The Orion Sector (IC/FT-Nation/Open)

[Europa Undivided]

The Summit

It has been some time, yes, since the consular cruiser known as the Dawning Light and its four attendant corvettes slipped from their moorings from the orbital shipyards that surrounded the capital world of Volkos like a ring on a man’s finger, their grey and rounded shapes lit alight with a hundred lights each. Both the Dawning Light and its four escort had their weapons powered down when they left the Volkos System, entering into the cascades of hyperspace as their delightful little fleet streamed through the chasms of that other place. However, they had their shields at maximum, as though they did not truly expect an attack, it was always prudent to be ready at all times, lest the next victim of some demented pirate be the delegation intended to attend a Summit on the Primarch’s Legacy.

Three Volkoi officers and a Teresoni one sat on a semi-circle on a casual sofa, situated within a room right behind the bridge section of the Dawning Light. Two of the Volkoi were dressed with distinct military uniforms, complete with medals adorning their chests. The other Volkoi wore a white and gold robe, with a hood draped over her head.

The Teresoni also wore a robe, but this robe was black in color. Metal braces fitted on the Teresoni’s wings, and the avian’s eyes glowed with an ethereal blue. This was a psyker.

One of the Volkoi dressed in the military uniform reached out towards the table in their center, and took one of the teacups resting there. Taking a sip, he looked back towards the psyker with a look of satisfaction written on his face. “Did you make this telekinetically, Lanya?”, the mikitary man asked as he took another sip.

“Yes, Captain Heshen.”, the psyker replied with a smile. “How good is it?”

“Good. Now, Deputy Captain Nizira, if you may?”

The other one dressed with the military uniform, one with two medals on her chest, nodded. “Aye, captain. The central government has sent an additional letter to us. The Alliance government wishes for us to open up the possibility of pushing the Tagali out of the arm completely in addition to the current objectives. The privateers and pirates sponsored by the blue skinned heretics have caused far too much damage on our shipping lanes, resulting in an annual loss of trillions of rechens every year, and our fleet is stretched thin fending them off. In addition, the threat of a Tagali attack hangs over our heads, which is a greater threat as long as our nations stay disunited like this.”

“Well.”, the ambassador started. “That is expected. The massive casualties of the war are still remembered to this day. It is understandable that the government wants the greatest threat pushed out. However...”

“The other races are the problem, yes.”, Lanya completed. “They may or may not see things the way we do.”

“Some are problematic and are actually looking to expand into the territories of others.”, Heshen said in turn. “If one near the League does a dirty move towards our rich territories...”

“War. I’ve lost count of how many we have fought in the time after the Great War.”, the deputy captain spoke.

The ambassador simply shrugged. “Well, I’ll just do my best in the Summit.”

“Speaking of which, we are near the destination.”, the psyker noted.

---

First, there was nothing. Then, ripples in space time appeared as five energy signatures burst out of the dark space a few space knots away from the Primarch’s Legacy. The rounded features of the League starships were easily recognizable, as the rails on which the main guns of the ships were mounted were like rings on a noblewoman’s finger, their presence allowing the Volkoi vessels to strike at any given direction.

Speaking of directions, the Dawning Light engaged manoeuvring thrusters as it positioned itself to dock with the much larger alien vessel. A few moments later, they were in.

A door opened. A hiss hisses as smoke spouts of the ramp that ran down the door. Then, six figures appeared out of the mist.

The first to step out was Ambassador Touren, an accomplished envoy that has been to countless diplomatic missions to various alien states, negotiating truces, setting up trade pacts, and so much more. In this gathering of supreme importance, it was no surprise that he was chosen for this task.

Four more stepped out of the mist like ghosts from the netherworld. Marching parade style in pairs behind the ambassador, four of the diminutive Volkoi Black Guard, their black trench coats marking them as part of that elite force. Behind their distinctive clothing were suits of armor, which were essentially chain mail coats but made from zero-gap metal (for now, just think something like mithril but in space), a specially modified and hellishly expensive piece of technology that entailed molecular compression, which in essence took the molecule of steel and compressed the molecules to the point that the space between them was zero, making the Black Guard the single most formidable formation in the League, even if there only eleven hundred of them in existence.

Then the dark robed Teresoni stepped out, the psyker towering over her racial cousins like a black sheep amongst the white. Her head held high and wings embroidered with metal, she was just there exuding all the pride of the Teresoni in themselves.

Once finished in their entrance, they would then proceed.

“Representative of the Volkoi-Teresoni League, taking the seat.”

[Skarten]

"Diplomacy"
Neutral System #C479
Primarch's Legacy

The Envoy of the Xarakh Lord continued shortly after his presence had been announced. It was important to a Productor-Lord that his presence be made known in such situations, lest he be confined to being in a secondary role in the summit. Or so was what Tagarthes Saranos believed. Now through the long halls of the Primarch's Legacy, the Noble continued to walk in direction of where the meeting was supposedly going to happen. In the way, he continued to ponder over what courses of actions he would take in this conference. Many other representants of foreign nations would appear, some of which held considerable interest of the Productor class. Some of these interests did not exactly constitute a better situation for them, but that was not something that had to be known.

As the emissaries continued on their path, they were approached by a small Mammalian being. A Mairen diplomat, Tagarthes deduced. He had proposed a discussion with their group before the summit began. Immediately, Tagarthes's minds began to work. Through his life, Tagarthes had seen and visited many worlds and knew many species. It was, after all, necessary that as a Productor Lord he knew of the players of the game he would be thrown upon when ascending to the position his lineage held. The Republic of Marun, as he remembered, was rather small, constituting only fifty systems. A small number when compared to the colossus that was the Concordance, but even then, they had potential use to the Xarakh. Through his studies, he had learned that these small rodents were rather aspirant, with reports concluding that their culture had high emphasis on becoming a modern and respected nation. That could be used. He began talking. "Greetings. I believe you are one of the spokesmen sent here by the Republic of Marun, correct? In relation to your offer, i believe that it could be perhaps interesting to discuss with your delegation..."

As the aristocrat continued to speak, and second party had arrived. This time it was a group of Novans, led by this man who introduced himself as a noble and the very heir to the Imperial Federation. He too, similarly to the Mairen before him, proposed discussing before the beginning of the summit. Tagarthes chuckled inside his mind. What kind of state would send the heirs of their nation to this kind of mission, a mere summit over commerce or so called cultural exchanges. Even though he was a notable Productor Lord, he had rarely personally seen the Inheritors of the throne of Sovereign nor interacted with them. And to use such needlessly large titles in an informal introduction? From this, he knew who he was dealing with. An upstart heir, hoping acquire experience and make use of his powers before he even has a crown on his head. Needless to say, Tagarthes was not a very humble man. But his actions did not mirror his thoughts, as he responded to the Princeps. "I too, bid you a salutation. It is great to see that a holder of such notable position would come to partake in summits such as these himself. As to your suggestion, perhaps we could discuss over these matters? There is indeed some time until the summit begins. It would, however, be sensible to continue towards the location of the summit. Let us continue to talk as we walk towards there."

[Destriustan]

"Diplomacy"
Neutral System #C479
Primarch's Legacy

The Envoy of the Xarakh Lord continued shortly after his presence had been announced. It was important to a Productor-Lord that his presence be made known in such situations, lest he be confined to being in a secondary role in the summit. Or so was what Tagarthes Saranos believed. Now through the long halls of the Primarch's Legacy, the Noble continued to walk in direction of where the meeting was supposedly going to happen. In the way, he continued to ponder over what courses of actions he would take in this conference. Many other representants of foreign nations would appear, some of which held considerable interest of the Productor class. Some of these interests did not exactly constitute a better situation for them, but that was not something that had to be known.

As the emissaries continued on their path, they were approached by a small Mammalian being. A Mairen diplomat, Tagarthes deduced. He had proposed a discussion with their group before the summit began. Immediately, Tagarthes's minds began to work. Through his life, Tagarthes had seen and visited many worlds and knew many species. It was, after all, necessary that as a Productor Lord he knew of the players of the game he would be thrown upon when ascending to the position his lineage held. The Republic of Marun, as he remembered, was rather small, constituting only fifty systems. A small number when compared to the colossus that was the Concordance, but even then, they had potential use to the Xarakh. Through his studies, he had learned that these small rodents were rather aspirant, with reports concluding that their culture had high emphasis on becoming a modern and respected nation. That could be used. He began talking. "Greetings. I believe you are one of the spokesmen sent here by the Republic of Marun, correct? In relation to your offer, i believe that it could be perhaps interesting to discuss with your delegation..."

As the aristocrat continued to speak, and second party had arrived. This time it was a group of Novans, led by this man who introduced himself as a noble and the very heir to the Imperial Federation. He too, similarly to the Mairen before him, proposed discussing before the beginning of the summit. Tagarthes chuckled inside his mind. What kind of state would send the heirs of their nation to this kind of mission, a mere summit over commerce or so called cultural exchanges. Even though he was a notable Productor Lord, he had rarely personally seen the Inheritors of the throne of Sovereign nor interacted with them. And to use such needlessly large titles in an informal introduction? From this, he knew who he was dealing with. An upstart heir, hoping acquire experience and make use of his powers before he even has a crown on his head. Needless to say, Tagarthes was not a very humble man. But his actions did not mirror his thoughts, as he responded to the Princeps. "I too, bid you a salutation. It is great to see that a holder of such notable position would come to partake in summits such as these himself. As to your suggestion, perhaps we could discuss over these matters? There is indeed some time until the summit begins. It would, however, be sensible to continue towards the location of the summit. Let us continue to talk as we walk towards there."

Valerian nodded and said, "Of course, honored envoy. I look forward to-" He was interrupted by the sound of his communicator. He turned on his communicator and, in Novan, said, "What is it? I'm busy talking with the Concordance representative." The man on the communicator responded with a curt salute. "Your Highness, I am Secundi Nauclerus Vocula of the IFS Blade of Nove. Nauclerus Sellic is acting irrational, and I fear if we don't do something, he will ruin your mission."
Valerian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Secundi Nauclerus, have the Nauclerus terminated and take control of the ship. Sellic's finally lost his damn mind." The Secundi Nauclerus saluted and ended communications. Valerian put his communicator away, recomposed himself, and turned to Tagarthes. "My apologies, honored envoy. A situation arose and I had to speak with my men. Now, shall we walk?"

[Shadowwell]

Conclave Summit
Patriarch's Legacy
Elder Vartash

Elder Vartash was moments away from entering the Chamber the Envoys were in when several things occurred. The first thing that happened was the Orion Systems Alliance vessel fading into view; its presence caused waves which struck the Legacy and presumably the other ships. Just as the various Conclave personnel began to recover and investigate the source of the gravity waves the com channels were inundated with messages from the mysterious ship.

The Elder was moments away from heading to the bridge when the Ihbb Advisor contacted him.

“I will handle these newcomers Elder; you must attend to the Diplomats. While these could be considered extenuating circumstances it would be best if you stay with the diplomats to allay their concerns and move this Summit along.”

Elder Vartash knew the Ihbb was right, but he was hesitant to leave First Contact with a previously unknown sovereignty to someone else. He nodded and ended the transmission from the bridge and gestured to the guards outside the chamber and entered as the door opened. Although the Elder was not overly tall for a Weseh he still towered over many of the diplomats in the room, standing at around 9 feet in height. His voice was as deep, slow and measured it had been when he spoke with the Ihbb Advisor earlier.

“Greetings honored Diplomats. I apologize for the wait, the disturbance earlier, and that we could not receive you with more respect. Conclave personnel are looking into it, but the source appears to be a ship of an unknown nation. If you would follow me, we can get you situated and you can begin talks with one another or contact your own people for confirmation.”

Moments after he spoke he gestured at both the various envoy’s and several of the guards within the chamber. He turned back and exited the chamber with the guards, the Envoy''s and their own staff. The journey from the chamber to the room above the Diplomatic stage took a short time, twisting and turning through the large corridors of the Legacy. The door to the room was unremarkable, seemingly similar to all the others the group had passed, but in truth it was one fo the most secure rooms on the ship.

The Elder stepped in front of the door, he made no motions or movements but the unseen security was hard at work. Moments later the door popped open and another guard stepped out, after glancing at those with the Elder he stepped back through the door to allow entry. The Guard was not a Weseh this time like some of those accompanying the group; rather it was a Mensir, another of the races within the Weseh Conclave.
Mensir were smaller than the Weseh and Ihbb, but not as diminutive as the Chyss were, standing at around the same height as a human would. Mensir weren’t typically militarily minded for the most part, with many being merchants, doctors or scientists in certain fields of study. It is mainly from among their number that the criminally minded within the Conclave emerge.

The Elder nodded to the guard as they moved back into the room. He then turned back towards the envoys and spoke as he stepped into the room the summit was to take place in.

"Please, enter. There are refreshments if you wish for them, based on your own cultural foodstuffs. Additionally there are secure terminals if you wish to contact your own people for any matters."

---

While the Elder dealt with the Envoy’s of the various races and nations the Vizier addressed the visitors, the Orion Systems alliance as they called themselves.

"The Conclave greets you, Visitors from the Orion Systems Alliance. Yours is a timely arrival, as a Diplomatic Summit was to begin before you revealed yourselves."

As he Ihbb advisor spoke he was looking over the data which was part of the OSA's transmissions. He was not the only one doing so, but it would likely be some time before a full review and breakdown of the information recieved could be submitted.

"We are reviewing your Data now, we can allow you aboard if you send a shuttle or we can send one to receive you. However I must insist your delegates wear containment or hazard suits of some sort if it was not already planned."

[Anowa]

---

Aelid Fleetmaster Furran Ventir
Aelid Marine Commander Tarasyn Grabakr
Xin Queen X'shan
Goru Ambassador Gaten tan Derindet sur Ulwei
Telefid Ambassador Maker of Dreams
On Board the OSA Flagship Monument to War Everlasting, Voidspace
_{En Route to [REDACTED]}

---

_{Epoch 4, Cycle 522, Quarter 2, Rotation 18}

While the Elder dealt with the Envoy’s of the various races and nations the Vizier addressed the visitors, the Orion Systems alliance as they called themselves.

"The Conclave greets you, Visitors from the Orion Systems Alliance. Yours is a timely arrival, as a Diplomatic Summit was to begin before you revealed yourselves."

As he Ihbb advisor spoke he was looking over the data which was part of the OSA's transmissions. He was not the only one doing so, but it would likely be some time before a full review and breakdown of the information received could be submitted.

"We are reviewing your Data now, we can allow you aboard if you send a shuttle or we can send one to receive you. However I must insist your delegates wear containment or hazard suits of some sort if it was not already planned."

Participation in this summit was the larger of the two reasons the OSA had sent such a sizeable detachment for what was described as a diplomatic mission. The forces collected into a single point was a show of force, an open declaration of military might. The swift revelation and dismissal of the stealth advantage also had many take aways, the main one being that the OSA didn't feel the need to keep their ship secure and in an advantageous position, meaning that either it could survive a prolonged battle on it's own, or could be lost with minimal economic of marshal consequences.

Primarily, the declaration to the Weseh about bodies being returned was it's own message, one that could be taken a variety of ways. All of them decent enough for the OSA. This ship's journey would not stop at this system, it would continue on to the Tagali returning bodies to those people as well.

As for how the OSA representatives were to be dressed, it was planned. It had been the standard course of action since the Aelids first met the Xin so many years ago. Biological contaminants were always a risk, even among the OSA species who had spent so long together and had been inoculated to the microbes they were awash with. Though as it stood, the message was vague as to whether the other species assembled would be permitted to meet with the OSA representatives. That being said, a response was ready.

"We will send our representatives on board a single shuttle. Registry is 320096643-XanHeteros."

---

The shuttle would arrive exactly 35 seconds after the message was received by the Weseh. The small craft seemed to be creating it's own sizeable gravitational field, in a permanent state of flux that didn't extend much more than a few centimeters beyond it's outer plating. Unlike the ship that carried it, the craft was utilitarian, four massive engines located in each corner moved it. And more than a few ports for what one could assume to be weaponry were absent. landing skids extended from underneath as it settled in the Weseh hangar bay. Each skid coming dangerously close to closing back up from the weight of the craft and it's cargo. The craft slowly powered down before the rear hatch and walkway was cracked open.

Instead of guards or the diplomats themselves, only a single Aelid strode down the walkway. Concealed between the interlocking plates of some form of combat armor. The faceplate of said armor turning transparent as it reached the bottom of the ramp. As was a normal occurrence for Aelids, he was among the tallest in the room. Of note that upon his back was a notably out of place pod, it's nature unknown to those around him. But the figure stood tall as it was escorted to the summit room, facing down a variety of species, all with minds as complex as his own, all with thoughts and opinions that he would be bombarded and heckled with. He found it good that his brain alone was his weapon.

[The Empire of Tau]

The Battle of Amon'Shys Station

The 4th Fleet moves in closer towards the station as its massive screen of support-vessels provides a wall of ballistic point-defense against the missile-volleys directed at the 4th Fleet. Union State data-analysis would show the 4th Fleet having two parts to it. The outer-screen was formed by four capital ships and eighty support-vessels. The core-center was then made up of flagship and another four capital ships and forty support-vessels.

In retaliation, the 4th Fleet stops within the weapon’s range of the Amon'Shys station and the 4th Fleet’s outer-screen and core-center capital-grade ships pivot their broadside cannons at the enemy battlestation. The first to fire was the Path’s standard capital-ship, which there was eight in total, with six broadside ship cannons on each side. In total, forty-eight accelerated shells were fired. The 4th Fleet’s current flagship shot fifteen shells and five extra shots coming from ultra-heavy anti-capital cannons.

With their missile volleys rendered utterly ineffective by the sheer amount of point defense fire the vastly larger fleet employed, the Thaelic ships were forced to fall back on their mass-accelerators which were on average weaker than their Path counterparts. With only five vessels to support his battlestation in addition to a few squadrons of strike craft. The enemy’s heavy ships were focusing their fire on the station, partially draining it’s deflectors with their first volley while the Path’s escorts moved in. The three Thaelic battlecruisers took aim at the screen of Path Support Ships and opened fire with their heavy mass accelerators. Sadly for the battlecruisers, they had no spinal accelerators being heavily missile-focused ships. The two cruisers followed suit, firing the medium spinal accelerators and their medium turreted accelerators, hoping to put dents in the enemy escort screen.

The battlestation’s powerful main gun had a significant weakness, it took a long time to reload and charge. Instead of loading a standard tungsten-molybdenum permalloy spike, they loaded another flechette round to be fired at the escort flotillas screening the enemy capital ships, but the Path’s heavy vessels would likely have time to fire one or two more salvos before the main gun was ready. The stations turreted medium mass-accelerators joined the Thaelic warship, firing at the enemy escorts, hoping to punch a hole in the screen of escorts and open a path for the bombers to strike at what would hopefully be an exposed Path capital ship.

The battle goes on as it becomes a slow slugging match on who is able to withstand and then deal out damage. The three Thaelic battlecruisers, and any other Thaelic warship, along with the Amon'Shys battlestation’s many accelerators firing their flechette and spike rounds, smashes against the 4th Fleet’s outer-screen. The 600 meter standard Path support vessel endures the Thaelic fire-volley as a couple of support vessel start to be disable or break again from heavy fire. In the meanwhile, the 4th Fleet capital-ships and flagship fires off salvo after salvo of slugs at the Amon'Shys battlestation as the battlestation slowly reloads its main guns from shot to shot. Surprisingly, the 4th Fleet outer-screen starts to “break apart” as support vessels move aside, making a clear way for void-fighters and bombers to prey on the heavier ships. Yet, something seems off. The outer-screen had enough ships to block any attempt at a bombing run or like-wise.

Path warships, known for their heavily armored prows wethered the Thaelic barrage handsomely a some time, but as some of the enemy support ships started buckling under the barrage, ragged cheers went up among some of the crewmen on the Union’s ships and the station. The enemy fleet kept focusing it’s firepower on the battlestation, whose deflectors were beginning to flicker, teetering dangerously close to failing after sustained barrages from the enemy capital ships and especially the heavy weapon mounted on the hostile command vessel. As the barrage seemed to dent the enemy escort screen, Commander Baletide ordered his strike craft to begin forming up, but did not throw them into an attack-run, holding them back for now.

Before throwing them in, he could give the enemy screen another shot of flechettes from the main gun, maybe two if fortune favored him before the deflector fail and the enemy shells start blasting into the station’s armor. His gun crews loaded as he transmissioned a priority order to the Union captains to load their mass accelerators with KPF-slugs, the kinetic penetrator, fragmentation was made of a mixed permalloy containing tungsten, cerium and most importantly, copper carbide. Made to ignite on temperature generated by the impact with the enemy vessel’s hull and send jets of superheated metal through the target ship, hopefully causing greater secondary effect than a normal spike, though for this is sacrificed in it’s armor piercing capabilities.

The targets remained the same, as Commander Baletide hoped to soften the enemy escort screen with a few final volleys from his ships before sending the strike craft in on their attack-run, which the Path would no doubt try to intercept with their own fighters, making the Thaelic strike craft exposed to both enemy interceptors and CIWS-systems, Baletide hoped to lessen the second threat as much as he could, and maybe even draw some enemy fire away from the station and toward the ships, though he was aware that the combined firepower of the enemy armada would eat through the deflectors, armor and hulls of his paltry handful vessels in mere minutes of a sustained barrage...

The 4th Fleet outer-screen formation stays the same as it once was, with just a few more ships missing. The opening for the Union State to send in its flyers and smaller ships is still open. The KPF-slugs did cause a fair amount of panic as more shrapnel entered into the outer-screen-zone. Path support vessels had to clear out more incoming shrapnel, either from their own ships or the KPF-slugs in order to protect themselves from drifting high-velocity debris. After all, there is no air resistance in space. The energy lost in the form of air resistance or likewise no longer applies. Thus, a piece of armor from a disabled Path ship being hauled at high-speeds will not lose its energy on travel and if it hits a ship then that momentum energy will cause more debris to be created. By this time in the battle, the 4th Fleet had to deal with hundreds of thousands of small-deadly-floating-debris. The same could be said for the Union State too.

As the hostile escort formation broke it’s ranks further under the onslaught of fragmentation-slugs, Commander Baletide decided to take a chance to inflict more damage on the enemy, a strike run would give the station some pause he hoped as the last of the Path’s barrages finally forced it’s failing deflectors to shut down in order to keep the capacitors from overloading. Now, the enemy shells were directly impacting it’s hull, with the flagships heavy rounds shaking the station as they struck, buckling the armor. Baletide commanded one of his strike craft formations forward. The first one was composed of 120 fighters and 38 bombers, trying to break through the gap and run the gauntlet toward the enemy capital ships. The Thaelic commander hoped the escorts would be distracted by the shelling and that the hail of point defense fire would not be as devastating as it would be otherwise.

A small wing of 60 Path heavy-fighters would met the incoming Union State formation of fighters and bombers pouring into the 4th Fleet outer-screen gap. Once the fighters and bombers went in, the gap that was made is quickly swarmed by Path support vessels, sealing any way of escape. The Path heavy-fighters engaged with the Union State strike-formation pulls away, regardless of losses. Next was the lightshow. Waves upon waves of ballistic and rocket point-defense is pointed at the Union State strike-formation.

Caught in a trap and with enemy interceptors bearing down on them, an equal amount of Thaelic fighters engaged those sent by the Path. The Thaelic ones were lighter and thus more maneuverable but suffered heavy casualties engaging the heavy enemy vessels with little room to maneuver. As the enemy escorts close ranks once more, one Union fighter after another is swatted out of the sky like a fly in hails of SAM and CIWS fire. The few remaining fighters and bombers attempt to regroup and fight their way out, about 35 fighters making a mad dash back toward their own lines, followed by 18 bombers attempting to drop their plasma bombs on a few Path escorts before fleeing.

The war in the void appears to be all but almost over. The 4th Fleet simply needed to clear up the rest of the orbital and void threats around Amon'Shys. The whole of the 4th Fleet moves forward, bearing their guns down on anything else left. Casualties, if it did happen, were not worried about. A show of strength and overconfidence were now flowing throughout the whole 4th Fleet’s ranks.

Under the barrage of fire, the Thaelic ships quickly lost their deflectors as shell after shell from the Path’s guns proceeded to eat their way through the armor and hulls, collapsing bulkheads blasting entire compartments into oblivion. The Union’s return fire lost it’s teeth as accelerator after accelerator fell silent. The battlecruiser UWS Ehllemys took a critical hit that sent the reactor into overdrive, exploding it and tearing the ship asunder with all crew, the cruisers were pelted by fire and began going down one after another as their captains gave orders to abandon ship as damage became untenable. The battlestation fired it’s main gun one last time, a KPS-shot going through the bulk of a rapidly advancing Path escort and then, the gun fell silent as an impact from one of the flagship’s shells destroyed one of the main capacitors.
The Wahl Fleetmaster had just come through their sweep up of the outer system defenses and have rejoined with most of the contingent of the Bruiser fleet to start a shelling of the immense battlestation that had been the bane of the pirates for so long. 120 ships of various sizes started to bomb the station with plasma and laser fire against the weakened fortress.

As Thaelic ships went dark one after another, their crews abandoning their vessels or exploding in bright, utterly silent flashes as their fusion reactors went critical, the orbital defenses of the Eyne’Falyse Sept’s capital planet fell apart, this fall finally culminated in the system failure aboard the Battlestation as most systems shut down, including the firecontrol for the handful of guns that remained operational after the heavy barrage, however, hundreds of Thaelic military personnel remained aboard the station, unable to send out a message of surrender after their communications systems failed. Some would likely surrender, but others were determined to fight in the dark corridors of the gutted station, behind whom the path toward the planet was now open…

---

The Battle of Harathrad

A silence came over Harathrad’s capital. It has been two hours since the denial of ultimatum...then off in the distance, the sound of rocket fire is heard. Soon, a storm of unguided and guided rockets, along with vast amounts of artillery shells, descend upon the Harathrad capital. There were no delays in firing, no break given, as constant firepower poured onto the Harathrad capital. It was only after a single-day that the fire would stop.

Vast swathes of the city, including several of the massive arcology towers in the center were heavily damaged or destroyed, many streets vanished under seas of rubble as defenders and civilians alike cowered in whatever remotely secure place they could. The relentless barrage killed thousands upon thousands and many Thaelic soldiers were killed or wounded, along with many more civilians, many of those in critical conditions could not be taken to medical centers as the barrage made it impossible to go out and several hospitals and clinics were hit as well, many thus expired from their wounds.

From there, the 2nd ‘Apples’ Army Group enters into the Harathrad capital with a fully mechanized force with columns of tanks. Block by block, building by building, room by room, the 2nd Army Group relentlessly purged everything and anyone from their hiding spot, soldier or civilian. A message was given each time that an engineering assault team was about to blow their way into a building. “If there are any civilians in the building. Please get out. Aid will be provided.” In the event that civilians cooperate, they would be moved to refugee camps with medical staff and food to be provided on the outskirts of the Harathrad capital.

The house-to-house fighting was brutal, the Thaelic troops that crawled out of their hiding places in fighting shape broke attempted to establish zones of control around vital buildings and infrastructural points like the spaceport. The arcology-spires, while damaged were still standing, though some had partially collapsed and Thaelic forces used them as their main strongpoints, observing the city and directing the small units that harassed the enemy armored columns with AT-Lasers and the Path infantry with sniper fire and gun-drones. Civilians used lulls in the fighting to escape the city, and soon tens of thousands flooded into Path refugee camps, dusty and ragged, mostly Emyaar but a few Hyrkanians as well with the occasional Faoran. The badly bloodied Myriads defending the city were not in a position to hold out for long against the enemy’s vastly superior numbers and lost ground by the day and the hour.

After three days most of the outskirts were under Path control and by the fourth, Path infantry had cleared the battered remains of the 56’th Cadre out of the Harathrad Colonial Museum, gaining their first foothold in the city’s central areas with heavy fighting spreading to the spaceport where a number of Cadres had dug in, mostly infantry with some battlesuit and drone support, most of their drones were recon drones however and the defenders used them to spot for targets and guide their fire.

The fighting in and around the spaceport were brutal as per usual in the capital now as assault teams and Ohelder armor slowly gain ground against the Union State at heavy costs. Both Ohelder tanks and Union State battlesuits hammer each other with their guns, shredding men and armor alike. Infantry engage in a brutal game of close-range fighting with hand-to-hand-fighting happening every so often. Besides from the spaceport, the arcology-spires were also a target. Battalions of soldiers are sent to deal with them, armed with their guns and heavy weapons. Brutal urban combat as normal. (WIP)

On the topic of the fleeing Union State refugees, any attempt to leave Harathrad was futile. The 8th Fleet had total void and orbital supremacy. All and any Union State refugees that were found were escorted to large Path refugee camps. The large columns of refugees leaving the Harathrad capital were followed by sky-planes and atmospheric-jets. It would not be long before Path army units caught with the Harathrad capital fleeing refugees. The massive traffic jams created by the Thaelic refugees was expected, which caused the Path to bring infrastructure to house all these people as the taking of Harathrad goes underway.

Outside of the capital, the Path’s forces quickly took control over major settlements, industrial areas and infrastructural hubs, the enemy had more than enough numbers to drive out the scattered defending cadres after relatively brief battles rarely lasting more than a few hours, the Thaelic soldiers knew they had no chance against the Path’s superior numbers and the overwhelming advantage in firepower this gave the foe. The remaining troops outside of the capital split into Cadre-sized units and started retreating deeper and deeper into the wilderness, where they would subdivide into smaller units.

Cut off from their supply-lines they would have to rely on sympathetic civilians and on raiding enemy supply transports in order to sustain themselves. Hoping to avoid the watchful eye of enemy recon aircraft in the wilderness, the remaining troops, barely numbering more than 12 000 strong would basically be forced to turn into a guerilla force. Attacking targets of opportunity in lightning raids and simply gathering intelligence on the enemy in wait for the retaliatory force to come back, so that when they did, they would have up-to-date information of the enemy’s capabilities.

For a few weeks, the Union State insurgence was a pain in the back for the Path forces on Harathrad. Guerrilla warfare is nothing new to the Path as they themselves did their own fair share of unconventional warfare in the Dominion-Hegemony Wars, ages back. From the Path’s experience, the Path had to lockdown areas and hold onto locations where insurgents were operating. From there, the Path had to slowly find where their bases or weapon storage areas were. Once an area was clear then the Path held on that locations, not allowing insurgents to retreat back to their former lands and denying them any place to find shelter. The enemy was not the priority. Path military philosophy always held the enemy as an obstacle to their main mission, be it strategic or operational. Destroying the enemy was not prioritized, instead it was more of just forcing them to retreat or go away.

Only a few pockets of resistance remain on Harathrad, and so the rest of the 3rd Muti-Sector Front was then poured into Harathrad. The planet was to be a staging ground for the Union State campaign. Thousands of cargo-ships and transports brought in billions of tonnes of munitions/supply and even more soldiers. Prefabricated planetside and space-infrastructure was brought in massive numbers. A few months would be needed to get things moved and organized. Soon, the Union State insurgence on Harathrad would be out-numbered, 1 to 100, as millions of more troops arrive either on planet or stay in the void. The construction of a space-station was underway as well, soon to be done in a few weeks as prefab pieces come in. Harathrad was essentially becoming a storage-armoury-fortress world. A drop-off point for Path invasions deeper into the Union State.

Given the very chaotic nature of Harathrad, a single Union State steel caste warrior would manage to get out and away from Harathrad, either by sheer luck or skill, or both. The warrior then dogged the many Wahl/Path raiding fleets preying on the trade-routes. In a few days, the poor soul would get back to the Union State capital of Tashn'Var'Ishghan.

Life on Harathrad was now starting to become “normal”. Food, medical aid, and shelter was provided to all citizens of the Union on Harathrad. Ohelder government functions arrived on Harathrad as fast as did the Ohelder army conquest of the planet. Civilians on Harathrad were now referenced as Ohelder citizens. Ohelder nationalization was well-underway as large sections of Emyaar were getting their Ohelder State Identification Numbers, along with the minority Hyrkanians and rare Faorans on planet. Announcements on Harathrad would state that within a few months, anyone without an ID number and proper documents would be arrested.

Many people complied simply out of fear, they had seen the destruction brought by the war and wanted some kind of normalcy more than anything, as the resistance of Thaelic crumbled and died down, the few handfuls of living steel warrior who were not taken prisoner simply buried their armor and uniforms and tried to get help from sympathetic families in distant colonial settlements, hoping to be taken in and gaining false papers and just outlasting the war in hiding.

---

The Battle of Carnlaiqua

The 14th Orbital Shock Troop Army Group quickly pulled out from their operations as heavy casualties were being inflicted by the Union’s AA-Laser batteries, SAM-sites, and heavy land CIWS-guns. Not wanting to waste anymore hundreds of assault-dropships, the 14th Orbital Shock Troop Army Group instead followed up on their back-up as they land onto less dangerous landing zones - away from Union-State key-infrastructure and centers. Once the various divisions of the 14th managed to get a safe landing zone, the 71th Theater follows suit in landing their forces. Fearing that Carnlaiqua could have hidden anti-orbital capabilities, moving the four million troops and their supply of the 71th Theater took a few weeks as large-cargo ships and troop transports were cautiously transported onto Carnlaiqua. This would give time for the Union-State forces on Carnlaiqua to plan and get ready for the coming planetary war.

And so they did, the Thaelic troops began consolidating and reestablishing their command-structure as Commander Surestrike reconnected with the dispersed Cadres and restructured his new command staff. Surestrike would have to take enemy air and orbital superiority into account, the Union had lost it’s ground-based fighter support in the orbital bombardment and even though some aircraft had survived, the bases were too damaged to launch them. Thus his troops had to try and move in small units to lessen the threat from enemy orbital strikes. Mobile and stationary anti-air platforms would be critical for the defenders, and they had already proven their worth in warding off the enemy’s first planned landing, forcing them to choose new landing zones farther out from major settlements and areas of importance.

This gave Surestrike the opportunity to combine a number of armored interdiction cadres to carry out armored spearhead attack at the enemy as they leave their staging grounds. But before that, Pathfinder teams would try to get close and observe, ambushing and harassing Path forward force-recon teams in the wilderness, sniping at enemy combat engineers and work details as they set up installations, relaying information and guiding missile strikes launched from artillery batteries farther behind the line.

The 14th Orbital Shock Trooper Army Group were not idling about while the 71th Theater were landing. Union state recon teams reported that the 14th were heavily digging in as they form a defensive area around the landing zone. Prefabricated bunkers, heavy artillery pieces, and much more were brought in by shipping and then quickly installed in the past-weeks. In a very short time, the 14th Orbital Shock Trooper Army Group had a complex defense-network. The harassing Union State Pathfinder teams did prove to be annoying to the various soldiers installing their prefabricated structures. Many times, construction had to stop due to the Pathfinders, but the Pathfinders did not heavily stop the 14th from forming the defensive barrier. More dangerous however was the guiding of missile strikes that came from Union State artillery batteries that needed to be silenced.

Unknown to the Union State, the Path were very fond of their rockets and artillery. Short-range missiles, medium-range missiles, and ICBMs carrying conventional warheads, were quickly landed in the first weeks of the 71th Theater landings and then launched at Suspected Union State artillery positions. Path artillery pieces from the 14th Orbital and 71th Theater also joined in the fun, raining down shells on assumed Union State positions. If not was not enough then the occasional atmospheric-fighter would say hello with its cruise-missiles, but visits are low due to the prevalence of anti-air defenses.

The first few exchanges caused significant losses of especially more stationary artillery pieces. This made Commander Surestrike give the order to withdraw them and now mostly use mobile artillery platforms where possible, keeping them moving after firing only two or three shells per piece and then, picking up and moving away before the enemy counter-battery fire struck. This decreased the casualties on the Thaelic said, but also on the Path side as the Union’s barrages now came in short bursts of concentrated fire. The enemy aerial attacks were the most effective, often striking at Thaelic self-propelled artillery batteries as they were moving away from their firing location, luckily air defenses were blunting that edge of the Path’s sword.

It would not be long before the 71th Theater could launch an offensive, likely a few more days. So, who would be it first? The Path or Union State?

The Lunn Mutants were inside their ships with transports that were sending out asteroids beyond the outer gravity that were drifting in the mining planet’s gravity well for the moment that they are needed. They have a surprise for those that had ousted them out of their region and won’t go down until they have reclaimed the sector for their collective banners.

Union State recon-intelligence reports that the landing army has a mass of armored-Infantry-fighting vehicles and tanks. From the looks of it, the whole army may be fully mechanized. Columns of IFVs, tanks, and self-propelled guns, and mobile anti-air and orbital guns dot the landing zone. Besides from their vehicles, the average infantry had a fully-encased suit with some form of ballistic firearm. An ungodly amount of supply in the form of lube, spare parts, fuel, etc, etc, is also needed to sustain this whole mechanized army. Row after row after row of stacked crates can be seen in towering stockpiles, with labels like ‘155MM x 6.7 SHELLS” or “WD-70 LUBE.”

Pouring over the data and images brought back by the Pathfinders and recon drones, Commander Surestrike weighed his options, a strike against a fortified, well-defended position would surely be costly. And he was, as far as he knew not about to be relieved any time soon, having to rely on supply stores that survived the orbital bombardment and retooled local industries which needed at least three months to start producing equipment at any notable levels. He chose to try something else, a fast grav-tanks units supported by infantry mounted on grav-transporters, mobile artillery and drones would make small probing strikes at the enemy’s defensive line, rarely made by anything larger than a Banner-sized unit. With these tactics he hoped to find a weak link in the enemy line and punch through with a focused strike to penetrate deep into the enemy’s rear lines and destroy or capture much useful supplies.

The attacks began with short but precise artillery strikes guided in by recon drones attempting to target enemy bunkers, hardpoints and artillery positions, followed by rapid attacks by grav-tank spearheads supported by infantry, mobile anti-air systems and battlesuits, probing the Path’s defensive line for weaknesses.

The sounds of distance combat is heard as Path soldiers engage with rapidly attacking Union State small-formations on the Path defensive live. Path bunkers are disabled or destroyed, with other bunkers armed with anti-armor or infantry weapons return fire. Union State limited guided artillery strikes either are intercepted by ground-CWIS or make their mark, damaging anything they hit with a loud boom. Shells fly right and left, hails of bullets whizzing in almost every direction, unrecognizable bodies lay strewn about. While the Union State are raining hell on the defensive live, the Path is holding it with fanatical resolve. Maybe on another timeline, the Union State would have punched through this defence, but no-one will know as the Path starts to their offensive on Carnlaiqua.

The Union State has yet to launch a major-offensive on the Path’s landing zones. The Path has managed to land its four million man army without much issue and then reorganized themselves in the past-weeks. The Union State opted to probe and launch small-raids on the 14th Orbital defense life, their effectiveness yet to be seen, but will never be fully analyzed as the 71th Theater starts their offensive.

Multiple armor and mechanized infantry divisions dash across the 14th orbital defense live. The 71th Theater would spread like a cancer as they relentlessly attack any Union State formations in their way. Even if attacks on certain Union State positions failed, the 71th Theater simply tried, tried, and tried again. Casualties started to mount on the Path’s side as local commanders orders their forces to smash against all and any resistance. The sound of combat could not be avoided, Path tanks battling it out with other armor, artillery sending their ordinance in massive barrages, Path atmospheric-crafts being downed and shooting down other crafts or ground targets, etc. Within a week, an estimated number of casualties were two hundred zero thousand plus on the Path’s side. The Path spared no quarter to the Union State or to their own forces. And so, the Path continued their onslaught for days-on-end, heavily dissolving the Path’s strength as they gain inland.

After a week, the Path had to stop or risk their divisions falling apart. All and any major-offenses stopped. The 71th Theater had to reorganize themselves and stop for major-resupplyment. Following behind the 71th Theater were the 14th Orbital Shock Troop Army, who acted as a defensive-army. The 14th dug-in and made even more defensive lines on key-positions and areas. Given the intensive fighting on Carnlaiqua, Faithful High-Command had sent over orders to bring in more army-formations on the mining planet. Soon, even more cargo-ships and transports were landing on Carnlaiqua.

The ferocity of the Path’s major assault had been great and terrible, Thaelic steel warriors watching in disbelief as their enemies threw themselves again and again at hardened positions, their armor being hit hard by anti-tank weapons, penetrated by the miniaturized rail-weapons wielded by the Steel Caste. Firing ultra-low calibre projectiles at hypersonic speeds that were designed to mushroom on impact, they did horrible damage to lightly armored targets, even soldiers with heavier armor while safe from the bullet tearing into them, could still be disabled as the kinetic shock of the bullet striking the armor could fracture bones or burst organs behind the plates.

The Path’s artillery was the most devastating weapon employed by the Union’s enemies during the offensive, causing over 70% of the total Thaelic casualties during the operation. The enemy’s offensive broke through the line at multiple locations, forcing withdrawal and a fighting retreat to be conducted, still at a number of sections the retreat was done in poor order and the front almost dissolved on both sides with advancing Path vanguards skirmishing with retreating Thaelic rearguards as they happened to run into each other at major road junctions and even just open fields. These chaotic zones is where most of the 78 00 Thaelic soldiers who were killed, maimed or wounded fell, with around 62 000 more captured as their units were encircled and pounded into submission with Path artillery.

The elastic nature of the Thaelic lines meant that many units saw battle and through the days of engagement, the enemy’s numerical superiority and greater access to fresh reinforcements made itself felt along the lines as the troops in many Thaelic cadres, especially the Armored Interdiction Cadres and Rapid Retaliation Cadres of grav-tanks and battlesuits which often sped across the lines to reinforce faltering sections were barely getting any sleep and the distribution of stimulants did not even nearly alleviate the issue.

As the enemy’s movements stopped due to exhaustion and lack of supplies, Commander Surestrike breathed a sigh of relief, he was in a poor supply situation himself and local production still needed more time to retool in order to meet the needs of the garrison. His limited supplies were being expended quickly by the high intensity combat and so, Surestrike took the opportunity to withdraw and reorganize his lines, focusing around a number of hardpoints, mostly towns, large mining complexes and the jagged rocks of the Szurdok Ridge where they could hopefully tie large enemy units down and free up troops for quick localized counterattacks.

[Tagali Federation]

Toell System
Muraza, Sokar Region


Muraza was an unimportant world on the fringes of Tagali Space. The planet was home to only 5 Million Tagali and Human inhabitants living in small farming communities across the planet. Such a world was barely on the radar of anyone, until a discovery was made by a human shepherd within one of the many caves of the Sokar Region of the planet....

Within said cave, Dozens, if not hundreds, of cybernetically- augmented arthopod-like creatures scurried about, nesting and digging throughout the caverns with their titanium appendages and mining lasers. These creatures were the Verga. Originally, just another organic eusocial that managed to obtain something akin to sapience on their homeworld out on the Outer Rim of the Galaxy millions of years ago. Unfortunately for them, their neighbors saw their potential and enslaved them. As Empires rose and fell, the Verga hives were passed down, each Civilization making their own invasive additions to the battered Species. Now in the hands of the Tagali, the verga served as maintenance and construction crews in their ships and cities, with their frightening "Warrior" Forms serving as towering shock troops in Tagali invasions.

"Wretched little creatures.." Urva thought to herself as she watched one clear out waste within the tunnel. The Humans escorting her thought the very same, although in Urva's mind, they weren't much better. "Fucking bugs" The tall dark skinned human male guard said in Human Standard. The sound of their language urked Urva to no end. It was an amalgamation of many of their old languages combined with elements of the Empire Standard Tagali. Universal Translators were not common in the Empire, and Humans exploited the fact that many species either could not or refused to learn their tongues, mostly just using it to talk bad about aliens around them. Unfortunately for these two, Urva was not so ignorant.

"So, did you hear?" The Male Guard said to his counterpart. " I guess one of the Princes is here in the Orion Sector." His smaller Female counterpart nodded. "Aye, heard about that from my Uncle. Apparently he strolled into Satrap Station a few days ago. Executed the Satrap and his entire family for "Gross negligence of the Sector" or something like that. Said it was about time the Orion Sector got some proper Imperial Leadership." The male guard continued. "I heard he's gonna bring in a Maku. Have you heard of those? They're these giant monsters that the Tagali just let loose on fortress worlds. Who do you think we'd even-" The man was cut off by Urva raising her hand for silence."If I hear one more word of your filthy tongue. I will make it so you two spend the rest of your short lives fighting the Nah'ni!"

The two guards stiffened and continued on in silence. Eventually, they would leave Urva at an elevator, for only Tagali and their Verga slaves were permitted to see what artifact laid below. Now alone, Urva took the elevator through layers of dirt and rock until it opened to a large cavern housing a strange ancient structure. As the Verga cleared away rock and debris, other Tagali had begun bowing and praying around it, treating the structure like a shrine....

Meanwhile....

In orbit, a single Tagali battle cruiser stood watch over the planet while the Verga and Shamans worked below. It's ornate alien design was decorated in ritualistic tribal markings, dawning the large vessel like warpaint. Its hull was covered in the scars of battle, from marks of plasma and railgun rounds, to what appeared to be the claw and teeth marks of some massive creature unknown to the beings of the Orion Arm. The Tagali took them as signs of pride and experience, each mark showing an enemy bested and an engagement survived.

The vessel's name translated into "Cause of Wails". It's crew was made up of Tagali and a small contingent of individuals made up of slave races, keeping the ship in good condition and serving the needs of their Tagali overlords. The Bridge was covered in the various pack banners of the crew and trophies of their many conquests. Idols from primitive societies, power armors of slain enemy soldiers, and the large crested skulls of alien wildlife. The crew was at their stations, continuing on with their standard procedures. The Captain of the vessel oversaw them all from her throne-like chair in the middle of the bridge. Her rank only symbolized by the scars and markings on her armor, as well as the long fur coat designated for Ship Captains.

Things continued as usual until the sensors detected three vessels belonging to The Ohelder Path. Nothing more than a group of cultists as far as the Tagali were concerned. The Battlecruiser began warming up her engines and guns, making no effort to hide them. Meanwhile the captain hailed the Cultists. If they had some sort of video feed, they would see a tall Tagali woman with long dark red hair staring down at them with her four yellow eyes and bearing her teeth like an animal.

"Begone fanatics! While we do not hunger for vacuumed meat, you are in our territory. Leave now or we'll make room for you in the storage containers!"

[The Empire of Tau]

Toell System
Muraza, Sokar Region

As a certain someone would say, “unforeseen consequences” will definitely result from this engagement. Whatever those unforeseen consequences are...well, let’s hope that things do not go too bad. Keeping their distance, the Standard-Capital ships of the Ohelder gains a display of system-info and analysis-data from their scans. More importantly among the myriad of statistics, a Tagali battle cruiser. The Ohelder Path had very simple job given to them by the Half-Moons, kill or disable the Tagali ship in the Muraza system. It was a job that the Ohelder would and have already accepted.

The Necrofantasia, one of the three Ohelder Standard-Capital ships, displays a Tagali female on its screens within the Necrofantasia’s control and command center buried deep in the ship. Given the highly sensitive and risky nature of this operation, the Ohelder Inquisition has been tasked with leading the Ohelder small-task-force in place of Ohelder naval-officers. The Inquisitor leading the small-task-force was within the Necrofantasia, currently seeing a Tagali female on live-feed.

In response, the Inquisitor allowed himself to be seen in the form of another live-feed to the Tagali battle cruiser. The Inquisitor was cloaked head from toe, with his head hosting a large metal “cask” with three tubes attached to his upper-back to his head.

“I’m sorry, but we have obligations to do. No hard feelings, love.” The Inquisitor says before cutting the video-feed.

Still maintaining distance, the Standard-Capital ships of the Ohelder processes to show its boardships, six broadside cannons for each ship and sixteen heavy laser, or lance, batteries. Besides for the Necrofantasia, there were two other Ohelder ships, the Blessed Solar and the Humor. Together, the three Standard-Capital ships sustained a constant shower of fire in the form of shells accelerated at the speed of light or directed-high-energy lasers. The Ohelder ships never went in closer, opting to stay at range for cautionary reasons.

Standard-Capital Ohelder ships could go in closer, making their shots easier to score and applying forward pressure to the Tagali battle cruiser. The Inquisitor feared the Tagali cruiser as he had no clue of the capabilities of the ship in question. It has been ages since the war against the Tagaili, and the Inquisitor rather not see if the Tagali has produced new models of ships with deadlier weapons then last seen in the Tagaili-Orion War.

For the time being, the Ohelder ships kept on firing its broadship weapons while trying to keep itself away from harm's reach of the Tagali ship. The crews on every Ohelder ship, numbering seven thousand on each ship, were busy as normal, managing the ship’s main, sub, and multiple redundant-systems. The small-docks for fighters on the Standard-Capital Ohelder ship were launched, ten heavy-fighters for each ship. The thirty-heavy-fighters screen had the job of protecting against other fighters and or missiles shot at the Ohelder ships.

Hopefully, the Inquisitor could rely on the Half-Moons to support his task-force. Stealth was never the strong-suit of the Ohelder, lacking years behind the Half-Moons and other powers that be. Luckily, the Inquisitor had Half-Moon stealth ships to close in the distance and strike at the Tagali battle cruiser. That is the plan anyhow, the Inquisitor knew well that if the stealth attack failed then he had two choices, either retreat or go on the assault. All could the Inquisitor do was watch and see if the Half-Moons will do their task well.

[The National Dominion of Hungary]

Conclave Summit - Patriarch's Legacy

---

Lady Celestial Aywin Miranorin bowed graciously as Elder Vartash delivered his little welcoming speech, there was a reassurance in his voice that signaled to the assembled dignitaries that the appearance of the Systems Alliance ship which she had notified of merely moments ago by the crew of her yacht was apparently nothing to fear. She sure hoped Vartash was indeed as calm as he led on, and not merely a prospective master gambler re-saddled as an international representative. With a small amount of unease yet crawling down her spine, it vanished as she could hear the voice of the yacht's pilots telling her that a shuttle had been launched by the OSA vessel, it seemed they were about to add another member to this little interstellar gathering. As these representatives of the Orion walked through the hallways of the ship, Miranorin's thoughts turned toward home, the fierce battles in the Eyne'Falyse raged on and she hoped to secure some kind of aid for her land as the Union slowly mobilized to counter the enemy. Thaelic doctrine placed high importance on preparation and they tended to strike only when the adequate number of troops, vessels and supplies had been gather and plans were carefully laid.

But armies needed more to fight, production of war materials would rise greatly, resources were needed. That was one of the principal reasons behind her presence. It was up to her to gauge the possibility of beneficial prices for raw materials needed by the Thaelic arms industry as it geared into wartime operation, to try and secure technological transfers in order to improve the efficiency of the troops and ships which were gathering to enter the embattled Sept to push the enemy out. If she played her cards well, she could make the Union out to be the perfect proxy for nations around the sector worried about the aggressive strike made by the Path and the Confederacy, she would do what was in her power to secure an inflow of money, resources, technology, perhaps even volunteers or outright expeditionary forces to help destroy the menaces of the Path and the Pirate Confederacy, reducing the overall damage they inflicted on the sector as a whole, a perfect way for other nations to deal with the issue without getting their own hands dirty.

As the finally entered the Chamber of the Envoys, Aywin took a look around. Quite unremarkable when compared to the other parts of the ship that she had laid her eyes on. Quickly struck by the mix of aromas emanating from a long table where dozens of dishes and a wide array of drinks in various more or less strange vessels had been placed. She immediately recognized some Thaelic delicacies, even a number of old recipes taken from Emyaar history. Indeed, she had hear that Lord Celestial Nardual Balyarus, the first Emyaar to ever meet and speak for the Union with the Conclave was dined with Argaskan Firecrawl, a spicy dish made from a crustacean fished from the northern seas of Thaelin and spiced with fiery southern spices from the planets lower highlands. She had eaten that far too many times as it was one of her father's favorite dishes so instead she looked at the more alien delicacies which she hoped to wash down with some fine emyaar Khiaffa as she slowly moved over to the table.

[Tagali Federation]

“I’m sorry, but we have obligations to do. No hard feelings, love.” The Inquisitor says before cutting the video-feed.

The Captain roared in anger as the alien abruptly cut the feed, her rage only growing as the cultists began to pelt her ship with fire. The ship rumbled with each hit to the shields and hull but the ship held on. It would take more than some religious extremists excuse for a Capital ship could muster. "All hands report to your packs and prepare for battle!" The Captain yelled over the intercom. She turned her attention to her Bridge Crew. "Alert Command of this intrusion and clear the void for our boarding vessels!"

A field of energy formed over the vessel as it awakened for battle. Underneath this layer, what appeared to be some sort of sludge began to cover the vessel and hardening with an asphalt-like consistency as it came in contact with the coldness of space. At a glance this was some sort of exotic nano-technology, but in reality was another species that the Tagali had subjugated in their centuries of conquest. The Jolo were micro-organism native to a now forgotten world near the core of the galaxy. To survive on their hostile world often barraged by meteors and asteroids, the jolo form colonies that harden for safety in times of space, much to the glee of scientists working for the Empire who were quick to manipulate and exploit their capabilities.

Finally, the Tagali fired guns of their own. Point Defense lasers and missile swarms concentrated on the cult fighters while the main weapon was aimed at the lead ship. Tagali Battlecruisers boasted a powerful beam cannon, mostly used for destroying population centers but the Tagali were more than willing to turn them on more dangerous targets when the opportunity arisen. The Battlecruiser began to hose the lead ship, raining down plasma upon its hull and shields. Once more, the Captain sent a message to the enemy ships, already dictating terms to these Heathen aliens.

"You have just felt the power of the Tagali. Who are any of you to stand up to the Empire of a million stars!? However, the Empire is not without mercy. We demand your leader as reparations for this insult to do with as I please! The rest of you will be allowed to skulk back to whatever backwater world you come from to live out your days until the Empire finally descends upon your wretched Hive!"

[The Empire of Tau]

Toell System
Muraza, Sokar Region

“That’s no way to communicate for a proper naval officer. You’re too hot-headed in my opinion. No offense.” The Inquisitor says over the comms to the Tagali Battlecruiser. “I’ll have to deny your offer, but I do like the thought.” The Necrofantasia is hit by the beam-weapon, its main shields stopping the weapon. “Sir, main shields are nearly down.” A crew member reports to the Inquisitor, monitoring the Necrofantasia onboard systems. “Noted.” The Inquisitor responds to the crew member. The Necrofantasia is then quickly set upon by barrages of plasma from the Tagali Battlecruiser after the beam-shot. Soon, the main shields of the Necrofantasia were down. The Necrofantasia secondary set of shields were then next in line for punishment. The secondary shields now felt the full-force of plasma, likely going down soon in a couple of minutes of sustained plasma fire. The Necrofantasia, Blessed Solar and the Humor kept their broadside weapons focused on the Tagali Battlecruiser. Heavy-anti-capital ships were exchanged on both sides as the Path task-force and Tagali Battlecruiser kept on firing at each other.

The Ohelder heavy-fighters, trying to avoid ordinance, went behind their heavy-ships, hugging them. A few heavy-fighters went down, five, in their retreat. The rest of the point-lasers and missile swarms instead were redirected to the Necrofantasia and Blessed Solar. Close-in weapons systems, both ballistic and directed energy, let loose, either by showering the closing in missiles with bullets or lasers. “Sir, swarm missiles are inbound. CIWS are engaging, Secondary shields are close to down, two minute estimate.” The Inquisitor nods, acknowledging the crew member’s concerns.

“Interesting, your weaponry is still the same as the last time we fought. Well, the last time your empire fought us. Remember that? Five-hundred or so years ago, the United Coalition of the Orion Arm. Good times. I still have video of your beam-weapons trying to glass our fortress world. I have to say, it is a nice weapon, but it does take a while for it to crack apart thirty million layers of heavy armor-plating meanwhile being shot at by anti-orbital weapons. That’s just a nitpick really. I still admire your ship and its parts. Truly a wonder of engineering. Hhm, I think I’m talking too much. Good day.” The Inquisitor cuts off after his long rant, or conversation.

The exchange of fire goes on as the Path task-force fires its weapons at the Tagali Battlecruiser, and the Tagali Battlecruiserf firing back at the Path task-force, mostly at the lead ship, the Necrofantasia. The Inquisitor sits back in his chair, thinking to himself. Where the hell are those Half-Moon stealth ships? While the Necrofantasia could withstand punishment, the Tagali Battlecruiser could too. Soon, it would come down to who would be able to take damage and then deal out the pain as in a normal conventional ship battle. The Inquisitor rather not find out the hard-way.