Void Rangers and escape, and even though they were taking fire from front and back the Dysonians were holding firm. “If we go down, you’re coming with us!” A Terran Sergeant yelled, pulling his power saber and charging at the Dysonians, only to be cut down in a hail of fire. This did, however, allow his comrades to lob a trio of plasma grenades, consuming the oxygen around them in the high-pressure fireball.
Behind the firefight, the cruiser’s power plant exploded. The survivors were first thrown forward, mind-shattering pain overtaking their thoughts as their bones were cracked. The firestorm reached them next, searing skin clean off, boiling blood, and melting bones. For those caught in the blast, there was a moment of pure, unimaginable agony as their nervous systems overloaded, then evaporated, taking with them to ability to feel – at that point, it was a mercy. All the while, gargantuan doses of radiation assaulted the soldiers’ bodies, turning their brains into mush as synapses were randomly rearranged and grey matter withered. Then, there was nothing.
This kind of death took less than a second, but for those involved, the pain seemed to last forever.


Space
Several starships exploded in rapid succession, white flashes rending hulls and vaporizing all they touched. A flood of radiation swept the battlespace, blinding sensors for a few moments before abating. Most of the Imperial ships had called off self-destruct once the Dysonians began evacuating, others had gone through with it. And some of the Terran ships, like Marathon, had refused the call to detonate or simply not received it.
Either way, this would be the First Expeditionary Fleet’s final act of defiance. The remainder was well and truly dead in the water.


Dysonian Talos vessels
The Void Rangers that made good their escape did so with a collection of Imperial officers in tow.
Most were unconscious. Those who were not were either spaced out, sulking and cussing up a storm, trying to attack their captors, or trying to claw through the bulkheads as if possessed. Some of the officers were laughing like madmen, others smashing their heads against the walls until the act knocked them out cold or killed them.
“Hey, you there!” One purple-faced Intelligence officer shouted at a guard. “ Yes, you! I know you can understand me.” He spat out in impotent rage. “If you think you can get any of us to talk, have I got news for you! You can torture us, try to bribe us, coax us with false friendship. But it’s useless. We would rather die before allowing you to kill more of ours. You kill us, we kill you. Your sons kill ours, our grandsons kill yours. There’s no end to it… So I’ll be damned if I contribute to the murder of my own species. Look at me.I SAID LOOK AT ME!”
The officer, having secured the Dysonian’s attention, now produced a knife.
“This is all you have to look forward to.” He said, the next moment slowly and surely gouging his own throat open, yellow blood spurting out with every slowing heartbeat. The Intelligence man sank to his knee, but kept taring down the Void Ranger until the light in his eyes went out and he crumpled to the floor.


F.A.S. Eclipse
As the defiant Imperial ships exploded, Laskaris answered Vice Admiral Uuzmak.
”The Imperial people have undergone a minor cerebral mutation we Novans have not around 7 centuries ago. Our Lactean cousins suffer from some sort of condition that means they go irrevocably insane if contained in an enclosed space. It’s for that reason there are almost no prisons in the Terran Empire – it’s become a death sentence. An incarcerated Imperial Terran will lose their sanity in a few hours, then deteriorate to the point of complete madness. It’s only partially reversible… If they don’t kill themselves first. In fact, most of the ones that can be recovered end up doing that anyway, weeks or even decades later… So the IDF soldier will never surrender, they will continue to look for an escape and fight to the death if there’s no way out.
This was around the same time as President Tani’s coup and when Doublethink emerged – our Science Directorate’s hypothesis is that this mutation is man-made to create a more obedient, militant population.
Either way, in future engagements, it would be advisable to not board, and destroy any defiant survivors at range. As Anna said before, it is our way to defect to the winning side if soundly defeated, but there are always those who refuse to the end – and I fear many Imperials are too heavily indoctrinated to even consider it anymore. Doublethink has… insidious effects. Not to mention the presence of Xenos defying Human civil war tradition.”

Closing the channel to Uuzmak, the Admiral looked at Anna, the latter making a gesture of ‘do something already’.
“Begin broadcast. Open-channel, I want everyone to listen in.” Laskaris ordered.
”Attention, Imperial fleet. This is Lord Admiral Zoe Laskaris aboard the Federal Dreadnought Eclipse.
Stand down and give control of your fleet to me, or I will let my Xeno allies do as they will with you. Laskaris, out.”
“So now we wait.” She stated.
“For how long?” Came the strained voice of Leonidas Stoltz over the QEC, the Iron Guardsman suffering a concussion from being thrown across the bridge.
“Until somebody replies, or they start shooting again.” Anna answered. “Continue repair and recovery in the meantime, we have a lot of casualties to process.”


I.S.S. Marathon
Ten minutes passed, with Novan smallcraft continuing to aid with repairing Dysonian and Aesir starships and recovering Covacs sailors from their destroyed fleet, taking them to Liberator vessels for medical treatment even though it was certain many would not survive their injuries, and many more would be crippled for life.
The only measurably activity on the late Vice Admiral Schwarzkopf’s expeditionary fleet was a flurry of encrypted transmissions, the remaining Imperial ships talking to each other for a while until all broadcasts ceased and a single signal was sent to the Novan flagship, requesting a digital handshake. Eclipse’s CCO readily accepted, and a heavily accented voice came through:

“Attention, F.A.S. Eclipse. This is Svetlana Buianova, Private of Imperial Marines and Acting Captain of Imperial battleship Marathon. How magnanimous of you, telling us to submit or die. Do you really believe we’re stupid enough to think we’ll be treated as anything but traitors? I’d rather not die, but neither do I desire to be imprisoned, either rotting for the rest of my life or executed. My ships may be immobilized, but we still have plenty of working guns. So you can tell your Xenos overlords that we will sell our lives dearly. And your troops, Laskaris, can expect as little mercy from us as we would from you. Consider that for a while. Marathon, out.”
Across the Terran fleet, missiles and torpedoes were being fed targeting instructions, and what guns still could swiveled to all target the Novan flagship as shields recharged, though the batteries stayed silent.


F.A.S. Eclipse
“Well, isn’t this a fine mess?” Laskaris cursed under her breath, looking to Anna for guidance. “I’m a frontier commander. I’ve never fought anyone but Chaos. How am I supposed to deal with… this?” The Lord Admiral stammered, clearly out of her element. “FAS has no official protocol for surrender.”
“It’s not like I know much better, myself.” The Princess replied. “But I don’t want to see any more of our own people dead, no matter whose flag they fly. Let me try appealing to the Imperials.”
“As you wish. I hope you can defuse this time bomb.” Laskaris said. “COO, open a line to the Marathon.”

Once the comm line was reopened, Anna began speaking in Gothic rather than Terran English, it being the governmental language common to both countries. It was obvious the Terran Marine’s English wasn’t stellar, and since Anna didn’t speak the Imperial language Novorossiyan this third language would hopefully make things easier.
”Private Buianova, this is Anna, the Crown Princess of Terra Novam. I can tell you are young, and probably as out of your depth as I feel all the time ever since this war began. I ask you to broadcast me to your other ships.”
…Alright. It’s done. Say what you have to say, if you can’t resist taunting the living dead. Out.
Soldier and cosmonauts of Terra. Ask yourself: Why are you here today? What is the reason for this battle having taken place to begin with? I don’t presume to know what you were ordered by your commanders to do. Bring a rebellious princess to heel? Occupy or destroy Tyros and dismantle its defiant government? Ensure the Black Hand can turn a sovereign nation into an Imperial province by wiping out its legitimate leaders? But is this really a worthy cause to fight for?
The Terran Empire, like Terra Novam, was once a republic, a nation where the will of the people guided the actions of its government. Things have reversed in Via Lactea, yet despite Covacs’ cohorts telling you otherwise us Novans held on to the principles of our forebears, those of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And here in Aura Hyperia, we have achieved something which in Via Lactea was never possible: we are at peace. We have forged strong friendships with our neighboring species, for the first time in Human history making first contact with peoples who did not open fire as soon as they saw us. And since that time, we have thrived.
Terra Novam may not rule her galaxy the way the Terran Empire rules his, but we have no desire to, and furthermore: we do not need to. This nation is one where your fortune depends on the sweat of your brow, not the station of your birth. A nation where, regardless of your creed or background, you can make your own life and choose your own destiny, unafraid of being persecuted for espousing your beliefs. This is a nation where the common man has the kind of power over himself that you Imperials used to know, and that, if we are victorious, you will know once more. The Black Hand posits itself as the only way forward, as a sort of guardian against a coming storm, but can you not see how terribly you are being deceived? The IDF has historically never been more than a last resort against those handful of enemies that cannot be reasoned with, because while today’s Empire maintains is power by the reach of its fleets, said power was built on the backs of diplomats, a feat repeated in Terra Novam by men and women inspired by our Lactean forebears. Our common ancestors would weep for our people and despair if they should see what we have become: a dictatorship that spouts xenophobia against friendly neighbors and murders innocent people in the name of safety, fearful of a war they have willingly triggered!
We in the FAS have as a core rule: soldiers have no duty to obey orders that needlessly endanger lives, or are contrary to the principles for which this country stands. I know this is not the case in the IDF, but was this not also true within the Empire until the Black Hand’s coup? I implore you to think for yourselves, and choose your path based on what is right, not what is merely lawful. You must now, as individuals, decide. If you choose to obey your paymasters, I shall permit you, this once, to leave my space in peace. But if we fight you again, there will be no such mercy. Should you choose to follow me instead, I will welcome you as comrades-in-arms, and together as equals, we will show them in Novi Soyuz that we will not be led by fear, and their rule of terror is as pointless as their philosophy.
The choice has always been yours. Anna, over and out.”

“Did you mean all that?” Stoltz and Laskaris asked in tandem, the Belderian surprised and the Novan shocked.
“Of course I do. Unlike some, I don’t give fancy speeches to let people hear what they want to and then go back on my word behind their backs. I am not Elisabeth Pretorius.” Anna stated. “These Terrans need to see that they’re being abused, and that not all Xenos are inherently evil. Who else is going to give them that chance?”
“Assuming the Aesir don’t want to take revenge for all the soldiers they lost.” Stoltz countered.
“Well, if that’s what happens, it would prove Pretorius right, wouldn’t it?” She replied. “But it won’t, and if I’m the only one to believe that then I’ll prove you all wrong.”

A few moment passed, when a message was received from the Dreadnought Mons Dei:
“Eclipse, this is Zachary Kruger. Major-General of Marines, and apparently in charge of what’s left of First Expeditionary Fleet. I accept your offer.”
The Eclipse was struck silent, as was the bridge of the Vectarion. “Zachary Kruger…” Admiral Stoltz whispered, his always so stoic face a mask of pure dread. “This is bad. Really fucking bad.”

A sudden lightning bolt deposited an out-of-breath Special Intelligence officer directly on the bridge’s command platform, his crisp white uniform contrasting to his pale, ragged-looking face. His black hair was cut close to his scalp, much shorter than the average FAS soldier would have it, and the golden filament on his jacket marked him as a member of Special Intelligence rather than Army High Command, whose uniforms were otherwise identical.
“Princess Anna!” The man tried to shout, barely exceeding more than a whisper. He hunched over and emptied his stomach in a spate of violent contractions and sank to his knees. “Teleported four times back to back...” This explained his sickness – the sensation of being disassembled, shot through multiple dimensions of spacetime inside a lightning bolt, and being reassembled was a nauseating experience, and doing so four times in a row dangerously so.
“What could be important enough to risk your life coming here directly from Tal-Sour, mister…?” Anna inquired, helping the man to his feet as the COO sent out a call for the ship’s doctor.
“Major Dima Orenski, DSI InOps, Chief Directorate of Foreign Intelligence. 3 developments. All at the same hour. Can’t be coincidence.” The DSI man breathed.
“Take your time, officer. You need some rest, we can debrief later. Just summarize, if you can?”
“First, IDF units are being sent to Hive World Fularis. One after the other, sent to suppress a rebellion, but they keep disappearing in the middle of campaigns. We just received a classified transmission explaining, these units are going rogue and the Black Hand is panicking about it. Second, Belya Zvezda Academy for Officers, the one of Novi Soyuz, not on Earth. IDFSC lost contact with them about an hour ago? It’s under attack by the Black Hand. Finally, a Terran starship, the ONI Prowler ‘Umbral’, has appeared near Tyros. It’s crippled beyond belief and broadcasting a distress signal. A live signal, somebody is talking but it’s in some kind of dialect, a damn old one. Thing is, that vessel? It was declared lost in the Warp almost 500 years ago. Oh, and guess who told me all this? Jackson Vaughn did. In person.”
“Spirits above!” Laskaris exclaimed. “Inform the allied admirals at once! And get this poor sod to Medical.”



A LITTLE EARLIER

The Pentastar Defense Zone
Northeast of Tyros
The Imperial Starship Umbral was an old vessel, and to anyone familiar with Terran starship design could tell – while undoubtedly a Prowler, his was a type not used since the turn of the 26th century. He was badly beaten, life support at minimal and under emergency power. Gaps in the hull exposed the ship’s innards to the void while fires burned in some of the oxygenated areas, surviving crew scurrying about, desperately trying to contain the flames and pull out bodies from under piles of wreckage before the smoke and flames would consume them.
Umbral was holding position, not drifting by virtue of its inertial thrusters having some life left in them, although the ship could not hope to move under his own power. The stealth corvette was dead in the water, shield generators as good as fried and most weapon systems disabled along with almost everything else – little more than a hulk by now.
From the vessel, a man’s voice broadcast on all frequencies and bands, his peculiar accent being the truly archaic-sounding to modern ears Novorossiyan of the 25th century of the Terran Standard Calendar:
“This is Captain Grisha Koslov of the ONI Prowler Umbral to anyone in range! We’ve been attacked by Chaos and need medical assistance! Please respond! Again, this is Captain Grisha Koslov…”


The Terran Empire
Hive World of Fularis Prime
The East Horn Region
Intercepted transmission (blocked) of Major-General Valery Volodin to IDFSC

We were told our division was sent to Fularis to aid the 37th in pacifying the rebellion. This is untrue, and I want answers. I want answers, and they had better be adequate, or so help me, I will send word to every media outlet in the galaxy about what’s going on down here.
First of all, Fularis looks like a warzone, alright. But not the kind Command would have us believe. Entire sections of cities are gone, massive buildings reduced to piles of rubble. Artillery and bombing? I think not, there is no sign of fires. There are too few people here, and their condition is indescribable. I have never seen the effects of exposure to a nuclear bomb before now, but I have seen the old pics, and this is exactly it. There has been a nuclear attack on Fularis’ cities, on civilian targets, for goodness’ sake! My division is in the middle of a nuclear fallout zone and my troops are getting sicker by the day, yet the Black Hand refuse to tell me why.
Our orders were to kill hostile combatants and round up civilians, send them to the spaceport for evacuation. Imagine my surprise when said “hostile combatants” were not rebellious PDF, but our preceding unit, the 37th Assault Infantry Division. Soldiers no longer able to take off their helmets without dying, as we’ve found out. Their skin more resembles reptilian than human, their ears, noses, and eyes are… melted. One of them could still talk, and mentioned ‘cold snap’ before expiring.
Would this happen to refer to the Cold Snap Protocol, the long-outlawed practice of nuking out of the blue and sending in ground troops directly afterwards to mop up survivors? This is a war crime and crime against humanity, and I now find myself in the middle of it. I found out we aren’t evacuating anyone at the spaceport! One of my Recce men says this morning, 20,000 civilians were taken out to the tarmac with their hands bound, forced to their knees, and shot in the back of the head. The Black Hand did this. As of an hour ago, the Black Hand are dead.
I have made peace with what remains of the 37th, and will stay on Fularis. Our condition is terminal. What manner of horrendous radiation you used is so potent it kills a species that is supposed to be immune to it. But before the end, I will get my explanation. I understand anther division has been dispatched to this hellhole just this afternoon. You aim to silence me and mine, no doubt? Just the way we were sent to silence the 37th, and they in turn were sent to silence the 12th Armored – some of whom, by the way, are still alive? Come and bring it. The nuclear fallout will do the job for you, but I suppose the media fallout will take care of you lot for me.

This message was intercepted by the Black Hand and never reached IDFSC. The Black Guard in turn hijacked the transmission from the Black Hand and delivered it to Major Orenski.


Novi Soyuz System
Planetoid of Lebed (‘Swan”)
Belya Zvezda Academy for Officers
Just moments before, the group of friends, all in their senior year, had been gathered at a balcony on the Review building overlooking the campus’ expansive central square, talking, laughing, and celebrating a successful exam in commanding an urban assault using live ammunition. The 5 young men and 1 woman were in 3 different programs: 3 of the guys training for regimental commands in the Imperial Army, the other 2 for becoming Regimental Commissars, and the one girl almost ready to be assigned command of a Prowler-class Stealth/Recon Corvette in the Office of Naval Intelligence. This was reflected by their uniforms, being tan-brown, dark red, and bright white, respectively. The students looked immaculate, but their posture was relaxed: exam period was coming to an end, and this particular exercise had been the most challenging of all. The group of friends had passed with flying colors, making their graduation not a matter of yes or no but a matter of how high their final grades would be. As the system’s star was nearing the day’s summit position, the friends were discussing vacation plans
One moment, all was well as the students dreamt of a bright future. The next, they were running for their lives.
BZAO’s air raid alarm suddenly sounded as a carpet of rocket-propelled bombs struck the courtyard, dropped by unseen enemies as air defense fighters were launched and shot down before they could even clear the campus. Explosions bloomed across the campus’ tall buildings as anti-aircraft shells stitched tracer lines across the sky. The carnage was immense, students and staff blown to pieces as nobody was shielded or armored. Hundreds died instantly, while hundreds more were injured, some crawling to cover, others dragging those too badly hurt to move. The Academy’s embedded regiment of security troops now flooded into the courtyard, setting up mobile barricades and shield generator pylons, troops hefting MANPADS scanning the skies while medics rushed to aid whomever they could still save. The bombardment of the campus buildings subsided, leaving holes and craters everywhere and setting multiple buildings ablaze.
The 6 students on the balcony were too dumbstruck to move, simply watching the carnage below unfold even as they were themselves unknowingly watched by what appeared a large potted fern.
A silence fell over the din of aerial combat, the deafening sound of cannon fire, roaring flames, and screams of hundreds of injured and dying officers drowned out by the oppressive air of anticipation.
“Fucking hell.” The fern swore to itself. “All Sigma callsigns, stand by to respond.”

Minutes passed agonizingly slow, the friends waiting for what was going to come. Some wanted to try and reach the shuttle launchpad next to the waterfall that fed the azure lake demarking the Northern border of the university campus, but the others refused, since the airspace was still unsafe. Some wanted to hide, others wanted to fight, others wanted to arm themselves and then hide. The result: they stood arguing, unmoving.
The argument was broken when the first trails of smoke drew themselves upward, anti-air missiles shooting out from the launchers nested in the courtyard and atop the surrounding roofs, streaking towards targets too far away to see, the sounds of explosions and crashing aircraft drawing ever closer until all too soon, fighter/bombers strafed the campus, some of them torn up by autocannon fire, but their missiles impacting strongpoints and blowing apart guns, walls, and soldiers alike while autocannon rounds traced across building facades. Dropships appeared the next moment, depositing scores of hulking, armored figures who began cutting the security troops apart with far heavier ordnance than the defenders possessed. This broke the spell, and the friends as one rushed into the Review building, crossing it at a dead sprint and heading out the front entrance, ready to make their way to the launch pads.
They weren’t the only group with such an idea, as the road below was filling with people running to escape.
To the left, a cluster of lightning bolts struck the ground, depositing a squad of Imperial Guardsmen. Reinforcements had arrived to save the campus, the students thought, but their hopes were dashed as the ‘reinforcements’ immediately opened fire on them, going for incapacitating shots but killing several as panic set in. Proper weapons, armor, and personal shields were all located in secure armories, and the assault had come too suddenly for them to be opened, thus the student body was as good as helpless.
The 6 friends, still on the stairway, ducked low and crept back up towards the building, only to be caught in the back by another squad of Guardsmen.
“Don’t move! Hands in the air!” The squad leader barked, his voice amplified and distorted by his helmet vox.
The group turned around, facing the Imperial Guards’ GRAL rifles pointed right at them. The Army cadets did as instructed, but the other 3 did not. The Commissars-to-be assumed a nonchalant pose, showing their hands to indicate they weren’t armed but scoffing at the man’s outrageous demand. The ONI girl totally stiffened in a mixture of terror and anger, and in a tone of voice trying to convey authority but too shaky to succeed: “Do you know what kind of trouble you’re in? My mother is the National Defense Chief.”
“We are aware of that, Miss Drexler.” The squad leader replied impassively, and Elissa Drexler’s face fell to the floor. Turning to face his flanking men, the Guard Corporal snapped: “Secure them.”
“Like hell you are!” One of the Commissar-cadets roared, charging the squad leader and getting a rifle butt to the neck for his trouble. Looking down their scopes, the soldiers began advancing.

Having recorded this entire scene start to finish, Controller Frank Lennox appeared where the fern had been.
“Gentlemen of the Guard! I believe you forgot something.” He jovially exclaimed, a bit too loud for comfort.
“And what would that be?” The squad leader demanded as he whipped around, gesturing for two of his men to train their GRAL rifles on Lennox.
“Those guns are far too hot to hold, don’t you agree?” Frank smirked as he planted the illusion.
The soldiers simultaneously let out howls of pain and dropped their guns as if they were made of molten lead.
“Very good. Now go take a swim.”
Lennox’s mental command would force the Black Hand troopers to walk to the top of the waterfall and jump off, their heavy, full-body armor causing them to sink like a pile of bricks. While fully waterproof, the battlesuits only has so much oxygen, and they could not extract enough of it from the water to sustain life. Ergo, the troopers would suffocate over long hours, fully aware, but not in control of their own bodies. It was, Lennox thought, a fitting end for such vermin.

“Sigma teams, join the defense. Alpha teams, clear the perimeter and secure. Victor teams, ingress the campus, search and destroy. Execute.” Lennox ordered.
The Controller now turned to the students, crouching down to touch the fallen Commissar-cadet on the temple, thus briefly scanning him. “He’s alright. But you’ll need to carry him, he won’t be awake for some time.”
“Now what’s going on?” The other Commissar-cadet said, evidently frustrated. “Frank Lennox, Controller, Black Guard. Not that it matters, only one of you will remember I was here.” Drexler raised an eyebrow at this comment and cocked her head. “…But I’m getting you all to safety.” Lennox patched his sentence. “We need to be offworld before actual reinforcements arrive.” He stated, and set off for his stealth gunship. The guys looked at each other, unsure of whether to follow this strange man to an uncertain fate, and didn’t follow until Elissa physically dragged the still-awake Commissar along with her, imploring the others to trust her – she knew this man personally.
Gunfights still raged across the campus, although Lennox’s strike teams were turning the tide and the attackers’ momentum was blunted. Their numbers were not too great, and they’d be eliminated as soon as the actual Imperial Guard would arrive from Novi Soyuz. But the for time being, the danger was real and always around the corner. Still, Lennox was able to mask the group’s passage, and they made it to his shuttle without incident… Or so they thought. No sooner had Frank started up its power plant, or 2 squads of Guardsmen appeared behind the craft and began moving in on it.
Lennox was having trouble getting the craft to work, since it had been inert for weeks, which forced its control computer to reset to factory settings.
“Forget the checklist, just start the damn engine! Manual override, danger imminent!”
The craft obeyed and powered up, but still wouldn’t allow manual takeoff.
“What do you mean, ‘set destination’? Even if I wanted to do that, security wouldn’t let me approach a damn black hole… Manual override!”
The gunship began shaking as graviton pulses impacted its shields. “Ah, perfect, they’re shooting at us.”
“Who the hell designed these things?!” Drexler called, throwing her hands up in frustration.
“I got it!” Lennox exclaimed, and the craft lurched off the ground. He pivoted around, autocannons sweeping a semi-circle in front of the craft, punching troopers off their feet and making the rest scatter, before turning on the stealth systems and shooting off into space.
The Controller knew his men on the ground would mop up, leaving only prisoners for the Guard to interrogate, but was left wondering how the shuttle ambush had been pulled off when he’d been actively erasing their perception of it being there at all.
It would have to wait, Lennox decided. The Black Hand had tried to pull off a high-profile abduction in the guise of an all-out attack in the guise of a rogue unit, and General Vaughn had to be informed at once. Frank Lennox of the Black Guard, with 6 BZAO star students in tow, set off for the Corps’ command base near the black hole at the center of the galaxy.

[Terra Dysonia]

Brig of the D.N.S. Bashir

Uuzmak knelt down in the center of the spacious holding cell, every degree she turned showing a scene of pure carnage and mutilation. The cell had been designed to hold up to 12 standard humanoids safely away from the rest of the ship's crew, and until only an hour ago had been fulfilling that purpose by housing 11 captive Terrans. Now, however, those same 11 Terrans were strewn about the cell floor, all deceased, and all by their own hands. The crew had attempted using the brig's life support systems to pump anesthetic into the cells and incapacitate the rabid humans, but it was too little too late. Blood now covered the floor, the walls, even parts of the ceiling, and the pungent and unmistakable odor of death and decay permeated the brig.

"Is this truly the state of the Earth cousins we had hoped to find?," Uuzmak muttered softly to herself. She lightly touched the now cold skin of a fallen Terran lieutenant, who had ended his own life via clawing at his throat with his fingernails. An expression of pure anguish and insanity was frozen on the young man's face, a testimony of the horrid nature of his death. "These are the precursors, from which all of us are descended, yet this is how they have developed?" Munah, who had been standing at the entrance of the cell furrowed his brow. "They remind me of the gene-fiends the Sarkics created during the Occult Wars thousands of years ago; human, yet so horrifically changed. Cultivated into the perfect instruments of war and murder." He shook his head, a hefty sigh escaping him.

Uuzmak stood, straightening her uniform and stepping out of the cell. "This will be a PR nightmare back home. The Isolationists will have a field day, and Lokaliin will have quite the fire to put out." She walked out of the Brig with Munah towards the transporter room. "I'm starting to wonder if revealing ourselves to the galaxy wasn't such a good idea after all."

Across the Dysonian Fleet

The Void Rangers who had survived the hellish fighting on the Terran ships returned to their assigned vessels solemnly, bearing their wounded to Sick Bay and quickly moving to debriefing. of the 2334 elite troopers who had been sent out, about 1100 came back alive. Of the survivors, many had suffered horrid injuries with a handful succumbing after arrival. Those that had the will to speak told their crews of the animalistic Terrans and their zealous defense of their ships. One Ranger would later be quoted as saying, "They are not human as we have come to know it. They defend themselves with mountains of their own corpses and drown their opponents in torrents of their own blood. To fight them is to lose one's very sanity." This operation held no sweet reward, as almost all of the Terrans who had been captured slaughtered themselves in their mania. In the end, only a handful of Terrans were able to be successfully captured and contained using heavy sedatives and stasis pods. Indeed, many a Ranger, the unshakable shields of Dysonia, were left in a form of shell shock for months, even years to come.

The Void

Dysonian vessels, upon the instruction of Admirals Uuzmak and Munah, quickly moved off in search of damaged vessels to salvage and crews to rescue. Some ships beamed over supplemental medical and engineering personnel to any allied ship that requested assistance. The rest of the day would be marked with a certain solemnity by the Dysonian forces, as the grim reality of war with the Terrans truly set in. This was not going to be a conflict to enlighten their fallen ancestors. It would be an onslaught.

"This is Vice Admiral Uuzmak to Kommander Grimmr and Lord Admiral Laskarsis. The Task Force is still under repairs and will be back to full efficiency in approximately 6 hours. Once finished, we will stand by to assist. Over and out."


Broadcast from Terra Dysonia's Sanctum City

The executive head of the Dysonian state, Zokah Lokaliin, appears before a congregation of tens of thousands of his people in the Naosopolis. Standing at a white marble lectern, intricately carved with the words of past Dysonian leaders, he begins his long awaited statement on the Battle of the Pentastar.

Good morning members of the galactic community. Good morning to those beyond our galaxy who may hear this message. I have received word from our brave Navy in the Pentastar Planets, and it is with great pride that I announce the allied forces have defeated the Terran Confederation forces in the region. *applause is heard thundering through the amphitheater of the Naosopolis as the Zeydaan stands, gazing over the masses* Reports tell of amazing feats of heroism from all allied forces, from the intricate planning and tact of Novan Lord Admiral Laskarsis and Crown Princess Asztipadi, to the ultimate sacrifice of Commander Molos Viihr, who gave his own life to buy the allies time to regroup and press on through the battle. The fallen of Dysonia and their allies are never forgotten, and through our memory live on forever as heroes!*More applause*


However, this conflict is far from over. The Terran Confederation's zeal is that which has not been seen by the Dysonian people since the horrors of the Occult Wars. Like that conflict, this one has the potential to change a people for the better or for the worst. However we are not talking about Dysonians, or even humans as a whole, but of all peoples in Via Lactea and Aura Hyperia. One shudders to imagine what change collective humanity will undergo if we allow the depraved fanaticism of Elisabeth Pretorius to ravage our two galaxies. What, pray tell, would happen to the numerous species uplifted by the Dysonian people? The traditionalists among us would say that this is not our fight, that we must hunker down and continue our isolationist ways. It disappoints me to know that many Dysonians would rather watch the galaxy turn to ash while we sit idly by. This is not a conflict that we can leave and let the galaxy decide. No, Dysonia can no longer remain neutral in the affairs of intergalactic politics. This is our time to stand with the common people of our domain and rise to the threat of tyranny and genocide and say, with one great voice, "We shall not be silenced! We shall not lie still! We! Defy! You!*Further Applause*

Too often I hear the tired words of Isolationists lambasting our presence beyond the Phalanx Nebula. To them I say the days of living unmolested within our Sphere are over. When the Confederation invades Aura Hyperia and surround us from all sides, what then? Sure, we will be safe within our Nebula and our Sphere. But what is living in our besieged fortress other than incarceration? The Isolationists would rather see a Dysonian people caged like birds than for us to defend what is right! Like the tortoise shielding itself from a predator, it will soon wither and die if it does not fight to survive!*Applause*

And so I leave Elisabeth Pretorius with this; Dysonia will not concede, we will not compromise. Through the darkest of days ahead we shall not falter and we shall not fail. Yours is the destiny of all despots; to be overthrown by the righteous might and will of the commons. *Applause roars once again*

Aemulus Deorum, Dysonia!

*Applause and cheering is heard, louder than ever before. The Zeydaan bows and steps down from the lectern.

[Aragonn]

Space

Most of the Aesir ships, all who were capable of moving under their own power, all backed off from the Terran ships, what was left of the Terrans, and took up defensive positions behind the Novan fleets. Repair teams worked frantically to patch holes in the hulls and fix any busted systems. The average Aesir ship still mostly functioning had several weapon turrets destroyed, and some were even down to one plasma drive. Prow armor had been completely stripped from what was left of the destroyers and cruisers while the larger ships were severely lacking in their prow armor. Small craft returned to the landing bays where they could, as many carrier landing bays had been damaged too heavily by Terran attacks. Small craft retrieval was going slowly because of this. Battleships and longboats took in what small craft they could, as they had very limited space for small craft compared to the carriers. Overall, casualties for the Aesir were minimal.

Lieutenant Kommander Grimmr and Jarl Brunnhilde
Communications


"The Aesir can definitely be your punching arm, but we need time to get our forces there," Brunnhilde told them. "I've scaled up preparation speed as much as I can, so it won't be too long before the Terrans are staring down the full might of the Aesir Empire."

The two watched the reactions of the Novans with interest at the mentioning of the name 'Zachary Kruger'. "Who is this 'Zachary Kruger'?" Grimmr managed to ask just before the lightning bolt deposited the Spec Intel officer on the Eclipse bridge. Grimmr and Brunnhilde listened closely and waited until the man was escorted off the bridge before commenting, starting with the Jarl.

"Interesting developments," she said. "IDF forces going rogue, an officers school under attack, and a five hundred year old ship getting spat out of the Warp. Sounds like the Terrans have quite a few things to worry about other than us."

"Pretorius will be focusing on us regardless," Grimmr stated. "We're the ones who pose a threat to the Regime. Anything else is a mere distraction."

[Terra Novam]

F.A.S. Eclipse
“Spirits… They actually did it.” Anna whispered as the blue-out washed over the fleet’s sensors, multiple status indicators turned from red to black when they came back online.
The bridge crew took off their caps in tribute to their fallen cousins, and after a moment Director Fletcher addressed Jarl Brunnhilde: “I’m very glad to hear that, Jarl. Very glad indeed. Starfleet will hold the line until you can fully commit. After that, the Terrans will see just why the Aesir Empire is this galaxy’s greatest power. In the meantime, I’ll put my operators to task to disrupt the enemy’s supply lines and undermine their PR. I don’t like having to fight dirty, but if that’s what helps us win this war faster, then we must be willing to make sacrifices. I should get to work. Fletcher, over and out.”
“We have a situation on the Dysonian fleet.” Eclipse’s Comms Chief reported as Shae’s quantum projection dissolved, the particles sucked back into the QEC. “Remaining Terran ships are standing down, but the Dysonians report most of the captives they took have killed themselves or each other.”
“Son of a bitch.” Laskaris cursed. “Survivors?” The answer: “Only a few. They’ve been put in stasis for the time being.” The Lord Admiral huffed at this information – the Dysonian boarding action had been a disaster, over a thousand Void Rangers killed for virtually no gain. “Send our ISA attaches over to the Ranger ships. We’ll collect the survivors and deal with them ourselves.” Ops Chief set to work with an “Aye, commander.” as Laskaris turned to face the quantum projection of Leonidas Stoltz. “What can you tell me about Zachary Kruger?”

I.G.N.S. Vectarion
Fleet Admiral Stoltz, having to sit down as his head throbbed, pain flashing across his eyes with every heartbeat. Being a Belderian, his concussion was already receding, but he’d be feeling quite sore for the rest of the week.
“Zachary Kruger is not a Marine General. I have no idea what that mad dog is doing in the Imperial Marines, it has to be some kind of cover. But he’s also using his real name. Hmm, we’ll just have to listen and see what he’s up to.
Kruger is the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence’s Counterinsurgency Division. A former Black Ops commando who worked his way up through the ranks, taking down threats to the Empire foreign and domestic. He has personally killed over 100 high-ranking Terran and Novan politicians personally and Spirits know how many other deaths he’s ordered; not that there’s any evidence it was him, of course. Throughout the years Kruger saw more and more the corrupt morass of the Imperial Government for what it really is. He hates politics with the fury of a supernova, finds those who partake in it absolutely repulsive, so he spends his waking hours bumping off any politician and aristocrat he sees as hypocritical or abusive. As head of ONI CID, he’s dedicated himself to making sure an entity like the Black Hand could never seize power, and his position makes him virtually untouchable… Cynical bastard willingly turned himself into the Deep State’s attack dog, becoming part of the institution he’d come to hate so he could try and cut out its tumors from the inside out. There are many who refuse to believe he even exists because the alternative is too terrifying to contemplate. But I know for a fact that the man and the myth are both all too real. So if Zachary Kruger is alive, then how is Elisabeth Pretorius still alive; and also, why is that man here?” The Vectarion’s commander talked in rapid-fire, his speech lightly slurred.
“How do you know all this?” Anna enquired.
Stoltz wrung his hands and looked down before answering: “Because… Because I lived with him for 15 years.”

F.A.S. Eclipse
Senior Staff Meeting Room
15 minutes later
Laskaris, Anna, and the Meridian Admiral Maxson awaited Stoltz’s arrival, him having boarded a shuttle since his condition prohibited teleportation. A QEC array was transmitting to the Aesir and Dysonian flagships for the allied commanders to sit in on the impending enlightenment.
As soon as the Belderian entered and sat down, he pre-empted all questions and immediately spoke up.
“I never knew my mother. She died shortly after I was born. My father was away most of the time, he was a scientist with the Office of Naval Intelligence, working on things that could not stand the light of day. He had a lot of contact with the various departments and offices of the Intelligence community, so our home played host to some very powerful people quite regularly. Zachary Kruger was one of them. He was a good friend of my father’s, back before he became the bitter, cynical bastard he’d later become.
I suppose dad came too close to discovering something the government wanted to keep under wraps, so one day he left for work and never came home. They said it was an accident.
After my father died, Zachary took me in and taught me everything he knew. I grew up as his protégé and he meant for me to be his successor, but certain elements in the Imperial Government decided to hurt Zach by killing me. I couldn’t stay in the Empire. So Kruger provided me with a false passport and I came to Terra Novam.”
Stoltz seeming at a loss for further words, Anna pointedly asked “Can you prove it?”
“Let me man’s own words speak for themselves.” Leonidas replied.
The Fleet Admiral produced a data crystal and entered it into a slot on the central table, which led to it projecting a 3D image of a large but Spartan living room, a gruff, tall, wiry-looking man occupying the front and center of the frame. The device must have been attached to Leonidas’ eye, given that the recording started with a finger moving down from the picture. The man, Zachary Kruger, answered an unheard question, his voice steady but tired.

“Listen to me, Leonidas lad. I’ve been around the galaxy. I’ve traveled unmapped sectors, interacted with species nobody else knows exists, and seen things you wouldn’t believe possible. Yet, there has always been one constant. Everywhere I went, everyone I’ve met, peasants to soldiers to slaves to kings… Without being drunk on the idea of something, whether it be women, money, or power… Nobody does a damn thing without some kind of selfish reward waiting on the other side. And because of it, everyone is a slave to someone else. Their personalities are mindless, their actions, meaningless. Even our own Empire falls into this trap. We undertook 4 expansion waves after First Contact and our defeating the first hostile Xenos. 4 expansion waves, each of them adding thousands of systems to Terra’s territory. Yet for all the hundreds of billions of inhabitable worlds in Via Lactea, we did not choose to colonize all those viable planets that were lifeless or contained little more than plants and animals. No, we went out of our way to annex worlds that already had civilizations on them. And why? For the same reason any conqueror does what they do. For resources. For prestige. But mostly just because we could. Is there anything real left to fight for? It is too late for me to find out. But for you, there may still be a chance. I only hope you don’t end up the way I did.”

The recording finished, leaving the collected Admirals agape. What Fleet Admiral Stoltz had just revealed so casually was nothing less than state secrets, and Anna knew that a golden opportunity had just landed in her lap. “…Open a channel to ISS Mons Dei.” She ordered the bridge.
As soon as the channel opened, the Princess asked: “Zachary Kruger, are you there? Can you tell us just what’s going on here?” Surprisingly, Kruger didn’t hesitate to reply, his answer a waterfall of words, spoken slowly and with perfect clarity, making it appear like the fate of the galaxy hinged on every syllable.
“Since my godchild is on your side, and given how long it took for you to respond, I assume he’s just finished telling you about our history together. As such, I’m going to be frank. I’m not with the Marines. I am part of ONI HIGHCOM.
The Office of Naval Intelligence’s Special Action Division is dedicated to ensuring key positions in the Imperial Government and Administration are not occupied by the wrong persons for the wrong reasons. And within SAD, our counter-insurgency outfit, officially named Internal Security Agency Counter-Insurgency Squadron Six but in reality ONI Special Warfare Group Six, is the black-ops unit tasked with stopping coup attempts before they are properly launched. But this time, we failed.
Group 6 was deployed to launch a surgical strike on Pretorius’ flagship midway on its route to Novi Soyuz for a meeting with President Tani, and kill her before she had the chance to subvert the President’s mind. But our strike group was intercepted by the Internal Security Agency’s Flying Column No. 5, their actual counter-insurgency unit, who believed that it was us who were trying to gain control of the government. We couldn’t convince them to stand down and certainly couldn’t surrender, so we had to open fire and try to fight our way through. We swept the Flying Column aside, but it was too late – Pretorius heard we were coming and the President sent a battlegroup to protect her ship. We don’t have the capacity to fight Imperial Starfleet, so we had to call off the attempt…
Elisabeth was made Superintendent of State a week later, and as a result of our failure the events unfolding today were set in motion. Pretorius and Tani were always closely allied, but both with secret agendas the other didn’t know about. The President completed her objectives, restoring the Terran Empire from a hollow shell to its former power, by 2550, but Pretorius’ agenda is a longer-term operation with a far greater scope. Personally, I like the idea of Human unification and the colonization of other galaxies, but to do so at gunpoint is a course of action we have tried before, and some of us know better than to try again.
Unfortunately we don’t have the liberty and leeway we did before. Our every action is being monitored and scrutinized, so we must move slowly and with great caution. The Office has gone largely underground since the government sees us as traitors, and only allows our continued existence because we are necessary for national security. What branches haven’t been disbanded were put under State curatorship, so there is very little Naval Intelligence can do – but we have been working with the Black Guard to hinder the Pretorius Regime stabilizing.
Given the gravity of the situation I’m going to come clean about the Guard. They fall under President Tani’s direct control, and only some 40 outsiders know it exists at all. Unfortunately, this includes the Black Hand’s leadership. Their Elite Guard and General Vaughn’s Paramilitary Corps are facing off in armed combat as we speak – publicly, Tani and Pretorius are close allies, but in reality, they’d like nothing more than to cut the other’s head off. Pretorius removing Tani would lead to her being appointed President and allowing her to go forth unopposed, and Tani is livid at being betrayed by an old friend. She was initially dismissive of my claims, even with all the evidence I provided, but after all that’s happened since the attack on the Aesir Embassy at Fort Alcatraz she’s changed her mind and asked me to contact you, Princess Anna, and give your movement whatever support I can.
This is why I have come to Terra Novam and the Liberator government. The IDF may nominally be non-factional, but in reality most are loyal to the President. ONI still has some friends in IDFSC, so I can call in some favors to make this civil war go Tyros and allies’ way. Don’t expect too much, because ONI has to keep to the shadows, but I can make sure the scales tip ever so slightly in your favor. Zachary Kruger, ONI Chief of Operations, at your service.”


The Pentastar Planets
High orbit over Tyros
“Again, this is Grisha Koslov of ISS Umbral to any friendly vessel in range. We’ve been attack by Chaos and need immediate medical assistance!” The Major shouted into his comm, every repetition of his message more desperate. He could see the planet out the bridge viewscreens, able to make out the lights on its night side and see starships approaching and departing its orbital spaceports. Yet for the past half-hour, nobody had as much as acknowledged his plea for help.
“It’s pointless.” His XO, Lieutenant-Commander Igor Makarov, dejectedly stated, grimacing as he clutched his wounded abdomen even while peering over a status panel. “Our comms are totally shot. We need to get at least our docking thrusters working or we’ll suffocate within the hour. I don’t think they can see us down there.” He said, his informality towards a direct superior confirming that this was a vessel that had not undergone the Tani Reforms.
“I know.” Grisha answered. “But if we don’t contain the fires it’s no good anyway.” The Major closed his eyes and sunk into his chair, at wit’s end.
…read us? Umbral, this […] Fort Sperlitz Spaceport […] weak signal and are attempting to compensate. Please respond.
“Motherfucker!” Makarov exclaimed as he tried his best to tune in to FSS’ frequency, the groundside installation broadcasting on a band he’d never seen before but able to hone in nonetheless using his ONI skillset.
“I think you’re good to go, skipper.” Igor told the Major.
“Fort Sperlitz Spaceport, Major Koslov here. We read you. We’re burning up and running out of air. Can you assist?”
“Sperlitz to Umbral. Rescue ships are dispatching now. ETA 20 minutes. Hold on up there. We have some shocking news for you.”

Via Lactea
Galactic center
Black Corps Central Headquarters
The Nineveh-class Star Citadel Hammurabi that served as the heart of the Black Corps’ headquarters complex had rarely been seen from the inside by many of the Corps’ lower-ranking members, let alone outsiders. Only Shasta Tani herself and Senator Kiara Williams were allowed unrestricted access to its interior and operations logs, aside from Corps Command and a select few Class-A Mind Warriors, including Steven Anderson. Anderson, having been inducted into the top tier of the Corps’ Paramilitary Wing Black Ops Division, was a rapidly rising star, having shown his worth in numerous operations against the Black Hand and already fast on his way towards becoming a Controller himself, slated on the fast track to command of a Ground Strike Force.
In a sealed control bunker deep in the station’s heart, at the center of a sealed part of the station itself, 9 people were present. These were General Jackson Vaughn, his right-hand Controller Frank Lennox, Mind Warrior Steven Anderson, and the 6 BZAO students Lennox had rescued: Commissar-Cadet Thomas Cole, Commissar Andrew Lasky, Colonel Joran Kessic, Colonel Albert Vickers, Colonel Barry Sullivan, and most importantly, ONI Special Warfare Officer Candidate Elissa Drexler. Only the younger Drexler had a real reason for being present, and at her insistence her best friend and confidant Thomas was there as well. The other 4 in the group were being inducted into the Black Guard’s circle of trustees, if only because Elissa insisted on it, the others agreed, and Drexler approved, unwilling to break up her group of friends.
“Seal and secure room. Deactivate all cameras and listening devices. Activate soundproof bubble and scramble all sensors and inbound signals.” General Vaughn ordered, the subsection’s control computer bleeping its assent.
“So now that we are safe behind closed doors, we can begin.” Lennox said. “I think I understand why the Black Hand masqueraded as a rogue IDF unit rather than Alliance Special Forces. The Black Hand must be afraid of a coup, that the IDF Proper will take over national administration and oust them from power. Perhaps they mean to send IDFSC a warning: “stay out of our business or we will ruin you”. Since there is no proper way to prove it was the Black Hand and not a rogue IDF unit that launched the attack, the public will believe Command can’t even control its own generals, so how can they rule as an interim government? Any coup attempt by Supreme Command will thus be seen as illegitimate in the public’s eye, thus securing the Black Hand Party’s rule over the Terran Senate. Seems like I didn’t give Pretorius and Kondraki enough credit when I first heard of their intention to attack the Academy.”
“Speaking of which,” Elissa huffed, “thanks for the heads-up beforehand. Really appreciate it, Frank.” She accosted the Controller, using sarcasm to mask the fact she was still shaking from the shock of almost being caught.
“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t tell you. You had to react naturally. Please understand this was necessary.” Frank pleaded.
“Fine.” She snapped. “And I am truly grateful for you getting us out of there. But now what are we going to do? It’s obvious they want to use me to pressure my mother, so what will they do now that I’m gone?”
“Probably nothing.” Vaughn confidently spoke. “We have placed a flash clone of you on-site, so for all the Black Hand knows you are dead. As does your mother.”
Elissa shuddered at this revelation, but steeled herself. “Good.” She swallowed heavily. “Good. Then we can move on to retaliating. Mom will be devastated, and it may get her killed if she suspects the Black Hand. But that won’t happen, will it?” She asked Lennox for confirmation.
“No, it won’t. I made it look very convincing.” Frank replied.
“Alright then. I knew I was being watched, but I never expected something so dramatic…” Drexler said sadly, flashing back to the carpet of corpses on the courtyard, more than half of them not even out of adolescence.
“I’ll see to it all this slaughter isn’t in vain. We’ll recover as many as can be revived, and the others will be avenged. To this end, I have good news – mister Kruger should have made contact with the Liberators by now.”
“If you don’t mind,” Cole loudly butted in, “Just what are we being dragged into?”
“I will explain in a matter of minutes.” Vaughn replied. “But first we must debrief you, I need to know exactly what happened at Belya Zvezda.”
The 9 talked back and forth until deep into the night, and by the end the BZAO cadets were convinced that joining the Black Guard as clandestine operators was the best thing they could do to counteract the Black Hand. They trusted Thomas Cole, the man who had taken a rifle blow to his neck to protect his fellows, and Cole trusted Drexler. And since Drexler trusted Lennox and Vaughn, then so would Lasky, Kessic, Vickers, and Sullivan.
“And now,” Vaughn finished, “We have work to attend to. Kessic, Vickers, and Sullivan. You will be given new identifies and embedded into the Imperial Army. Drexler and Cole, you will accompany Lennox to Tyros and liaison with the Liberator government. We are hereby joining forces with Anna and her allies.”

[Terra Novam]

The comet hurtled through space at breakneck speed, a giant, white-hot mass of packed rock and metal that seemed to have projected from one of the many small Warp Storms that plagued the central regions of Aura Hyperia. It wasn’t uncommon for Warp Storms to emit Realspace materials, since wherever a Warp Storm opened, it absorbed anything in its path, from stellar dust to entire star systems. The blindingly bright object, actually a mass of densely-packed rocks, trailed a brilliant tail, as if the entire formation was engulfed in a ball of plasma fire. And for an object that the Empyrean had puked up, this seemingly paradoxical situation of a flaming ball of non-flammable materials hurtling through the coldness of space was not even considered strange. On occasion, the conglomeration would eject a plasma jet in a random direction, giving off the impression of its structure being unstable.
Only the comet wasn’t a comet at all. If one were to look inside the packed clusters of metallic rocks, they would discover that they were being held in orbit by starships that used them as optical cover, generating immense heat and fire to scramble sensor readings. This was Strike Force Atlantis of the Terran Imperial Defense Forces, a planetary assault group consisting of recently-built Starfleet ships crewed by veteran Radical Kondrakists, protecting convoys of troop transports bearing fanatical Imperial Army troops of which half were actually Black Hand soldiers, including a cadre of Elite Guard. These were the cream of the crop of the Pretorian Regime’s regular soldiers, backed up by a large complement of Okhotnik-Ubiytsa combat drones.
These forces were slated to carry out Operation Atlantis, and had been outfitted with distortion drives by Covacs that allowed them to enter the Empyrean, something the IDF was not capable of doing by itself. After the layover at Nova Terra to strap the drives onto them, Strike Force Atlantis had moved South into extragalactic space alongside a larger force that headed West. Atlantis went East instead, veered North towards the Great Sargasso, and had then entered the shallows of the Empyrean to emerge from a small Warp Storm relatively close to the Aesir border.
The Starfleet complement consisted of 5 Oberon-class Battleship/Carrier hybrids, 4 Sarissa-class Heavy Dreadnoughts, 8 Tagmata-class Line Dreadnoughts, 8 Hypaspist-class Heavy Battleships, 10 Phalangist-class Line Battleships, 14 Agamemnon-class Heavy Cruisers, 16 Menelaus-class Heavy Cruisers, 20 Hydaspes-class Heavy Frigates, and 30 Bagradas-class Missile Frigates, with each of the capital ships surrounded by its rings of 6 Destroyers and 8 Corvettes. The formation was commanded by the Zvezda-class Super-Heavy/Command Dreadnought I.S.S. Halicarnassus; and was arrayed around 200 troopships laden with dropships and smallcraft. The Oberons had dedicated half their smallcraft capacity to suborbital bombardment ships, these “Bombardier” atmospheric corvettes to be used as artillery platforms for direct fire support and saturation bombing.
The “comet” that was Strike Force Atlantis was on a trajectory that would have it skirt the edges of Aesir space, passing closely by a system just past the current border that was currently in the final stages of colonization. This planet was the target for Operation Atlantis, an IDF attack to gauge the Aesir’s tactics in terrestrial defense, time how long it would take for reinforcements to arrive, and measure how Imperial ground troops would measure up against the armored Xenos and their mass driver rifles. This particular world had been selected because it was relatively lightly defended and located outside the Aesir Empire’s borer fortresses, an attack against which would be unsustainable without Terra Novam being firmly under control as a staging ground. Logistics demanded only one strike could be made, and any single border world would be reinforced long before the IDF could do significant damage. Thus, this small expedition was all that was possible for the time being, but the Pretorians ordered it carried through anyway, annoyed at the fighting taking place exclusively on Human territory and wanting to show the Hyperian alliance that their own territories were not safe from seeing combat.

The first sign of the impending attack was the sighting of the white comet skirting the system on a course that would carry it through the system, passing between the primary planet’s night side and the fifth world at the system’s edge. The Aesir defense fleet, aware of Imperial Terran maneuvers in deep space, was on heightened alert, and moved to a position perpendicular to the comet to check out if it might have been weaponized by the IDF, as Commander Reid of the RIA had informed the Aesir Empire that the Imperial Senate was spitballing about infusing meteors with Tiberium and sending them against Xenos worlds. And partially, this was right – the meteors surrounding the Imperial starships were indeed laden with the insidious, corrupting Element 133 – but the true nature of the fake meteor, the meat and bones of the attack – would not be detected until it was too late.
As the comet passed the world, the defense fleet – consisting of 2 Carriers of which 1 was the flagship, 8 Cruisers, 40 Destroyers, and 12 Frigates, confirmed the presence of Tiberium and brought their weapons to bear. Right then, another plasma jet shot out – hitting the Aesir fleet right on the nose, temporarily blinding their sensors.
The Imperial Starfleet battlegroup of Operation Atlantis used these moments to ditch their disguise, deactivating the plasma clouds and rerouting their power back into the main grid, while the actual meteors were grav-anchored between the warships and troop transports.
The Xenos never stood a chance, as the Imperials opened up with a synchronized ASM and Heavy Torpedo volley, followed by rippling waves of subnuclear MAC shells and grav-accelerated particle pulses. The Xenos valiantly stood their ground, showing no fear in the face of the sudden onslaught, but the Imperial battlegroup now began to outflank the Aesir defense fleet, engulfing them in a torrent of MAC fire and anti-ship missiles, until the Terrans had formed a complete sphere around them… Like a dragon swallowing a knight.
In a matter of minutes, the defense fleet had been entirely wiped out, with only a smattering of corvettes and destroyers on the Imperial side lost to show for it.

The Terrans wasted no time in commencing the planetary assault. Gaps were opened in the asteroid field to allow the transports to approach the planet directly, the Oberon supercarriers sending out the Bombardier corvettes and wings of smallcraft to shield the landing of infantry and armor, whose landing craft departed the massive troopships that moved up alongside the rest of the landing fleet – unlike the Starfleet warships, the Ground Forces troopships could make landfall, and this would be necessary, as all the OkUb AFV’s were contained within their holds.
As the landing commenced, 4 batteries of high-caliber anti-orbital rail cannons opened up on the Imperial fleet, disintegrating a Menelaus-class Heavy Cruiser and overwhelming a troopship, sending it crashing down in wreaths of flame; but it would be a vain effort as battleship-fired MAC shells deleted the guns from existence.
Aesir orbital defense platforms and telemetry satellites were engaged by long-range MAC fire and carrier-based attack bombers while Tiberium meteors were launched at groundside communication arrays and power plants as the ground component sped through the atmosphere, drawing brilliant orange-red streaks through the night sky as dropships began taking flak, some of them exploding but attending bombers making short work of them, softening up the Aesir air defense and strafing strongpoints on the ground to secure landing zones.
300 Valkyrie gunships (no relation to the Terran Valkyrie, though they fulfill the same roles) rose up to halt the wall of death that descended towards the surface, the gunships swarming and taking down a Bombardier, only to be counter-charged by Terran I-76 Moskit air superiority fighters, engaging the Valkyries with their heavy cannons and missiles while I-37 "Rhyolis" Swarmers lived up to their name and attacked from the sides and above in wolfpacks. Although the Aesir gunships were tough and well-armed, the air-to-air combat could only end one way, and supported by the troopships’ MUSIER, the Terran fighters took down 3 Aesir craft for every one they lost.
The Imperials now came into range of ground-based Longbow MLRS SAM vehicles, who zipped around acquiring targets and firing while on the move. Most of these missiles were shot down or stopped by Void Shields, though the smallcraft that were struck were taken out of the sky. Static AA autorail emplacements opened up with short bursts of tungsten shells that streaked across the night sky, trying to lead the fast-moving Imperials and sewing numerous craft apart. Seeing that resistance was getting serious, the fleet above decided to lend a hand, and the Dreadnoughts fired their heavy-bore spinal MAC guns at the world’s power plants, disrupting the power grid and causing a blackout on the civilian net, though the defense grid’s generators kicked in and moments later the anti-air batteries resumed firing. But the sudden blackout had done a good psychological job, and the civilians who had been flocking outside to see what was going on now panicked. The Aesir soldiers began trying to evacuate civilians to the ubiquitous hardened shelters across the world’s half-finished cities, but there were many civilians out in the chaos and little time to get them to safety before the Terrans would fall upon them – and already, the shower of gravity-accelerated Tiberium meteors were infecting the biosphere with the creeping death of Element 133.
The lamps of military vehicles and hastily deployed floodlights illuminated the darkness of the night that was intermittently broken by bursts of SAM launches and the fireballs of plasma missiles striking the ground; the battle being drowned out by the only sounds of Aesir Tech Soldiers trying to evacuate panicking civilians and Einherjar moving into defensive positions. The Drekrekkr garrison forces made ready to support the walking tanks up front while Saekjar recon troops made ready to disrupt Imperial lines and take out what AFV’s they could.
The Imperials commenced their final descent, covered by Bombardiers that hung, almost untouchable, tens of kilometers above ground, shelling positions where the Aesir concentrated their forces and forcing the defenders to stay dispersed and keep on the move. Longbows reaped their toll on the approaching Terrans even as Imperial A-54 Sokol fighter-bombers and SB-D Kosa OkUb missile gunships sent their payloads at them, the latter trying to box in the Longbows for the former to hard-kill with direct fire.
SB-K Zhatka heavy OkUb gunships flew overwatch, firing plasma pulse- and particle beam cannons at any target they could detect as the first element of transports touched down and the black-armored Imperial Army soldiers emerged, flanked by Mod.90 Ubiytsy autonomous combat platforms.
The battle for air superiority was turning ever-more one-sided as Terran Bombardiers began shelling military airfields and transiting Berarr troop transporters were attacked by teams of SB-H Stormrider OkUb interceptors at range, forcing the Aesir to restrict their troop movements to foot-slogging and ground vehicles.

Although guns were still blazing and the Bombardiers kept shelling, a sort of calm descended over the din of battle. The troopships had landed and were disgorging Imperial artillery and armor, moving towards the beachheads the initial group of Riflemen and Storm Troopers had cleared out.
Before the defenders knew it, the Imperials were upon them, small teams of Zweihänder energy-sword-bearing Storm Troopers surging forward to disrupt the Einherjar’s defensive formations for phalanxes of power-pike-bearing Breach Troopers to sweep aside; squads of riflemen armed with GRAL rifles and automatic grenade launchers in close support; the whine of heavy mortars lobbing shells ever-present in the background as subnuclear explosions flashed across the lines, their ordnance guided by mobile RADAR/LIDAR arrays hefted by tech specialists. Squadrons of autonomous armored fighting vehicles raced back and forth lateral to the infantry’s advance, providing mobile cover fire and shielding from flanking attempts while engineers set up mobile barricades and shield pylons.
The Terrans advance with suicidal confidence, attacking positions head-on and only falling back if this doesn’t overwhelm the defenders, sucking Drekrekkr in to be cut apart from 3 sides, and then moving up again to be dealt the same fate by Einherjar and more Drekrekkr; both the Aesir and Imperials using the same combat tactics and making this battle an especially brutal and bloody one.
Storm Troopers tried to engage individual Drekrekkr in 2- or 3-man teams: 1 trooper fighting the Aesir directly while another tried to outflank, and the third guarded the fighting troopers’ backs, made difficult by the Drekrekkr working in small teams. Aesir Ulfberht stabbing swords and Terran Zweihänder clashed, their respective power fields sparking off each other and sending blobs of plasma dripping. The Zweihänder were a little longer than the Ulfberht, giving the Imperials the advantage of reach, and many Aesir ended their lives being decapitated by an Imperial Storm Trooper. But the Drekrekkr swung their swords that much faster than the Terrans could, and any missed parry would see an Aesir blade disembowel a Terran soldier. Riflemen with their graviton accelerator guns swept rooftops and windows for Saekjar, who had a hard time picking off Imperial officers since, like Aesir officers, they looked virtually indistinguishable from enlisted troops and fought right with them in the front lines. The Saekjar tried their hardest to utilize anti-armor charges and AP grenades to knock out the Imperial artillery that was demolishing the defenders, to no great effect as Mod.70 Okhotniky sent streams of APHE Gatling cannon shells at anything that popped its head up and shielded the mortar teams with their own durable plasteel/adamantine bodies.
The Aesir colony cities were far more spacious than the average Human settlement, making the landscape conductive to armored maneuvers and mid-range firefights, both of which the IDF excelled at. An Aesir armored battalion of Grey Wolf Red Wolf Main Battle Tanks tried its hardest to stem the tide, the Red Wolfs strongholding tactical locations while Grey Wolfs moved from position to position, firing a shell and disappearing. Their antigravity hover systems gave them an advantage over the Terrans, being able to peek out above cover, fire a shell, and drop out of sight; but since their ammunition stores were kept in the top of the vehicle, a single penetrating hit was enough to pop the turret like a firecracker, cooking alive the crews in the fighting compartment below as the Imperials sent 125mm 22.3-kilogram HVAP composite-rigid capped shells, made of tungsten with a depleted-uranium core, coated in Adamantium and bearing a nuclear shaped charge in the cap, grav-accelerated to be sent flying at Aesir armor with a muzzle velocity of 17,500 m/s - the resulting impact being enough to delete the equivalent of 3 meters of RHA equivalent and liquify any metallics around it - an insanely overpowered shell all things considered, at the cost of a tank only being able to carry 160 unlike the Aesir whose vehicles could carry several thousand of their smaller, lighter shells. Terran Casaba shells hit like the nuclear bombs they were, and could carve through skyscrapers with contempt, but Aesir tank guns fired like heavy machine guns against a wall - sure, the wall could stand for a while, but with each shot it would chip away and eventually shatter. The fact that the Wolfs' main guns had the rate of fire of autocannons was the true danger for the Terran AFV's.
Even though the Aesir MBT's were heavily armored, the Terran tanks were also shielded and had armor rated to consistently stop 120mm kinetic shells traveling at 25,000 m/s - velocities transferring far more energy than the Aesir shots were doing, though the lower energy requirements to fire meaning the Aesir tanks' rate of fire was much higher than that of the Terrans', and a few Molotoks unlucky enough to be targeted by multiple Wolfs, pinned by Red Wolfs and flanked by Grey Wolfs, got mission-killed or crew-killed. But the only hard kills the Wolfs dealt was to lightly protected pikemen, Serp armored cars, and some of the lighter-armored Stalk Tanks; the Aesir tanks unable to withstand the sheer destructive power of the T-108 Molotok Assault Tank and OkUb ABSA Mod.650 Drobilka tank destroyer, popularly known as “Stalk Tank” for its spider-like design. Not to mention the Terran "Casaba" shells flat-out ignored the Aesirs' armor sloping, being direct-contact explosives and thus not deflecting. But despite this, the sloping was able to redirect the shells' energy, so while some Wolf tanks were killed in a single hit, others were able to deflect 2, 3, or even 5 shots before going down, albeit taking kinetic damage with each non-lethal hit.
However, both forces seemed determined to fight in melee, squads of Einherjar demolishing OkUbs and sending Human infantry flying with their powerful blows while Drekrekkr were kept at bay by Breach Troopers’ power pikes and physically crushed by graviton pulses fired by Riflemen covering the troops up front. Imperial Storm Troopers surged forward, swinging their Zweihänders overhead while their supporting Riflemen lobbed plasma grenades overhead to flush out defensive positions, finishing off soldiers and civilians alike with APSR (armor-piercing / shrapnel) grenades fired from underslung launchers even as field medics rushed to pull the wounded to safety and stabilize them for airlift back to the orbiting fleet.
Street by street, building by building, room by room, the IDF advanced through the cities, firing indiscriminately and killing soldiers and civilians alike as their air dominance proved decisive. A few particularly sturdy buildings that the Aesir used as forward command posts and supply depots held off the Terran advance, until the call “Heavy Troopers to the front” was given, and Prometheum troopers moved up to burn out the defenders with gouts of white-hot flaming fuel that stuck to any surface and was impossible to put out. Some of the Heavy Troopers had their Prometheum tanks shot, the sudden pressure difference causing them to implode and literally melt the soldiers and OkUbs around them, but many more made it into range and sent the Aesir howling into an agonizing death.
With the loss of their forward control and pressed on all sides, the Aesir tried to slow down the Terran advance by erecting roadblocks and blocking off streets, leaving groups of civilians and a few guards trapped behind locked gates, Imperial Riflemen lining up to turn these closed-off streets into killing fields. GRAL rifles opened up on defenseless citizens, every pulse causing a head to burst or a chest to cave in as those soldiers that had stayed behind were by Imperial Army noncoms wielding Thunder Hammers. Wherever the Aesir tried to stronghold, a torrent of graviton bombs would rain from above, the Bombardiers denying the Xenos any chance to coordinate their defense, although the Aesir troops’ speed and strength saw them slaughtering Terrans whenever they could catch an IDF unit out of optimal position and proving just why the Aesir Empire was the largest military superpower in Aura Hyperia, never wavering even as they were pushed back and FOB after FOB was overrun. On occasion, an anti-orbital gun the IDF had overlooked would send a tungsten slug at a Bombardier, the first shots depleting the Void Shields, the next breaking through armor, and finally piercing straight through the corvette and sending it crashing down, but these guns were targeted by bombers and orbital guns as soon as their positions were detected.
Wherever Aesir resistance was too heavy to break head-on and could not be properly outflanked, the Terrans made use of their air dominance to drop troops behind Aesir positions using squadrons of rotor-wing gunships and troop carriers, touching down just long enough to allow the infantry to disembark while nose cannons and door guns suppressed the general area. Some of these craft were shot down by Aesir MANPADS, but the resultant pincers saw the Xenos fighting positions overrun and taken out.
Terran Heavy Troopers – rough equivalent to Aesir Einherjar with machine guns and long-range anti-material and anti-personnel rifles with depleted-uranium HVAP bullets – screened for Xenos snipers, suppressed MG and gun positions, and provided cover fire for the frontline infantry to advance, though they presented an easy target for Saekjar as their hulking power armor made them stand out from the carapace-armored regular infantry. It was the OkUbs the Aesir did not have a real answer against, the autonomous robots fighting without fear, never fatiguing, never letting up their guard, and never making mistakes. Even where ECM jammed some units from linking to the OkUb hive mind, in Autonomous mode they were still dangerous combatants, and their throwing themselves into the line of fire soaked up countless bullets and power-field blows that initially had a Human’s name on them.

In the countryside, things were different, with the Aesir using the terrain for cover to good effect, splitting up into small hunting parties and easily outmaneuvering the cumbersome Imperials, picking away at outlying formation before blending back into the land.
3 MANPADS teams triangulated around a hunting dropship and fired their missiles within seconds of each other, sending 15 rockets towards it. The escorting fighters could not react, since the Aesir were too close and there was too little time to maneuver. The dropship’s MUSIER and CIWS took down 12 rockets nevertheless, but the remaining 3 struck home, two of them hitting the port- and starboard-side engines from below and the other impacting the forward telemetry array and observation deck, sending the transport crashing into the ground, where its power plant conflagrated and killed all 55 occupants.
But even then the IDF knew what to do, the order being for individual squads to move, at an oblique angle, towards the sound of the nearest fighting. This meant the Terrans would overwhelm those Aesir resistance pockets that engaged them from multiple angles, but also meant that unengaged Aesir units could avoid being attacked as long as they weren’t spotted by Recon, the Saekjar having a decent time at holding the Terran ground reconnaissance at bay and forcing the Imperials to look for targets from the sky, made difficult by the dense foliage and Aesir ECM.

The attack had begun at dusk, and by dawn, the planet’s urban centers and military bases have been largely secured. As the sun began cresting the hill and the Imperials had contained the Aesir to small, isolated resistance pockets in the cities, the IDF changes tactics to continue the assault.
Although fierce guerrilla resistance continues in the back country, the Imperials now recommit and use their secured FOB’s to stage airborne assaults against Aesir guerrilla forces. The resultant clashes see the loss of some Imperial gunships, some Aesir Grey Wolf light tanks, and infantry on both sides, but while the Terrans dominate against those units they can surround, they are unable to come to grips with most of the Xenos, whose antigravity tech gives their vehicles a major advantage over grounded Imperial ones, allowing them to outmaneuver and destroy OkUb spearheads and withdraw before bombers could arrive in most cases.

By early afternoon, word reached I.S.S. Halicarnassus than an Aesir response force was on its way to liberate the colony, so Command made the decision to leave its statement and then withdraw.
On the ground, the capital city had been fully secured, and Imperial Army soldiers paraded to what the Terrans called the “planetary capitol”, forcing surviving civilians to watch and salute them awhile those soldiers and leading citizens the Terrans had captured were herded into the megalithic structure.
Tech specialists set up cameras for galaxy-wide live broadcast along the avenue and inside the capitol, showing the Imperials march, followed by the commanding General and his retinue being driven from the nearest landing site, Imperial troopships proudly looming over the land, to the capitol.
Once inside, the General took center stage and spoke: “I bet you are wondering why we attacked your world. I bet you will argue that you are not a threat to the Terran Empire. After all, you are an upstart colony, not involved with the Aesir Empire’s war machine. But had I not prevented the completion of your little project, it would have been incorporated into the Aesir war machine. Your leaders tell you, we started this war without provocation. That we attacked the Aesir Embassy on Nova Terra for no reason. How typical of governments to lie to their citizens, so they can send you to do their fighting and dying in their stead. For the Aesir have willingly interfered in an intra-Human conflict, violating our sovereignty by siding with a terrorist coup and invading lands that belong to Novi Soyuz by ancient Terran law. I want to send a message to Jarl Brunnhilde: stay out of this. This attack is only a demonstration of what we are willing to do to keep Xenos out of our borders. When our Empire was nearly destroyed by the first Xenos we met 1,200 long years ago, we swore that never again would we allow an alien power so close to home to build up enough strength to be a threat to Humanity. And now, the Aesir have proved themselves to be that threat made flesh and blood. Therefore, a show of force is necessary. You have only yourself to thank for your fate.”
Having finished speaking, the General and the Imperial officers disappeared in lightning bolts, the cameras inside the capitol still running as the Terran Teleportariums brought the soldiers back to the staging areas where they began embarking to return to the orbiting fleet and depart before the Aesir relief force fell upon them, departing with a few hours’ head start and counting on outrunning them in Realspace FTL.
In orbit, a Phalangist-class Line Battleship pointed his muzzle at the capitol, and fired a plasma lance that slagged the building and immolated all those trapped inside, the cameras capturing the last moments before themselves being vaporized. Across the planet, the Terran troops abandoned the occupation of the cities and assaults against the Aesir survivors in the hinterlands, troopships breaking for orbit while ground attack fighters and bombers delivered the last of their payloads on what defensive positions remained to prevent the Aesir from attacking the withdrawing Terrans.

A few hours later, the evacuation was complete, but the battle not over just yet.
On the Halicarnassus’ bridge, the leading Rear Admiral gritted his teeth. “Time to leave Dr. Sanada’s gift.”
At his command, the Imperial capital ships began unloading hell on the planet surface, firing subnuclear MAC shells, spinal guns, and sending the cloud of Tiberium meteors at the planet to deny its reoccupation by the Xenos, the crystal death beginning to assimilate what remained of the biosphere.

[The Shroud, Terra Novam
Andromeda Project Headquarters Complex
Two weeks earlier
Doctor Shiro Sanada, working with his Chief Engineer Hikozaemon Tokugawa, had been preparing the infused meteors that would bring so much toxicity to an unprepared colony world, and now they were ready to ship out.
“We're sending a few presents along with Strike Force Atlantis. The Senate Military Committee has been talking about using weaponized Tiberium against the Aesir, but got hung up on how to deliver the payload. So after hearing about the probing strike going into Aesir space, I suggested a plan. I figured that we could grab a few thousand meteors, infuse them with Tiberium, and set them on a collision course with Aesir-inhabited worlds. Even if they somehow detect and identify them all, it will be nigh-impossible to intercept everything. It may be little initial return on a major investment, but the psychological factor should be most beneficial.
And even if the Aesir themselves are immune to Tiberium Toxemia, I doubt all their animal- and plant life will be. Plus, Tiberium alters the biosphere, leeches fertility right out of the ground, and under the right conditions spreads so quickly you can see it creep along with the naked eye. Not to mention the ion storms it causes... Even if the Novan rebels tell them how to destroy Element 133, the damage will have already been done.” The Doctor told his Chief Engineer. “But for the time being, a launch on multiple worlds is impossible because of the distance – it would just take too long for the payloads to arrive. So this instance will serve as a proof of concept.”

I.S.S. Halicarnassus
Present
The two IDF commanders stood in the flagship’s Combat Information Center, going over the initial casualty reports. The battle had been waged against an outnumbered and inadequately prepared enemy, and even then the Aesir defenses had performed admirably. For every 10 Aesir soldiers killed, they had taken 2 Terrans and 3 OkUbs with them – and this proportion would only even out in case of a well-prepared Aesir army facing the IDF. The Terrans were strong, but relied on maneuver, and the Aesir’s staying power was so great that if they were able to blunt an Imperial offensive, the Xenos could likely follow up with a victorious counterstrike. But the data collected during the battle would prove invaluable in teaching Imperial field commanders how to counter Aesir tactics and strategies, provided Strike Force Atlantis would make it home alive to tell the tale. Raw data had been transmitted homeward already, but it would be the actual soldiers’ stories and expertise that would be most beneficial, since they could train soldiers and officers on what to expect more than analyses and video footage ever could.
To this end, Strike Force Atlantis had redirected all possible power into their FTL engines, and was heading home using their A-drives instead of the Distortion Engines, hoping to outrun the Aesir pursuers in Realspace but ready to dive into Distortion Space or the Empyrean at moment’s notice. The battle had been an eye-opener, and would put the fear of the Aesirs’ military might into the Pretorian Regime. The long-awaited upscaling of the IDF’s numbers might just be kickstarted with the prospect of an all-out war against the formidable Xenos… Making a quick resolution to the Novan civil war that much less likely.
“Your thoughts on enemy ground forces?” The Vice Admiral asked the Major-General in charge of ground operations, who had just before compiled his after-action report.
“Individual Aesir are more formidable than a single Human. Their teamwork and coordination are excellent, and their morale seems unshakable. They’re determined and tough sons-of-bitches.” The General replied. “Our advantages are that we can gain air superiority to a fair degree of certainty, albeit at a high initial cost. We also have a higher proportion of AFV’s and artillery guns compared to them, so as long as we can keep the Aesir from closing the distance we should be able to whittle them down.”
“I agree with holding air superiority in space as well.” The Admiral concurred. “Their smallcraft can do major damage if they can hit us, but we can comfortably outmaneuver them; and our craft may be smaller, but are still more heavily armed in proportion, but flimsy armor-wise. As for capital ships: as you say, we can win if we keep our distance. The Aesir vessels have lower damage output than ours, but are more heavily armored, able to take a bigger beating and remain operational. What’s it like fighting in melee?”
The General grimaced at this question, flashing back to the trails of amputated and gutted corpses strewn about across the cityscapes. “Hellish.” He said. “It’s like a Roman legion facing the German barbarians. The Aesir melee troops will break if we can hold them off for 10 minutes. Then again, first we have to hold them off for 10 minutes.” The implication of the enormity of the task was clear. “We need either large, well-supported and disciplined lines, or chokepoints that cannot be outflanked. GRAL weapons are the way to go, melee kept for only the most necessary CQB and close-protection of critical equipment. The Aesir’s heavy armor is excellent against bullets, but a liability against GRAL pulses. Their organs are crushed by their own battlesuits if a few graviton pulses connect in the same area.”
As the commanders talked, Halicarnassus’ captain ordered the fleet to shoot off a spread of nuclear rocket bombs, self-guided homing mines that would hopefully slow down the Aesir pursuit and perhaps cripple some of their ships. They would most likely just be shot to pieces, since these cheap mines only carried passive ECM and no cloaking whatsoever, but it would buy the fleet some moments to make distance.
“A lot is going to depend on what kind of numbers they can bring to bear.” The General continued. “In an even fight it all hinges on how much they’re willing to commit. They could overload our firing line by throwing a denser assault at our line, but this leaves them vulnerable to our artillery and we can whittle them down by conducting tactical fallbacks in a deep defense. In a skirmish, it’s a toss-up. The Aesir are more specialist with their troops and ours are more generalist. But what we have that they don’t are the OkUbs. We’ll have our robots soak up the damage and then the humans strike the killing blow. Their battlefield coordination is superb, but they don’t seem to have AI, so we should have an edge on the operational level.”
“Very well. Based on what my fleet’s recordings show, your words ring true. Now let us focus on getting back to friendly space in one piece.”

[Aragonn]

Nearby Border Fortress, Two hours after contact

The bridge on the AFL Mjolnir IX was rather empty save for the late shift Navigator and comms officer. The Navigator was running diagnostics on his console when he suddenly paused and looked up. The comms officer took notice and looked over at the Navigator.

"What do you sense?" comms asked him.

"There's a call from the Odinblessed at the forward colony. It's under siege."

The comms officer quickly worked to send the message out to the rest of the forces stationed there. Ships across the many fleets started to suddenly come to life as their captains and crew prepared to launch a counterattack against the invading force. The CO of Mjolnir IX, Lieutenant Kommander Vorann, soon arrived on the battleship's bridge to take command of the counterattack force. Through his comms officer, he organized the few fleets participating in the attack, and in a few hours, had everything he needed.

"All ships, prepare to jump on my mark," LK Vorann ordered. "Jump."

Warp drives activated everywhere, basking the whole area in purple light. And as soon as the portals appeared, the fleet entered the Warp on course for the forward colony.

Forward Colony, Present time

Tens of thousands of ships from Vordr fleets exited the Warp near the forward colony world just in time to see the Terrans finish packing up and high tail-ing it out of there. The Terrans released their mines then activated their distinctive A-drives to make a hasty escape.

"Sir, augurs are picking up Tiberium on the planet surface," Vorann's tactical officer announced. "The Terrans have infected the planet."

"Damn! The complete disrespect for life... How many species were on the planet?"

"It was estimated around twelve million."

"Twelve million different life forms destroyed with the slow death of Tiberium... This cannot go unpunished. Navigator, can we intercept the Terrans with a Warp jump?"

"Aye, but we have little idea when or where they'll be stopping," the Navigator responded.

"Can you sense their mental presence?"

"I could when we got close to them, but their presence has since faded. I should be able to detect them again when we get near enough in the Warp."

"Good enough for me. All ships, prepare to reenter the Warp. We'll be spreading out in a cone to seek out the Terrans."

"Reading order acknowledgement from all fleets, Lieutenant Kommander," comms announced.

"Engage Warp drives."

The space around the fleet was once again flooded with purple light as the ships vanished into the Warp in pursuit of the Terran fleet.

Jarl Brunnhilde
AFL Jörmungandr
Staging Area, Sector (-7, 5)

Brunnhilde felt the cries of the Odinblessed on the attacked colony and watched the broadcast put out by the Terrans. A snarl formed on her lips as she growled lowly before getting out of her seat and leaving her room to head to the bridge. A response had to be given, and her response would be one Pretorius would not soon forget. Taking a seat on the Captain's perch, the Jarl replaced her decorative helm with her decorated power armor helmet then began recording for broadcast.

"Elizabeth Pretorius, your foul xenophobic regime has done enough harm in this galaxy. It is time to end it. You claim we provoked this conflict with you when it's clear you struck first. You have shown us nothing but hostility based on prejudices formed over a thousand years ago before even learning of us! Yes, we had certain Novan operators at the Aesir Embassy when you attacked it. These operators provided us, their allies, with hard intel proving your true intent. Your assault on the embassy only strengthened our stance on the conflict! We have interfered in your conflict with the sole intention of survival, our hand forced by you. We have not chosen a side, but instead remained on the side which upholds and fights for the ideals upon which Terra Novam has stood for. What we have gotten from your people is death and destruction! Your message has been received loud and clear, but the result of your message is far from the desired effect. This attack on my people has not weakened our resolve, but instead only strengthened it. We have every right to defend our existence, and we will not back down! I am preparing a full scale assault on your regime. You have fifteen days before the full fury of the Aesir Empire bears down upon your forces. You should be glad to hear that Aesir leaders do not cower from the fighting like you do. I will personally lead the attacks that drive your people back through the wormhole to your galaxy. And Elizabeth, when this is over, I will have your head mounted on a spear!"

Brunnhilde ended the recording and ordered her comms officer to send the message to Nova Terra for the Pretorius regime to pick up and view. She then gave the orders to round up the 47 fleets accumulated at the staging area and prepare for departure. A few hours later, the absolutely massive force jumped to the Warp, temporarily flooding the area with purple light visible from all nearby systems.

[Terra Novam]

The Terran Empire
The East Horn
Alcazar V
November 11, Empire Day. The most festive day in Novi Soyuz’s dominions, November 11th marked the anniversary of the Terran Empire’s birth, more than a millennium ago in 2019 CC, and November 11th of the year 3222 would, like all the years before it, be a public holiday to commemorate the beginning of Humanity’s ascendance to the stars of Via Lactea and beyond. Night was falling on Alcazar V, the capital of the East Horn and seat of the Ultranationalist Coalition. At midnight, a spectacular fireworks show would shoot off every skyscraper on the city-planet, and until that time, every sort of fun imaginable would be indulged in by the 20 billion people that called Alcazar V home.
Alcazar V, being a Fortress World, was not the wealthiest planet, and the state of its surface-covering megacity attested to that, large sections full of dilapidated apartment blocks prowled by gangs of destitute denizens where Mafia families and street gangs clashed with each other and the Vigiles Urbani sharply contrasting with the spit-shine, Spartan sights of military bases and lavish, sprawling penthouses of the officer class. But tonight, class and rank mattered not, and for 24 hours, all denizens of Alcazar V were simply Terrans.
What Alcazar V lacked in wealth, it made up for in military might – its standing garrison was one of the largest, best-equipped, and most well-trained forces in the Empire, and the strategically critical Alcazar System was also home to a large Army, Guard, and Starfleet presence from centrally controlled units. Tensions were higher than usual, owing to the recent terrorist attacks by Alliance Special Forces and Alcazar System being right on the border with both the Terrasphere Alliance and Scrin Dominion, though no Scrin were present in a thousand-plus lightyears owing to the IDF’s unwavering commitment to defeating the alien menace. The Alliance, though, was gearing up for war, and a mobilization order was expected to go out soon, so the many soldiers on the capital planet took this opportunity to live it up, though for security reasons they were armed and partially armored.
The reason for this soon revealed itself as contact with the defense fleet was suddenly lost, and shortly thereafter a a blackout rolled across the Fortress World, plunging the nightside into darkness.
Backup generators kicked in and softer lights shone in the more modern districts, as alarms started blaring, air defense fighters took off from innumerable airfields, and flak cannons opened up on an as of yet unseen foe as loudspeakers ordered civilians to head to the nearest shelter or entrench themselves at home. The Alliance Military has launched a surprise attack and preliminary reports indicated at least 90 million troops were making landfall in the first wave alone. Panic did not set in, as the citizens of Alcazar V were used to life on the frontlines and regularly held emergency drills, and the soldiers mixed in with the crowds began escorting groups of civilians to underground shelters as those still on-base prepared to defend and counterattack. Alliance dropships at drop pods sped towards the ground, ASF clashing with air defense fighters as bombers tried to silence the defense grid. Within minutes, Alliance ground troops were disembarking and infantry and armor spilled onto Alcazar V’s city streets. The IDF, taken by surprise, had not had the time to set up defenses, and Alliance forces marauded through the city as the Territorials bought civilians time to evacuate using their own bodies as shields. The gangsters and criminals of Alcazar’s underground, not at all happy with an alien incursion taking place on their world, armed themselves and banded together, drawing Alliance troops into the run-down sectors they controlled and engaged in brutal guerrilla warfare as some units of Territorials consolidated and organized resistance pockets that immediately began being reduced and overrun, but denied the Alliance an easy victory and blunted their momentum. Vigiles and paramilitary Vigiles Enforcers did what they could, standing little chance against the Alliance’s heavy armor and superior artillery, as outgunned and outnumbered as they were, but these holding actions were sufficient to allow the UNC IDF and IDFSC troops, besieged inside their bases, to hold off the attacking Alliance troops and force them to lift their assaults.
The Alliance attack had started off well for them, but as the hours dragged on, surprise was lost and momentum wavered, and the Imperials stabilized and began counterattacking. The Alliance forces, though great in number, still did not have as many troops on Alcazar V as the Fortress World’s garrison was strong, and before long superior Terran arms began to take back the advantage as the IDF’s staying power kicked in. With the Alliance Military built for long-lasting casual engagements and the IDF for maneuverability, shock, and overwhelming offensive power in a small area, the IDF was on the back foot while the Alliance was on the offensive, but with the Alliance’s momentum petering out under unexpectedly heavy resistance the Imperials could play to their strengths. The Alliance, though it now held large swathes of the planet, had overcommitted in its initial assault, hoping to land an immediate knockout blow that left them reeling in its failure. The Terrans thus concentrated their forces and ran a strategy of interference, attacking across narrow fronts from multiple angles, making inroads and inflicting as many casualties as they could along their axis of attack, then pulling back before the Alliance could reinforce and strike quickly at another lightly defended area, forcing the Alliance to keep shuffling its forces around, forcing them to stay reactive and giving the initiative fully to the IDF. Alliance snipers and sharpshooters cut down IDF infantrymen and tank hunters stowed away in buildings gave AFV’s a hard time, countered by Imperial gunships and Recce units who cleared out buildings and rooftops to allow advanced on street level.
In the air, too, there was little competition left. Although the Alliance air force had fought well, the combination of Imperial smallcraft with their superior weapons and protection and added firepower of the Scutum PDG were clearing out the skies and establishing air superiority, though air dominance could not be gained owing to the amount of anti-aircraft guns the Alliance ground forces had brought with them.
A little before midnight on the 12th, 27 hours after the attack had begun, the IDF had located the Alliance’s field headquarters. The Territorials were spent and relegated to hunting down pockets of resistance behind the frontlines, Arbitrators aiding by pacifying mostly secured areas. This meant the final attack would be conducted by the UNC IDF and IDFSC, the former supplying a large complement of Okhontik-Ubiytsa Autonomous Combat Vehicles and the latter bringing new weapons to bear: the first generation of production-line plasma weapons, these guns not using the pseudoplasma that required an electromagnetic field projected for a stream or bolt of superheated ionized particles to travel along (the type of plasma weaponry used by Terra Novam and the United Terran Republics), but true plasma: agitated fusion matter that contained its own magnetic field, and was thus far more destructive and dangerous, but also prohibitively expensive to produce. This engagement would see plasma rifles fielded to an elite Airborne brigade under the direct command of the Planetary Governor, Tullio Alhambra, and would serve as a trial by fire.
As the IDF commences its attack on the Alliance HQ, the Terrasphere Military plays for time by concentrating its remaining forces in a circle around the headquarters and expand outwards, advancing to contact with the Imperials and throwing everything they had into a deep defense aimed at inflicting as many losses on the Terrans as possible to force Governor Alhambra to negotiate an Alliance withdrawal. Tullio, commanding his forces from an SB-X Annihilator Atmospheric Battleship, this gargantuan OkUb one of the X’s configured to host a Human army command staff, had no intention of allowing any Alliance soldier to escape, and the attack commenced.
The Terrans attack with infantry troops in front, backed up by tanks and SPG’s, with gunships overhead and OkUbs mixed in to serve as bullet sponges. The Alliance had its armored fighting vehicles up front with artillery in the back, and infantry forces interspersed throughout the formation. Up front they deploy mobile shield generators as well as physical monofilament shields that could take an immense pounding before breaking, this technology coveted by the IDF but never successfully replicated. These monofilament shields protect the Alliance somewhat, but the sheer volume of Terran fire eventually overwhelms them. Some of the shields are grappled by Terran helicopters and carted to the Command Annihilator for scientists to pour over, but as the Imperials force the Alliance to contract its defense perimeter further and further the Terrasphere set up its famous Searchlight AA guns on the front lines: self-propelled hemispherical pods carried on 8 digitigrade legs that bore either 2 or 4 barrels emitting searchlights that would, having acquired a target, switch to emitting a constant beam of solid light to physically smash aircraft out of the sky. Terran aircraft losses become unsustainable from one moment to the next, and air support has to be withdrawn, but to make up for this the use of heavy artillery is approved by the Governor, since few if any civilians remained in the contested zone and breaking the Alliance was more important than leaving the city intact. Still, the Alliance gave it all it had, and casualties were heavy on both sides, the storm of Alliance fire turning Terran infantrymen to paste even as the Terran experimental plasma rifles detonated Alliance armor with single pulses of shadowy, purple plasma splotches. Long minutes of frantic fighting passed, when out of nowhere the Alliance frontline withdrew, rapidly moving towards their headquarters. But this was not due to their morale breaking, but rather a second wave of ground troops landing – a day after the first wave, another 90 million Alliance soldiers set foot on Alcazar V, behind Governor Alhambra’s lines and outflanking the Territorials, and the planet was contested anew. Out of the 400 million total Territorial, UNC IDF, and IDFSC troops, only 260 million were combat-effective by 01:00 of November 12th, to the combination of fatalities, injuries, units caught out of position and cut off from Command & Control, and reservists unable to be mobilized.
Aboard his command ship, Governor Alhambra perused his tactical command board, unhappy with seeing the yellow arrows Imperial troops movements shrinking and splitting up and blocks denoting units crossed out in red (combat ineffective) or black (destroyed). His infantry were proving especially vulnerable to the Terrasphere troops, the lightly armored Imperial Army unable to properly maneuver in the dense urban environment and the fully-armored Imperial Guard susceptible to Terrasphere artillery and tank shells. “Our infantry is too vulnerable. I want every formation armor-heavy. No matter how costly it is. Damn the expense, I want our proportion of AFV’s to infantry troops increased tenfold and no infantry to take front positions again. Relegate them to screening for outflanking, fire support and observing for artillery and air forces, and holding actions in secured areas. The only infantrymen I want on the firing line are Recce, Airborne, and Plasma Riflemen.”
As his COO 9Chief Operations Officer) went to distribute the Governor’s orders, the CCO (Chief Communication Officer) got off the horn and bluntly gave the worst news of the day: “Sir. I just got word from Commander Williams. It’s not just Alcazar V, General. The entire Northeast border is under attack. It’s begun.”

I.S.S. Nightrider
High orbit of Alcazar III
The nine-and-a-half-kilometer-long form of I.S.S. Nightrider, the Zvezda-class Super-Dreadnought that served as flagship of the East Horn Territorials, hung still in space, Alcazar III’s continents drifting by below him as the vessel had broken its geosynchronous orbit and came to a full stop to conduct repairs. His once-pristine butterscotch-colored hull was now a black mess, the result of plasma and acid burns, yet for the most part it was superficial damage and Nightrider’s interior was almost entirely intact bar for explosion marks and bullet impacts.
The Alliance Navy had caught the Imperial battlegroup by surprise, and had whittled the number of capital ships in Nightrider’s battlegroup from 100 down to 18, yet even caught off guard and heavily outnumbered Imperial Starfleet was superior in every aspect: number and power of armaments, shields, armor, morale, and discipline, and the Alliance Navy had been soundly beaten after the Imperials withstood the initial whipping. Yet the Alliance assault had only been a distraction to allow ground troops to be landed on Alcazar V, and to add insult to injury the Alliance Navy hadn’t focused on fighting a void battle, rather keeping Starfleet occupied long enough for a swarm of Alliance Marines to board the Terran defense fleets

Out of the living crew of 3,400, only 1,200 had survived the boarding action. Though the ship’s Human crew was small, especially for a vessel Nightrider’s size, this deficit was made up by the full combat division of OkUbs carried aboard, and a large number of turrets and death traps scattered throughout the ship, including the frightening Null Fields, devices that neutralized bioelectricity and caused instant death to any carbon-based life it touched.

Admiral Talyn Jäger – von Schramberg (distantly related to Mallory) grimaced as she surveyed the scene within the ship’s vehicle bay, the location where the Alliance had focused its initial landings and, a few hours later, made its final stand in. 500 naval soldiers had been lost in driving the last of Alliance Marines into the jaws of death, representing fully half the naval soldiers lost in the defense of the massive warship. Torn and broken bodies littered the deck in their thousands, slick with blood in many colors and the carpet of corpses broken only by the mangled forms of armored vehicles both Imperial and Alliance.
“How dare they set foot on MY ship.” Tayln fumed, externally appearing as cool as ever but burning with hate on the inside. “They will live just long enough to regret this.”
The Admiral turned away, using her personal teleporter to appear in a cavernous hall, “Museum Predatum Taxidermicum”, Museum of Taxidermied Pradators, emblazoned in thick Gothic letters above the doorway.
“What do you think, fellows?” She asked, taking in the display of a giant Krork warbeast known as Squiggoth and a Carnifex, the largest bio-form of the Tyranid hive mind set up to appear as if fighting to the death. “Tiberium poisoning? Psychotropic drugs? A cycle of brutal murder and resurrection? ..All of them, you say? Yes, I agree.”

I.S.S. Nightrider wasn’t just a warship, but also Jäger-von Schramberg’s personal vessel, and its size and layout reflected this. Unlike the Empire’s other ship classes, every Zvezda-class vessel was of a unique design, yet rarely exceeded 5 kilometers in length, meaning Nightrider’s 9.5 was twice the standard, although the rear 1.5 kilometers housed his massive power plant and engine arrays. The giant warship was equipped with every state-of-the-art machine and device money could buy, and unlike many Imperial ships boasted redundancies and backup systems for everything – more resembling a Novan starship in this regard. The same was true for his design: made for sustained combat, a sledgehammer among the scalpels and razorblades of Terran Imperial Starfleet. Indeed, I.S.S. Nightrider had been designed and constructed in Terra Novam, and came equipped with no less than 7 methods of FTL travel: besides the standard A-drive, he also boasted a Novan-pattern Distortion Drive, UTR-pattern Quantum Slipstream and Wave Motion Drives, a gravitic drive reverse-engineered from the one-of-a kind drive used by the Terrans’ first FTL-capable starship “Event Horizon”, and even an experimental Manifold Drive that had never yet been used. In terms of armament, he can equipped with a mix of Novan- and Terran-pattern MAC cannons, newly-designed and currently massively expensive Plasma MAC cannons, and an array of Warp Rift tubular weapons. He boasted multiple layers of Void and Storm Shields and both Novan heavy hull armor and Terran-style internal armor.
As much a heavily-armed pleasure yacht as a warship, Nightrider boasted everything from zoos, botanical gardens, Talyn’s prized Taxidermy Museum, a tropical swimming pool, and a full-fledged nightlife district.
And he had just been boarded and defiled by the Terrasphere Alliance.

The Admiral was beyond livid at this desecration of her prized flagship, and the Alliance would pay dearly for every scratch mark on his hull. The small Territorial fleet had been battered by the Alliance Navy, who had reinforced and were digging in around Alcazar V, but already the East Horn Battlefleet was making its way to Alcazar III to relieve the blockaded Eastern capital. And once the invasion of the Alliance would begin, the High Council and all of Avspar would learn that the Terran Empire did not believe in proportionate retribution.

Novi Soyuz
Curia of the State
Out of every possible day in the Terran Standard year, November 11th was the very last the Curia would be expected to meet. But with the dual emergency of a full-scale Terrasphere Alliance assault on the Eastern Security Belt and the Aesir Empire fully committing to the Pretorius Regime’s end, all leaves of absence were cancelled as the Imperial Senate was called on to prepare the nation for full-scale war.
The Aesir ruler, Jarl Brunnhilde, had sent a message to the Pretorius Regime, promising to personally put Elisabeth’s head on a spear. The news that the Aesir Empire had deployed several hundred thousand warships to Terra Novam had been the inverse of the desired effect of Operation Atlantis, and within moments the Senate had fallen into cacophonic shouting. The Black Hand was insistent on heavily reinforcing Hyperia Command and clamping down on Terra Novam, using it as a buffer zone to slow down and bleed the Aesir while an invasion group would be built up at Sol Sector, ready to break through Aesir lines when their attack had depleted its momentum and thrust into the heart of Aesir space. The various constituent parties of the Ultranationalist Coalition wanted to focus on homeland defense, with Terra Firma desiring to fortify the Terran Empire’s West and allow the Aesir to funnel through the Origin Wormhole, where they would be contained by the full might of the Pretorius IDF, Earth First insisting on forgetting about Aura Hyperia, making peace, and focusing on destroying the Alliance, and New Dawn, impressed by this display of Aesir military might, wanting to outright ally with the Xenos and work together to fight the Ruinous Powers of Chaos – the latter two being seen as outright heretical by the Black Hand. Kiara especially was livid at the Terrasphere’s invasion, an event she had been warning about for years but never had been given the resources to proactively prevent, and was holding Pretorius and Kondraki’ focus on the other galaxy fully responsible.
Before long, the shouting devolved into fistfighting, and only subsided when Senator Williams put a bolt pistol shell into the domed roof, its booming detonation shaking everyone back to their senses.
“Enough of this.” Kiara stated, tracing the gun’s barrel over several heads before tucking it away. “We took a gamble. We lost. Or rather, the Black Hand lost.” The UNC’s leader pointedly said to Pretorius.
“It’s like I’ve been saying all along: the IDF is too small.” Mallory Jäger stated. “Our worst fear has come true, we are now fighting a two-theater war with one-fifth optimal manpower.”
“There is no reason to panic.” Chief of Staff Kondraki tried to shush the arguing Senators. “Hyperia Command is not yet lost. Two major forces have been dispatched to stanch the bleeding. Let us wait for the results on those battles until we make hasty decisions. Yes, the Aesir possess many more ships than we had anticipated. But this does not mean we cannot win. The road ahead will be strewn with corpses, both Human and Xenos, but the Aesir are not invincible. Our recent engagements have taught us much. We will be put to the test, and I have no doubt that the Terra that emerges on the other side of this war will be different than today’s Empire, but we have faced terrible odds before and persevered. Fear is not the way forward. Courage in the face of adversity is what makes us what we are. We are the Empire that has withstood the test of time and rebounded where others would have fallen. We are not Rome. We are not Byzantium. We are Holy Terra, and by Earth’s blue seas, we will stand tall, no matter what!”
Gartan Kondraki spoke with passion and conviction, drawing from his centuries of experience, yet among the Black Hand’s applause even this renowned commander’s words could not convince the UNC members.
“We are out of time.” Mark Lassiter spoke. “We can no longer afford to weigh pros and cons, we don’t have the luxury of experiments and trail runs anymore. We need to bring the nation to war footing, switch to wartime economy, and increase the size of the military immediately. Volunteers may have been few before, but now that the imminent threat has gone public many will sign up to defend their homeworlds and families. Madame President, Superintendent Pretorius, Premier Ventis, I implore you: agree on something for once, and do this now!”
The three highest leaders of the Terran Empire looked at each other before each calling up a haptic interface, tapping an unseen button. The motion was then put to general vote – “The IDF shall quintuple its manpower and material pool forthwith. The economy shall be placed under State curatorship and switched to war footing for as long as necessary. A policy of population growth by genetic cloning and combining of ovum and spermatozoa, not cloning of living persons, shall be implemented. The Terran Empire shall declare and pursue war against the Aesir Empire and Terrasphere Alliance.”
The vote was cast, the results: 723-73 in favor, only a few of the Liberals, Democrats, and Realists voting against.
“Let it be known, however,” Amal Nasir bellowed, “The Citadel Fleets shall be wholly focused on the fight against Chaos in and around the Warp Storms that plague our galaxy. We cannot afford to fight the Alliance or the Aesir while the Ruinous Powers press their armies ever forward.”
“Nor will the UNC fight the Aesir Empire in Aura Hyperia.” Thalia Ryan said. “We will bring down the Alliance, that is our priority. Only after this task is accomplished shall we look to the West. And no UNC IDF units will set foot in Aura Hyperia. We will be focused on homeland defense.”
“Very well then.” Pretorius said bitterly. “Hyperia Command will be reinforced. We will be defeated in Aura Hyperia, lacking the support of the UNC. But we will hold as long as possible, and then defend the Wormhole until we can build up a large enough force to counterattack.”
“I will rally the Presidential IDF at Tidewater, ready to move to Sol System at moment’s notice.” President Tani told Elisabeth. Tanna Ventis followed up: “Half of my forces will move to Sol itself, the other half to Alpha Centauri to support Senator Lassiter’s Territorial troops.”
“It is decided.” Kondraki finished. “All we have to do now is play for time. Once we’ve built up critical mass, we will reduce the number of sentients in the universe.”
“If only you knew how right you are.” President Tani thought to herself. The Pretorius Regime had fallen right into her trap. “Kiara?” She motioned the UNC leader over. “Care to take a walk in the palatial gardens?”


Declaration of War
The Government of the Aesir Empire, having violated in the most flagrant manner and in ever-increasing measure all rules of neutrality in favor of the adversaries of the lawfully elected Terran Government, and having continually been guilty of the most severe provocations toward Novi Soyuz ever since the outbreak of the Novan civil war;
Whereas the Aesir Empire has willingly interfered in intra-Human affairs by military means, infringing on Terran and Novan independence and having committed itself to the invasion and destruction of Humanity’s rightful nation-state;
Although the Terran Empire on her part has strictly adhered to the rules of international law in her relations with the Aesir Empire during every period of the present civil war; the Government of the Aesir Empire from initial violations of neutrality has finally proceeded to open acts of war against Novi Soyuz. The Government of the Aesir Empire has in so doing willingly created a state of open war.
Whereas the Aesir Empire has committed repeated acts of war against the Terran Empire and the Terran people;
And seeing as we have irrefutable proof of an imminent threat of invasion by the Aesir Empire;
To ensure the stability of the Terran Empire and all of Via Lactea, the Government of the Terran Empire hereby declares that a state of war exists between the Terran Empire and the Aesir Empire.

Therefore, it has been decided by the Senate of the Terran Empire that the President of the Terran Empire is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire military might of the Imperial Defense Forces and all the resources at the Government’s disposal to carry out unlimited and unrestricted military operations against the Aesir Empire and bring about a successful termination of Jarl Brunnhilde’s regime and the Xenos races of the Aesir Empire’s blatant aspirations towards domination of the Human race.
To this end, all the resources of the country are hereby pledged to the Military of the Terran Empire. The soldiers and officers of the Imperial Defense Forces shall do their utmost in persecuting the war. Our public servants of various departments shall perform their duties with due faith and diligence. The entire nation shall unite under arms and mobilize our entire strength and will so that nothing will impede the carrying out of our war aims.

SIGNATORIES
- Shasta Tani, President of the Terran Empire
- Tanna Ventis, Premier of the Terran Empire
- Elisabeth Pretorius, Superintendent of State
- Garus Rostam, Minister of War
- Gartan Kondraki, Chief of Staff of the Imperial Defense Forces
- Marianna Drexler, National Defense Chief


Statement of Neutrality
We the gathered Admirals and Marshals of the Imperial Defense Forces Supreme Command, hereafter referred to as IDFSC;
Having learned of the declaration of war against the Aesir Empire by the Pretorius IDF, Black Hand IDF, Presidential IDF, and Senatorial IDF;
Having also learned that the UNC IDF, Citadel Fleets, and Territorial IDF have declined to join the war effort against the Aesir Empire;
Believing that the Aesir Empire represents a threat only to the standing regime and not to the Terran Empire as a sovereign state or the Terran people as an independent nation;
Aware that the rights and liberties of the Imperial Free State of Terra Novam have been grossly infringed by the Pretorius Regime and its armed forces;
Realizing that the Aesir Empire seeks not the enslavement of Humanity but liberation of an occupied allied nation and the safeguarding of its own territories and peoples;

IDFSC and all Terran forces under its command shall not partake in any military action against the Aesir Empire, the Liberator FAS, and all of their allies, providing the following conditions are met:
- Non-combatant civilians and IDFSC troops shall not be fired upon, threatened, intimidated, coerced, forcibly removed, or otherwise bothered by foreign forces
- The forces of the Aesir Empire shall not occupy (meaning leaving military troops on Terran worlds or warships in orbit of them, with the purpose of running military or civilian administration of Terran territory; the Aesir are more than welcome to physically occupy Terran space and here build and maintain military installations for the duration of the war) Terran space; only the Novans shall have this right
- Foreign troops shall not impede the operation of IDFSC military bases in contested areas
- The Aesir military consistently shows its intent is the overthrow of the Pretorius Regime and not the destruction of the Terran Empire as an independent nation; and to this end shall not harass civilians under any circumstances precluding self-defense

IDFSC hereby proclaims its intent to commit to the war with the Scrin Dominion, and shall focus all its forces on fighting this threat to prevent the Scrin from taking advantage of the present conditions to assault Terran space. No IDFSC soldier shall fire a shot against a Liberator or Aesir, provided they do not force us to do so.

We hereby request that this message and its contents be kept classified, so that we do not find ourselves beset by the Pretorius IDF and unable to hold the Scrin threat at bay when IDFSC is needed on the frontlines now that Kiara Williams and Thalia Ryan are dedicated to the war against the Terrasphere Alliance.
The President and Premier, though they have signed the declaration of war, stand with us, as we stand with them. President Tani hereby pledges that, once the Pretorius Regime has been ousted from Aura Hyperia and the Regime is committed to the defense of Sol Sector, the Presidential forces at Alpha Centauri and Tidewater will move into Sol not to fight with the Pretorius IDF and Black Hand, but against them as partners of the Liberator Movement.

Signatories
- Mallory Jäger, Head of Jäger Trade Corporation and Governor-General of the Old Northeast
- Mark Lassiter, Governor-Militant of Alpha Centauri
- Magnus Harakon VI, Head of the Mercator Trade Union
- Connor Grayson, CinC, IDFSC Western Command
- Charles Smith, Head of Biological Systems Intelligence Corporation
- Jackson Vaughn, Commander of the Black Guard
- Elissa Drexler, for whatever my name is worth



Nova Terra
Eclipse Base, near Fort Alcatraz
“Then do we finally agree on something?” Alexa Covacs bemusedly asked General Mendoza.
“So it would seem.” He replied, resignation in his voice. “I hope your idea works.”
“It’s never been done before, but these things tend to work perfectly.” Covacs pointed out. Carlos has to give credit where it was due: for whatever reason, Terran military experiments always yielded effective results – albeit not always the intended one.
“I still don’t like this. Novi Soyuz wants us to buy time. If this goes south, we won’t have bought time but only sped up the Aesir’s approach to the Wormhole. If Orar falls and Utica deflects the attack, the only thing standing in between the Aesir war machine and Nova Terra will be Calix.”
“I know.” Alexa admitted. “And I’m ready to recall all forces on the Meridian and Teverian Fronts to protect Nova Terra as long as possible if the worst comes to pass. But the battles to come will be bloody for the Aesir as well – if anything, I will see to it that the Xenos will no longer think it’s worth attacking the Terran Empire after the Hyperian chapter is closed.”
“Then long may you defend Nova Terra if I fail.” Mendoza said as he headed out of his office and towards Essling Spaceport to board I.S.S. Pegasus, from where he would personally lead the defense of Orar.
As the Dreadnought took off, Fort Alcatraz and Nova Terra disappearing behind the Pretorian armada, for the first time in his life, Carlos Mendoza felt fear.

A force of 150,000 capital ships, 60,000 Novan and 90,000 Imperial, with attending escort groups and 300,000 troopships in tow, set off to reinforce Orar and lay waste to Utica. 9 billion soldiers of the Covacs FAS and Pretorius IDF would fall upon both these worlds, the former to be held at all costs against the Liberators and Aesir Empire and the second to be so utterly ravaged no life would ever be able to take hold on it again.


Two hours later
Fort Sperlitz, Tyros Prime
Capital City of New Belderous
Autarchal Palace

W3N Breaking News
Disaster on Northern Star Route!
A tragic loss of life today as Confederate colony ship Serendipity, flying the flag of the planetary prospectors of Eisner Corporation and commanded by veteran Starfleet Explorator (Ret.) Captain Bryce Stanley, has struck a cloaked self-propelled subnuclear mine en-route to the new Confederate Hyperian Sectors and went down with most of her passengers and crew complement.
A series of warnings were sent to Captain Stanley by nearby FAS patrol ships, which, apparently due to the sudden appearance of an ion storm, never reached the vessel, nor were the FAS able to reach the site in time to steer the ship clear of the minefield.
Serendipity struck a mine on her starboard bow, which attracted the attention of 5 other mines, that exploded equidistantly along the starboard side. Large portions of the outer hull were depressurized as a result, and the bow's interior caught on fire which soon spread out of control.
20 minutes after the initial impact, the fire reached Serendipity's forward cargo hold, causing its auxiliary power plant to overheat and detonate, severing the bow from the rest of the ship and causing massive interior damage in the central- and stern sections. The Serendipity foundered in another 20 minutes, taking with her the lives of most of those aboard.
Out of the 17,000 persons on board, being 14,400 passengers and 2,600 crew, fewer than 2,300 are confirmed to have survived the disaster. 15 rescue ships are en-route to the scene, but it is unknown if they will arrive on time to save all those yet alive.
The Confederate Board of Inquiry is organizing an inquest into this incident, asking how it is possible that a civilian star route was not only mined, which is an open violation of Confederate military law, but also why neither Captain Stanley, the Serendipity's parent company Eisner Corporation, nor the Novan government were informed of this. Preliminary findings indicate the mines were of a type produced and used extensively by the Terran Special Warfare Department, casting suspicious eyes on the Imperial Defense Forces and particularly Director of Special Warfare Rajesh Patil...[/i]

Hermann van Duesseldorf, Autarch of New Belderous, switched the main viewscreen in the Strategic Command Center from the news channel back to its standard display of troop positions and movements.
He looked at the semi-crescent of people sitting at the command desk: Princess Anna, fleet commander Leonidas Stoltz, army commander Otto Sperpaya, Lord Admiral Laskaris, Meridian leader Nerissa Volkova, and Novan war hero and former President Ramon de Graaf.

The Autarch took his own seat, to Anna's right and Nerissa's left, and spoke: "So, what do we make of this?"
"I recall a conversation we had earlier this week. We have blatantly civilian casualties now, which is most unfortunate indeed, as you said." Leonidas began. "And like you said, it may also speed up the entry of neutral parties into this war on our side."
Hermann nodded ever so slightly. "Excellent work, Admiral. But now we must see to it that the Novan Admiralty Board and Iron Guard High Command cannot be blamed for the events that transpired. For example, how do we justify a civilian liner carrying war materiel, let alone thermobaric missiles?" He asked.
Volkova gave the answer: "We cannot justify ammunition being on board the Serendipity, because there was no ammunition aboard the Serendipity. Our records show that her forward auxiliary power plant caused the secondary explosion. There is no sign of nonexistent thermobaric missiles."
"And what of the survivors? If their testimony conflicts our narrative..." Laskaris started to ask, before being interrupted by De Graaf.
"That will not happen. You'd be surprised how easily a traumatized mind is open to suggestion. Some of them have reported seeing two, possibly three anti-ship missiles where there were none. And Special Intelligence puts ISS Pale Rider, an ONI Prowler, at less than 5 lightyears away not four hours before this happened. Plus, Captain Stanley, the ship's bursar, and all those who knew of the ammo and missiles being aboard were confirmed killed in the final explosion."
"Brilliant! The Pretorius Regime will never admit to a stealth Intel ship being anywhere near there." Exclaimed Marshal Sperpaya. "Plus, with their recent attacks on merchant shipping, their denial will only make them look more guilty than they already do."
"Do tell me we've retaliated." Anna wanted to know.
"Of course we have." Ramon replied. "The Iron Guard has conducted thunder runs into Caliban and Emporion Systems, giving the Covacs forces a couple bloody noses. My Battleships destroyed at least 80 troop- and cargo transporters. Of course, the Pretorians then retaliated themselves, and the Terrans and Covacs picked off a series of supply posts and have shelled and blockaded numerous cargo terminals, respectively; both in the Lemonum area. And we are already preparing to retaliate for that."
"Moves and counter-moves." Anna mused.
"And may the better player win." Said Nerissa.
"Oh, we will." Van Duesseldorf stated confidently.
"There is one more matter that might work to our advantage." Stoltz spoke again. "I was just made aware of this. It seems a patrolling IDF Aegis-class missile corvette mistook the colony ship Adventure for a Commerce Raider of the same name and fired an ASM at it. A damn heavy one, too - blew a 300-foot hole clean through her. She went down in 3 hours. Almost 80% fatalities, due to explosive decompression and out-of-control fires. That's the second Eisner Corporation ship lost on the same day. And this one's genuine. Colony enrollment has dropped by half overnight. Old Rudolph is furious and is threatening to withdraw all support to the Terran Empire unless those responsible are brought to justice."
"Which will likely never happen. So Eisner will probably throw its support our way before long." Stoltz concluded. "Bless Shae Fletcher and good luck to us all."

[Aragonn]

Akaz Sveigdir
Nidavellir
Sector (-5, 6)

"Graviton accelerators?" Akaz leaned in to more closely inspect the rifle captured from the fallen colony world.

"Yes, sir," his assistant confirmed. "It appears to be the one ranged weapon the Terran infantry brought which effectively defeats our armor. They have much larger variants mounted as the main armament on tanks as well, it seems."

"And it is our job to figure out exactly why our armor is so affected by these weapons and how to improve our armor to keep our soldiers alive." Akaz turned to face a terminal and brought up a scaled up holographic representation of the weapon from scans taken of it then proceeded to have the computer disassemble the weapon piece by piece until the entire weapon's individual parts floated in the air in front of him. "Structure appears rugged, all parts with weaknesses covered. No tricks to disabling the weapons."

"I'll set up the firing tests, sir." His assistant, an ambitious young adult, took the GRAL rifle and left the workshop room. She reappeared in the test range, separated from the workshop room by a thick reinforced wall and several layers of thick hardened glass with decent space between the layers for additional protection. The window showed the test weapon and the test target. The firing apparatus was set to hold the GRAL rifle, and the test target was a suit of Huskarl power armor. She set many sensors to record as much data as possible before retreating from the test range back to the workshop to observe alongside Akaz.

"Prepare to fire," he instructed. She placed her hand over the fire button. "Fire." She pressed the button, and the GRAL rifle fired, hitting the Huskarl armor. Data from the sensors poured in to the computer terminal and was organized into something legible. "The weapon hits with a crushing blow. It would seem that a shock absorber built into the armor plates would greatly increase our Drekrekkr survivability against these weapons."

"Is it possible to make field modifications to the existing armor suits?"

"No, this will have to be a new armor model produced at our manufacturing plants. I will get started on the designs. Hopefully we can begin equipping our soldiers with them soon."

[Terra Dysonia]

The Office of Zeydaan Lokaliin
“This has gotten far out of hand, as I’m sure you know.”
Those fateful words were spoken by Counselor Hamdy to the Zeydaan, the latter of whom was slouched in his desk, deep in thought. The two of them had been discussing thoroughly the next steps of Talos involvement in the conflict. Though Lokaliin’s statement not long ago had galvanized the base for now, without much concrete progress following the Battle of the Pentastar and disastrous apprehension attempts of Terran officers, opinion would soon shift in favor of the Isolationists. “Yes, Hamdy, I know. Committing more lives to this war isn’t going to help public opinion.” Lokaliin said, idly running his hand along the wooden flute he kept on his desk. It was an antique thing, nearly four thousand years old at this point, the old yew still in pristine condition. He found it calming to play in times when the stresses of office overtook him, and these past few days had seen the weary leader play nearly a whole Talos symphony.
Hamdy leaned forward over the Zeydaan’s desk. “Uuzmak and Munah are committing the remainder of their forces to Anna’s cause and are requesting reinforcements and resupply. The Aesir are already in the crosshairs of the Empire, and if we keep this up we just might have some unexpected guests on our doorstep.”
The Zeydaan sighed heavily and lifted his eyes to meet Hamdy’s. However, before he could say anything to the Counselor, he received a signal from his door. “Come,” was his reply, and at that Fleet Admiral Banaan and High Operant Olqein strode in. “I better get some good news, gentlemen.” The two exchanged a glance before Banaan stated, “More like options.” Olqein gave Hamdy a look as if to tell her to depart, but a raised hand from the Zeydaan instructed her to stay. “Out with it, Banaan.” He nodded sending Lokaliin a full logistics report with additional suggestions via the neuronet. "I’ve drawn up a list of potential reinforcements for Uuzmak’s task force, as well as building a number of Mobile Task Forces to begin deep ops against the Confederacy’s lines.” Hamdy, who had also received the report, raised her eyebrow. “Exactly how do you intend for our vessels to keep up an assault that far away from any friendly support?”
The Fleet Admiral sent another packet of data. “Using the data from our most recent engagement along with the utilization of an improved Slipspace mask, we’ll be able to launch rapid hit and run strikes before the enemy even knows who hit them.”
“Or,” said Olqein, “We could attempt a similar, more surgical approach that has worked in the past already.” He sends a number of packets to the Zeydaan of dossiers on important figures and factions in Via Lactea, a lot of the data “salvaged” from the ships adrift after the Pentastar Battle. “Similar to the agents we planted in the Novan system, who still haven’t been discovered, we can take advantage of the Confederation’s increased commercial volume to insert agents and assassins throughout the Lactean galaxy. As my companion has already stated, the Terrans are already have their hands full fighting their neighbors, so sowing more discord in their midst will cripple them and end this war before it can reach any greater crescendo.”
The Zeydaan thought on their suggestions for a moment, nearly an eternity for a Talos, and finally came to a conclusion. “Gefaas, prepare your agents. Banaan, coordinate your strikes but keep it discreet. Let’s see if we can muzzle this beast before it has a chance to bite.”

[Terra Novam]

Aura Hyperia
Chaos Space
I.S.S. Halicarnassus
Strike Force Atlantis raced at breakneck speed towards the Confederate sectors that were slated to become the New Hyperian Empire and the safe haven it might bring. Which, Admiral Sloan thought, was not the best idea. Pushing his A-drives to the max in a galaxy his navigators did not know well enough to avoid every obstacle, would inevitable lead to collisions – collision that, given the velocities involved, would cause the matter a ship struck to undergo instant atomic fusion. In short, by neglecting to use his new SD-drives, Sloan had turned Strike Force Atlantis into a collection of guided nuclear missiles, and after an unfortunate incident where the assault cruiser I.S.S. Scion had struck a meteorite and gone up in a flash of heat and radiation, was forced to take the chance of slowing down and allowing the Aesir to catch up to Atlantis.
Unwilling to go into Distortion Space for fear of attracting Chaos and running the risk of getting stuck in this pseudoplane between dimensions, the only remaining option was to try and hold off the Xeno onslaught as they ran for safety, and hopefully survive to tell the tale. Not that it mattered in the big picture, since all of the raw data and numerous crew testimonies had been transmitted to Novi Soyuz, but morale would take a hit if this successful strike would turn out to have been a suicide mission.
As so it was that, ten hours away from safety, Strike Force Atlantis found itself in the sights of the Aesir Imperial Navy. The Terrans’ saving grace was that, unlike Novan starships that had zero rear-facing weapons, Terran vessels had dedicated rear guns, plus the ability to turn multiple broadside turrets to face backwards, meaning about 40% of Atlantis’ gun- and particle-based firepower could be brought to bear against the Aesir pursuers; though no torpedoes and only a small fraction of ASM launchers would be available.
Admiral Sloan had difficult choices to make: he could send his slower troopships ahead of the warships, and use his dedicated combat vessels to screen the transports, saving ground troops but all but sacrificing his capital ships. Alternatively, he could array his warships around the transports and fight fully defensively, but risk losing everything. Another option was to form a battle line that zig-zagged towards friendly borders, bringing full broadsides to bear on the Aesir and sending his transports ahead at full burn, covered only by their own fighters – which the Aesir could make use of by sending their fast Destroyers ahead to take down the troopships while the heavier warships dealt with the Starfleet forces.
Sloan knew he had no time to think, so he picked the third option and ran with it.
Across Atlantis’ ships, alarms started blaring as the white lighting went out and was replaced by red combat lighting. “General quarters. General quarters. All hands, man your battle stations.” Was sent out across FLEETCOM, as the Oberon carriers deployed their full complements of smallcraft to be used defensively. The troopships sent full power to engines and took off, their fighter squadrons deploying to serve as meat shields as their escort craft were requisitioned to support the Starfleet operation. Deciding that the Starfleet forces were more important, the troopships were left to their own devices – and Strike Force Atlantis turned 15 points to starboard to take the engagement at the best possible angle.
At 150,000 kilometers, Halicarnassus started firing.

Via Lactea
Novi Soyuz
Nevsky Prospekt Avenue, the thoroughfare leading from the heart of Novi Soyuz to the space elevator connecting to Aleksei Brusilov Military Spaceport, was filled with activity. The 400-kilometer Avenue had been hermetically sealed off, Vigiles Urbani putting up roadblocks at every junction and intersection to keep the way clear for the endless stream of tanks, artillery guns, trucks, and APC’s that cavalcaded down the road.
Belya Zvevda’s bright white light could not penetrate the dark mood that permeated the Terran Empire’s capital. Following the public reading of the Terran declaration of war on the Aesir Empire and the news that the entire Eastern border was under attack, the State had wasted no time in mobilizing the Imperial Defense Forces.
These were not the second-rate soldiers of Hyperia Command, inexperienced, underequipped twenty-somethings led by political demagogues. These were proper frontliners, combat troops with decades, some centuries, of experience and led by proven strategists and competent field commanders chosen for skill rather than loyalty.
Some would go East, Northward towards the border with the now openly hostile Terrasphere Alliance or Southward towards the Scrin Dominion. Others were going West to entrench themselves along the most likely Liberator axes of advance, or to cross the Origin Wormhole and prepare for a full-scale offensive against the Aesir Empire. The Black Hand’s leadership had conceded that Nova Terra would be lost before long, and even in their resolve to slow down the Liberators and their Xeno allies as long as possible and inflict as many casualties as they could with what was present, Chief of Staff Kondraki and Defense Chief Drexler were unwilling to accede to Superintendent Pretorius and General Covacs’ requests to dispatch reinforcements, calling it a senseless waste of life. No, the plan for the Pretorius IDF and Black Hand army was to transit as many troops through the Wormhole as possible before it would be made inaccessible, set up forward bases in unclaimed space, and from there wage war against the Aesir Empire, with the intent of slowing down or fully halting Aesir reinforcement to Tyros and Anna’s compatriots and at the same time purge those members of the Black Hand and aligned forces who were considered anything but completely reliable – anyone who had shown the capacity for truly logical reasoning, streaks of disobedience, or self-sufficient thinking. The Aesir and these untrustworthy Black Hand would kill each other off, leaving the Party “pure” and the Aesir Empire bereft of at least a few of its border fortress worlds, softened up for a potential follow-up.

Via Lactea
Terran Empire
Salenza, The Frozen Hell
The Alliance mechanized division, the 852nd Turic, traveled down the road in column formation, dismounted infantry platoons taking up spaces between clusters of tanks and mounted infantry aboard their APC’s. Light infantry screened the flanks, looking out for any activity along the treelines that extended along both sides of the road leading through the snow-covered, windswept wastes of Planet Salenza. This Fortress World consisted of 3 major concentric defensive lines around the handful of cities that were its heart, and the Alliance Military had swiftly broken through the first 2 lines of defense, the first line falling without much of a fight as its defenders were caught by surprise and overrun, but the second putting of much more of a fight, inflicting horrendous losses on the Alliance troops and significantly slowing them down before the IDF had been forced to concede the battered defense line and fall back. The fighting had been bitter, the world’s heavy forestation confining all but infantry units to the roads and forcing head-on engagements that inevitable ended in slaughter, the only way to distinguish those alive from the dead being the small clouds of moisture periodically emanating from the nostrils of living troops. It was too cold to move unless absolutely necessary… And the bodies of the slain froze in place where they stood.
The Alliance had regrouped as quickly as it could and moved to attack the final defense line, aiming to break through, flood the city-scape contained within and force a surrender. However, the Imperials had thrown up roadblocks and fighting positions along the Alliance axes of approach, and troops from uncompromised portions of the lines were launching flank attacks that prevented the Alliance armies consolidating.
The IDF had even managed to launch a counteroffensive in some areas, including the one this division was moving to reinforce. The Terrans had overwhelmed the Alliance’s leading columns with unexpected speed and momentum, and the marching division had lost contact with the frontlines by dusk.
Moving through the night to make the best possible time to the frontlines, the Alliance division arrives at what had been field headquarters at daybreak, only to be greeted with a scene of horror. Headquarters division was still in its place, soldiers carrying tools to service vehicles, truck drivers sitting in their places and tower guards peering through the scopes of their sniper rifles. Only these men were all dead. The Alliance troops of Headquarters Division had been killed, and propped up to appear as if they were still performing their duties; bodies stiff with rigor mortis and their blood frozen in their veins.
Expecting a trap, the mechanized division fanned out to try and hunt down the perpetrators of this grotesque show, to no avail. Apart from countless craters, pockmarks, and scorched trees that gave proof that a major battle had been fought in the area, nothing remained of either Alliance or Terran troops. It was as if nobody had been there at all. Not even a single streak of blood was left to provide a clue as to what had happened.
A kilometer down from the base, a lone IDF Airborne soldier, buried in the snow and wrapped in anti-thermal foil, lowered his binoculars to speak into his vox. An Alliance heavy infantry division would arrive in the area tomorrow, and they would be met with the frozen carcasses of the 852nd Turic Mechanized.

Classified location
Somewhere in California, Earth
The room the Overseer found himself in was a quantum-entanglement communications center first, and a potential tomb second. With the push of a button, or the press of a wrong key on a computer terminal, the room would hermetically seal off and never open again. It could not be cut open, melted open, or blown open - all this had been attempted by its designers, and all attempts had failed without leaving so much as a scratch.
The comm room was safe. It had to be, for the content on its databanks had the potential to make or break governments, start or prevent wars, and nowadays, could see to the annihilation of the Terran Empire and Terra Novam alike if it fell into the wrong hands.
The Overseer was technically alone, but found himself accompanied by the quantum shadows of a half-dozen particular people.
"Everything has been going as planned so far." A young, feminine voice spoke. "But this is taking longer, and growing far larger than expected." She sighed.
"We may need to activate the contingency plan soon." An older female voice said, in a flat monotone.
"This will not be necessary." The Overseer replied, cracking his knuckles. "I am confident we will be able to guide these unforeseen events in a manner that will benefit us all."
"I sincerely hope you are correct, Mr. House." Said a gruff, Southern-accented male. "If not, I will have to resort to more drastic measures."
"I have already ordered the timetable accelerated. I will not miscalculate again, Mr. Fowler. I am aware of the stakes."
"Then let us prepare for the worst, and work towards the best." The young female spoke again. "For the Enclave."
"For the Enclave." House replied, shutting off the QEC. "Now to get to work."
Overseer House left the comm room, sealing it behind him. Walking through an endless maze of corridors, saluted by grey-uniformed officers as he went, he finally arrived at the helipad and boarded a stealth gunship, breathing a sigh of relief as he found a small, nondescript suitcase under the seat. It contained nothing but a stack of documents referring to, and a particular piece of, experimental technology marked simply "MCU", yet this single device was the root cause of the war that now tore Terra apart - or rather, it having been completed moments too late to make the difference and never being used. "There you are, old friend." Overseer House said, voice barely above a whisper as he unlocked the case and pocketed what looked like a smartphone. "Good morning, Robert. It has been 204 years, 1 month, and 6 days since we last spoke. How may I be of assistance?" The AI known as Epsilon inquired. "It's time we paid a visit to your maker, Epsilon." House replied.

Nobody in the nearby city of Paradizna took note of the small aircraft taking off from the long-abandoned Navarro Joint Military Base, carrying aboard it Robert House and the fate of the Human race.

[Terra Novam]

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