Great World War IC

[Sigma]

Five years have past since the Great World War began. war is at every corner of the continent, millions flee from their homes as the nations invade one another, laying entire cities in ruin. in the five years the war waged, many of the smaller nations had fallen in anarchy and chaos, while the more stronger ones remain vigilant and stable...for the most part.

[Fox Xalian]

His dream was always the same; it had been for the last five years. It was the day his cousin, the Emperor Fox Xalian had given full military command of the Empire to his brother, Fleet Admiral Wolf Xalian. He woke up and rolled over, seeing who was lying beside him. He had done it again, he had promised himself he would never sleep with Lucine Silknam again. But he did it again. He stood up and got into his uniform, which was a normal suit since he never really went onto the battlefield unless it was needed. He went to start his usual day of work. He powered up his computer and checked their location. He smiled and called his brother. Wolf woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He answered it and looked at the video screen. "Good morning brother" Wolf said. "It is a good morning for you because you didn't break a promise you made to yourself years ago, but that's not why I called you, there is a small island near our location at G:02:09 and I think we could use that to gain a foothold on the land" Sabre said. Wolf nodded. "Good idea brother, send out an alert for all troops to scramble and send two Cerber Recon planes to investigate the area" he said. "As you wish" Sabre replied. He sent out the call and watched as two Cerbers where launched from the Avia Carrier. Lucine woke up slowly and got into her uniform. She walked into Sabre's kitchen. "Last night was nice" she said, her voice was deceptively sweet. "Yes it was, but it was also a mistake" Sabre said, looking into her eyes. Lucine nodded and grabbed her shotgun from the gun locker. "I heard what Wolf said, so we are getting ready to attack" she said. Sabre nodded. "Go and get some Guardians and wake your sister, we might need her tank groups before the day is out" he said. Lucine nodded, she knew her sister, Emerald, was a respected tank commander. She walked out the front door of Sabre's apartment and sighed, she didn't mean to spend the night with him again, but she did, just like she had done for the past four years. She walked into the apartment she shared with her sister and woke her up. Emerald opened her eyes. "You did it again didn't you?" she asked. Lucine nodded. "Sabre says we are attacking soon as per Wolf's orders, they want you to prepare your tank groups" she said. Emerald smiled and hugged her sister. "I'll get ready now" she said. Emerald got her uniform on and went to the motor pool and finished some last minute repairs and upgrades to her special tank, it was a Growler crossed with a Shredder Tank. She sent out the alert to her tank crews and informed them on what was about to happen.

[Higurashi]

Today was the day of the Grand Hearing. Today was the day when all the noble's of Fortuna gathered to make their pleas and arguments known. For Supreme Chancellor Hiltra it was just one big headache. Becase all it really did was give them a chance for them to bring up their most petty disagreements and squables. She honestly thought Constance should have pushed harder for a more totalitarian state. In that one only rhe most sesible arguments, or the most insesible, were brought to the Hearing.

But noooo, the nobles just HAD to have their little plots of land. The very least they could have done was organized it themselves. But that was of course left up to Hiltra and the government. Hiltra then sighed. Taxes hasd to be collected some way, and this one appeared to be the only way available at the time. Finally, a little spotm of joy showed it sef in Hiltra's misery.

A noble had overstepped his bounds. he had spoken blatant treason against the government in his anger of not getting his way. Since this was all on record she had the proof she needed to seize his lands. Hiltra stood up and said, "In the name of the provincal government I hearby decree your lands forfeit for treason against the government." With that the noble was dragged off screaming bloody murder to jail. Constance sat back down and smiled. Another petty noble disposed of. His family wouldn't be getting their property back, and they would have to work, like everyone else.

Of course, none of the other nobles would speak out against the decision. That would be treason. There was the danger that they would cast their vote against Hiltra, but that was five years away, and Holtra suspected that she would meet her unlikely demise via an enemy sniper round before then. She shrugged off the thought and continued with the hearing.

After the hearng was over, Hiltra decided to head back to her quarters. When she arrived there, she saw that Constance was sitting on her favorite chair. No one else dared do this except for Constance. Hiltra and her had that sort of close relationship. She and Constance had known each other since childhood, back when Constance was a new feiflord.

"So did the idiots make the same plea that they did before?" Constance asked in a casual, not really paying attention voice.

Hiltra sighed and replied, "Yes, the idiots still want us to take over another country so they can expand their wealth." "

So why don't we?" Constance asked.

"Well because it would give them their way, and we're already in a huge war. We simply can't handle more than we are already dealing with." Constance sighed aswell and gotn up off the chair. "Let us finish this war then. Let us show the world what we can do."

"That we shall firend. That we shall..."

[TheDashingRogue]

A pale white light seeps through the thick glass windows of the office. The drone of the many rotary engines of the Reichstahl Luftkraft's fleet of airships penetrating the cabin walls with a monotonous drone. The room is a cold and grey construction fitted with utilitarian fixtures and a small ventilation fan embedded in the wall and bathed in a half light, a solitary halogen bulb emitting its yellowish glow over a large metal desk. Some areas of the wall bear the marks of wear, discolouration painting areas of the wall a dark colour. Spread about the desk are papers, reports and maps concerning troop deployments and logistics. Standing next to the window is a silhouette, a large framed man with sharp features, fading hair and a sharp grey uniform. The dark shapes of passing airships gliding past the window play over the cold furniture of the room and the equally grim individual. There is a dull rapping sound on the thick steel bulkhead door and a subtle cough from outside the study.

"Come in."

The orderly walked sharply towards the desk, saluting with a clenched fist upon his chest and snapping his heels to attention before offering several yellowed sheets of paper. "Herr Kriegsmarshal, we have received confirmed reports from several observation balloons in the northern sector of the contested territories that indicate increased enemy troop activity on the horizon. Received earlier today sir." The imposing superior scanned over the information, flicking through the pages rapidly. "This is indeed a cause for concern. Are our defences still operational?". The orderly nodded "Yes Kriegsmarshal, several divisions are entrenched beyond the Great Wall attached with various armoured regiments. The fortifications are largely complete beyond our existing lines and we are establishing a forward command post as you requested. The Vandarian 12th is ready for Airborne deployment at the given word sir." The War Marshal nodded in confirmation, "Request an increase of defence supplies and fortification materials to optimum. I want observation balloons scouring the entire territory north of the line for enemy movement. Don't wait for a response, instead give them a constant transmission order should they fall foul to any of our enemies."

With a sharp nod, salute and a click of the heels the orderly about turned and left. The commander returning to his viewing port, watching the many ships of the Empire buzz around the vast battle blimps like sluggish flies.

[Sigma]

In a forest somewhere in the Northern Sector, a chimeran convoy of intimidating size, numbering to hundreds of vehicles, and a dozen beasts, traveling along the dirt roads, moving through the contested territories in the offensive against the Reichstahl Empire. the one at the head of this campaign was none other then the Supreme Administrator's Right-Hand, General Baelgard.

Overhead of the convoy was a lone Carrier, acting as the temporary command post for the General while his second-in-command is away bringing reinforcements from the homeland. within the carrier he was in his Private Quarters, looking through reconnaissance reports and scanning through the maps of the region. several light knocks were heard, "What is it?" he asked, his eyes still fixed upon the reports. a human officers entered the room, saluting the general. "Sir, a scouting party moved ahead of the main force and have spotted a nearby city."

"A city? hmm..." he said as his eyes now focused on the officer. "What of it's defenses? is it under imperial protection?"

The Officier shook his head. "I can not answer that. our scouts were not able to observe closely enough sir....."

Although the officer couldn't see it, the General suddenly grinned behind the breathing mask, thinking this is the time to strike. "Captain, alert our ground troops for a new order. we're going to take that city and establish our headquarters from there. understood?" the Captain then nodded, "Of course, sir." he replied and saluted, leaving the room to carry out the General's command.

[TheDashingRogue]

The sounds of heavy industry, the hustle and bustle of loyal citizens and the grinding of a thousand gears and chains resonate throughout the glorious structure that houses mankind's greatest leader. The Palace of the Immortal Motion is the prized structure, commissioned by the Imperial family themself 400 years prior.

The structure itself is made, like most buildings of the Empire, from hardened steel and bearing rivets, bolts and pipework. However, this structure is one of the few examples of aesthetics over practicality, the pipework inexplicable intricate, rising from all four corners of the structure and following the edges of the slanted walls up and into the roof. The walls themselves are engraved by the Empire's premier artificers, depicting a rich and extravagant tapestry of glorious military victories and the advances in industry. The building itself is situated within the upper levels of the grand capital of the Empire - Panzerstadt-Murnau.

The capital, like all the grand mobile cities of the Empire, is a chaotic and expansive structure consisting of many wide layers and colossal tank-tracks. Vast centres of industry belch blackened smoke into the air and a heavy smog lies around the urbanized ground around it, the surrounding area built upon in this time of stationary industry. Refineries and manufactories spark and smoulder as thousands of tons of metal is melted, refined and machined into workable materials, tools and weapons. Training grounds and barracks sport heavily armoured gun emplacements whilst a thousand airships float around or anchor themselves to the great city. On the topmost level is the incredible palace, an artistic display of impregnability surrounded by a wide and ornate parade ground which itself is bordered by statues of heroes of the Empire. The flags of the Eagle flutter in the turbulent winds of the upper levels, which shake the many elevators that carry men, women and supplies to the different levels.

Inside the fortress that is the Imperial Palace lie the beating heart of the Steel Empire, that of Emperor Franz Maximillian XIV. It is his will that binds the many people of the Empire together, a channel for their loyalty to which he expands the industrious success of their labours. Passing through the beautifully intricate corridors, all of which are covered in equally rich tapestries of traditional tales and great victories alike, one would find themselves inside the great throne room. This chamber, octagonal in shape, is entirely focussed towards the ornate chair in the centre.

The throne is constructed almost entirely from machined parts, which legend say come from the oldest manufactory ever discovered - potentially the first of its kind in the Empire's history. The head-rest a giant cog wheel, symbolic of the incredible thought and perfection the Emperor must judge with. The arm-rests, teeth from chain, to represent that, although the Emperor lives in luxury, he too must busy himself with work, lest he suffer from laxity. The main structure of the throne are the many pipes that extend into the building from the roof, channeling both hot and cold water to the Palace's boiler rooms, symbolic of the balance between destruction and construction that must be achieved by the Emperor in all of his actions. The Emperor, however, is at this time preparing for a more formal occasion in his personal chambers.

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

Like most citizens of Reichstahl, Emperor Maximillian is a grim, hard-working and productive member of society. The vast pressures placed upon him have already taken their toll and his complexion has taken upon the light grey visage of many industrious citizens, no doubt a result of their highly industrialised, pollutive and unnatural way of life. A single scar extends down from the top of his forehead to the bottom of his cheek, running over his left eye. How this came to be remains a closely guarded secret, one known only by his most closest advisors.

The man who had once enjoyed spitting down from the maintenance levels onto the ashen earth below now buttons up his Imperial uniform, a jacket of various shades of grey adorned with silver stars, medals and regalia. A single red sash pinned to the jacket stretches down from his right shoulder to the left of his waist. A pair of black breeches and polished jackboots complete the Royal dress, in preparation for the grand ceremony due to take place. With a final aligning of his jacket and buttoning of the sleeves, the Emperor left his chambers and began to walk down the steel corridor, his boots clopping at every step. Members of his personal Royal Guard stand to attention with clicking heels as he passes and salute with their fists to chests. Walking further still, the uniformed man approached the Palace radio room, essentially the hub of all airwave traffic of his surrounding territories. The two guards both open their respective doors before saluting, the Emperor following suite striding into the room.

"Herr Kaiser, forgive the mess, we were attempting to make sense of the chaotic reports from the front."

"Excused, Master-Technician, I wish to speak with Emperor Hakahito. Inform his aides that I wish to engage in certain, political deliberations."

"Certainly Herr Kaiser, right away" The white coated individual nodded and, aligning his spectacles correctly, proceeded to bark orders at his scurrying assistants as radio sets were brought to the fore and various antennae were calibrated.

"Prepare for transmission. Awaiting audio response" came a small voice from behind a large series of components.

The two Empires had enjoyed an uneasy cease-fire for many years, a result of their similar (yet pivotally opposite) ideaology and defensive capabilites, neither side willing to commit the resources to engage one another in open warfare where the other has the advantage, be that the ocean fleets for the Rising Sun or the inland coastal defences of the Great Wall of the Reichstahl. Regular conferences between the two occured, but more usually between underlings of the two figureheads, rarely the two men directly. However, Emperor Maximillian had promised his people progress, and progress they would receive.

[Higurashi]

Supreme Chancellor Hiltra stood on a balcony which over looked the Glorious Provinacal Gardens. She often sat here in a comfortable chair, gazing over the dawn of dusk. It was the few times like these in which Hiltra got to relax. The rest of the day was work, organizing the country, herding petty nobles like sheep. Yes, that what they basically were, sheep. They had no ambition, no competetive reason or edge. The made Hiltra increasingly agitated every day. Because every day was just another day that the greater and more powerful nation could invade. The Reich, and Empire of the Rising sun could not be fended off by dimplomacy forever, for that was not their way of doing things.

Hiltra got up from her chair, leaning against the railing. She heard movement behind her and turned to see High Commondore Constance. "Oh, Constance, what are you doing here? Your supposed to be at the breifing...... Its them isn't it?" "Yes Chancellor, the Reich is moving against their opponents." Constance replied. Hiltra sighed and once again looked down at the gardens. The situation must be grave indeed, for Constance never called Hiltra by her title except in formal and grave situations. She looked back at Constance and spoke again. "What do you reccomend that we do Commondore?" "We Should begin gearing up for War, Chancellor. The other nations will likely notice, but we need to prepare incase they decide to move against us. I have a document here, that if you sign, will allow me to conscript and train men and women from all classes." Constance said before handing Hiltra the document in question.

Hiltra regarded the papers for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. "Even the noble class?" She asked. "Yes, even the noble cast. They won't be happy about this though. Because I am NOT allowing a bunch of petty arguments and people command my troops without proving by merit." Constance replied. "Fair enough." Hiltra said before taking out the Chancellor's stamp from one of her many pocket's and placing the seal upon the papr's bottom right corner.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, Hiltra was looking over the Grand Parade ground. It stood at about ten miles wide. It was in, or rather outside the capital, and wasn;t really a parade ground except for a small one mile portion. The rest was devoted to amassing the army, and giving it a place to stay until it could be released. Currently only two Divisions of Honorable Militia were staying here, but more would soon arrive. Hiltra looed again over the parade ground and sighted Constance waling towards her. the expression on her face was grave indeed.

"Hiltra, we need to talk." Was all she said before virtually dragging Hiltra off to the command tent. When they arrived there, the place was bustling. That was unusual. There was at least one pair of bickering nobles mucking up the works most of the time. Now the place was all speed and effeciency. Hiltra looked around breifly before being pulled over to the command table. On it were a huge stack of files that all appeared to have Constance's stamp on them. Hiltra picked one up and saw that it was a form declaring the treason of some unrecognizable noble. Hiltra then looked over at Constance. "Commondore! Are ALL of these forms stating treason of nobles?!" In reply Constance nodded grimly. "B-but what did they do?!" "What they did Chancellor, is thhat when the letter of conscription reached the nobles, the instantly began plooting to overthrow us and take the government for themselves. You know how that would have gone." "But did ALL of them commit such treason?" "No, but enough did that that I was able to take control.... and make you Supreme Empress." At this Holtra blinked in surprise. "That means.... we can finally get something done." "Yes Chancellor. Now we can effectively do anything. But now we take the fight to the enemy."

[Fox Xalian]

Sabre looked over the scouting reports; something strange was reported. "There seems to be no signs of enemy movements on this island,” he told the Admiralty Board. Wolf nodded. "What do you suggest then High Commandant?" he asked. "We send in Strike Force and take the city by force" Sabre suggested. Emerald nodded, she was one of four members not in the meeting room, the others where Admirals Cougar and Ice Nikalay and Commandant Keelah Akalian. But they had their video links up. "I like that idea" Emerald said. "Might I suggest we fire bomb the surrounding area first since the forest makes it hard for our heat sensors to pick anything up?" Keelah suggested. Wolf smiled. "Good idea Commandant, send out Valkyrie and Seraphim squads to deal with it" he said. Keelah saluted and turned her video link off. Wolf dismissed the rest of the Board and they all went back to their duties.

Lucine stood on a platform overlooking the Guardians that she had to look after as a psi-tech, the Empire's medic/mechanic troops. She watched as they walked into the transports that would land them once Strike Force hit the ground to take over the city. She was understandably nervous, as she was part of strike force. She was ready for this; it was her duty as an Imperial soldier to protect and serve the Empire, both at home and abroad. She turned and started towards the troopship that would take them down to the ground. Sabre was in the armoury getting his weapons and armour. He had the same heavy armour that the Imperial Castigars had, but he used a SMG instead of the cannons the Castigars, and his brother Wolf, had attacked to their arms. He walked out to his brother who was at the window watching as the bombers start to bomb the forest, a couple of bombs landed at random parts of the city they would attack, weather or not that was deliberate was yet to be seen. Wolf was already to go. He looked at Sabre. “Okay brother, let’s not keep the rest of Strike Force waiting,” he said. Sabre nodded and they both walked down to the waiting troopship that Lucine was in. Emerald drove her tank towards the same troopship; it was made to fit her tank. As she drove up the ramp three technicians attacked cables to keep her tank in position. She sat on the tank beside the door. The ship took off and flew towards the city while the rest of them landed on the beach. The bombers and fighters stayed above the city and forest to provide cover for the troops.

[TheDashingRogue]

The solitary observation balloon glided almost silently through the air high above the landscape, just above the clouds. The gentle swishing and put-putting of the engined rotary blades cutting through the air to propel the craft barely audible over the howling of the wind. Two men, both dressed in stitched leather and fur insulated body suits sat inside the steel basket, cuppping their hands around steaming cups of coffee. Their goggles steamed from the contrasting temperatures.

"So where are we anyway?"

"Somewhere north of our lines, we'll drop down below cloud cover to get a better look."

"Right"

Grabbing hold of the guard rail for purchase, the first pilot steered the airship down towards the cloud level, the droplets of moisture resting on the cold steel and glinting in the light. The second grabbed his binoculars from around his neck and proceeded to scan the ground below for any suspicous activity. Imperfect glass lenses showed an ever so slightly distorted, but still legible, image of the rocky landscape. Very rarely did the Luftkraft send airships out so far, the pilots merely accepting their orders as natural, a sneaking suspicion that this was a test, or training excursion. On a whole, the Reichstahl was isolationist, not bothering to interact with other nations and largely content with their own way of life. Of course, surrounding City-states beyond the Wall that had not pledged their support to the central cause were fair game.

The more powerful nations the Emperor had not wished to engage in conflict as such and so far had managed to stave off potential hostilities with an impressive display of defensive might and an uneasy cease-fire with the powerful Rising Sun to the south. Altercations were sporadic and unusual, the occasional warning shot in contested waters from the coastal defences, or a corresponding blast of energy from the RS's artillery when an observation balloon "strayed too far off course".

"Absolutely nothing... wait. Bring us about!"

The pilot swung the ballon round to a stop.

"I see movement, but I... I can't quite make it out. It's not any recognised camouflage of the surrounding City-states." The second pilot furrowed his brow, squinting through the leather bound glass lenses. "They're just white. I can't make out any form of insignia, or even any flags." He paused and lowered the lenses, turning to his comrade. "We don't have any special deployments in the area do we?"

"Nothing that command said" replied the first pilot nonchalantly, shrugging.

"Well bring us down a little closer will you, I think we can afford a closer look..."

"Aye aye, I'll alert Field Operations to our location." The first pilot picked up the circular transmitter mic from the radio console under the flight controls and held it up to his mouth, flicking the transmission switch. "F.O., F.O., this is Obsv-form Sierra 12. Grid reference... entering C3, lower right ninth from leading sector. We have possible sightings of radicals of unknown origin. Proceeding to investigate at lower altitude. Over"

The observation balloon's radio was strong enough to transmit messages back to the powerful receivers back at Forward Command, but lacked the opposing strength to receive long wave communications and as such expected no answer this far outside of Reich airspace. The craft continued to fall slowly, passing through levels of faint cloud below the main blanket.

"Gah, I've lost the sighting."

"You imbecile! If that's a special deployment then our names will be on the line. If we can't report back in full then we'll have failed this test!"

"We've been through this before, there is no test. Since when have you heard of a test like this?"

"Aha! See! That's exactly the point! We are expected to expect the unexpected, if you follow my meaning. That's why I'm the helmsman and you're just the lackey."

"Bah, stuff it you fat git. The only reason you got to be helmsman is because they know you'd probably eat the damn binoculars!"

"Hey, my weight is not the issue here!"

"We're in an airship! Of course weight is an issue!"

The two crewmen continued exchanging heated unpleasantries, rocking the balloon with their commotion as it descended to a level someway above the ground.

The craft drifted towards the last known location of the sightings...

[Gunnison]

It was a bright, fresh morning for the crew of the Nashiba, the fine ocean spray glistening on the white hull of the ship as the sun shone down. A soft breeze was blowing, the Imperial Flag rustling quietly in the wind.

The Nashiba was the flag ship of the Imperial fleet, the largest most advanced naval craft ever fielded by the Empire. An Ikuchi class Battleship, the Nashiba was the pride of the Empire and it's most powerful war machine. However, for all it's armaments and defenses, the Ikuchi was on a more diplomatic mission.

On the bridge of the Ikuchi, all is calm as the crew tend to their various monitors and controls, a low hum and whir from the devices and machines filling the room as they did. The bridge, like much of the interior of the ship, is a mixture of traditional oriental styling and modern, high tech materials. This produces an odd hybrid of the past and present, helping to retain some tradition.

The door to the bridge slides open, a figure dressed in pure white naval uniform stands at the entrance. The uniform is impressively clean and well fitting, with various golden stitchings and patterns incorperated into the design. The uniform features both a modern hand gun with holster and a black katana with scabbard, again a sign of the past and present.

The XO snaps to attention.
"Admiral on deck!"

The crew stand, turning to salute the figure. This figure, no less, is the Fleet Admiral Gensui Koshimara, captain of the Nashiba and the Empire's most decorated and respected military individual.

"At ease Officer."

The Admiral took his position at the commanding deck, surveing the various screens in front of him.

"Display current position"

The screen in the centre of the display flickered an orange hue, changing to reveal their location on a grid squared map.

"Current location grid reference C 5,5. Speed, 50 knots. Distance to destination, 40 nautical miles.

The Admiral moved his attention away from the screen, instead looking out of the front of the bridge. A small grey line was just appearing on the horizon, Reichstahl Defenses no doubt. On military operations these defenses would best be avoided by Battleships such as the Nashiba, however today was a day of diplomacy and good will.

"Alert Reichstahl coastal defenses of our presence and ensure they are aware of our sanctified presence. His Royal Highness will get his audience today, I intend to make sure of it."

"Aye aye Admiral."

With that, the Admiral sat back into his seat and awaited the response of the Reichstahl military before progressing any further. He could ill afford any costly mistakes on this mose auspicious of occasions.

[GraftRaven]

The Mainframe, present in all of the Artificers, usually content with operations as usual was, on this day, occupied with the sighting of another primative balloon. Two Scatter Tanks had spotted the thing on a standard patrol and, luckily enough, within range of a signal tower so that it was known by the Mainframe almost instantly. Naturally the tanks had cloaked and, at the distance the balloon was from them, would be completely invisible.

The Mainframe's response was quick, on the southern edge of the Manufactorum the top of a tall pyramidal tower opened, each of the four sides peeling downwards in collapsible segments, and a pair of Hunter Jets was launched vertically. They stopped, turned, and then shot off in the direction of the balloon and, with a terrible roar and the sound of wind on cold steel, were hovering on either side of it in under a minute.

The noses of the jets slowly zeroed in on the heads of the two passengers who seemed to be speaking a recognized language. A voice, obviously artificial, eminated from both jets in unison: "Organics, you are trespassing in controlled airspace. You will cooperate and be escorted back to your own, or disobey and be destroyed." A rack of missiles dropped from inside the jets' chassis as if to drive home the point. "Do you understand?"

[Fox Xalian]

The troopship landed in the town square. Sabre and Wolf lead the charge and took down the security forces that guarded the town hall. Lucine and Emerald came out next and kept guard at the door while Wolf and Sabre entered the building. As the moved through the building, fighting the security forces, they didn't notice a trap had been set. A small explosion destroyed one floor of the building, sending Wolf flying out a window. Sabre had been in the stairwell when this happened and he got the report from Lucine. He kept moving upward and reached the roof, where the former leader of the former Dominion stood. "By order of the Atlanian Empire, surrender your forces and let us take control of your city" Sabre said. The enemy leader smiled and shot him twice. Sabre let his bullets fly, knocking his attacker off the room. He went to his knees, the bullets had broken through his shield and armour, hitting him in the stomach. He blacked out.

[TheDashingRogue]

The pilots stared at one another, it was obvious that this wasn't a test from Forward Command. The craft looked alien, no pilot could be made out anywhere on the craft and it sported what looked like some rather formidable weaponry. However, despite the obvious inferiority of the airships technology, the men of Reichstahl were not ones to back down from a fight, especially when a threat had been issued.

The two pilots nodded at each other and ducked behind the metal basket, rising again sporting two heavy weapons. The first pilot slammed a heavy machine gun (http://www.fmft.net/vickers%20medium%20machine%20gun%20.303%20ammo%20v ickers%20mmg%207.jpg) down onto the edge of the canopy and opened fire. The shells spilling over the floor as tracers spun off towards the craft. The second hefted a large tubular rocket launcher (http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs4/i/2004/207/c/6/Echo_Frag_Launcher.jpg) and aimed the sights towards the hovering craft. Pulling the trigger the launcher jerked backwards as the exhaust fumes and sparks shot back over the airship, a crude rocket coiled towards the opposing craft leaving a corkscrew smoke trail in its wake...

[Sigma]

A thundering sounds of artillery rounds came booming across the small city-state of Cyina, as parts of the city came burst in flames and rumble as numveran spiderlings bombarded cyina without end. the panicked populace were in disarray and were barely able to defend themselves once the chimeran troops came marching through the streets to further intimidate the masses. supported their war beasts, the take over seemed almost too easy.

However, they would not enter the city without resistance of course, as a few mobs armed with light weaponry, attacked the chimeran units across the city in their futile attempt to ward them off. and the unfortunate mobs were soon mowed down by legionnaires without mercy, in the matter of a mere hour, the city-state quickly fell to the Numvera's chimera army, and soon be converted as a forward base for the General's campaign against the Reichstahl Empire, and moving ever close to the Great Wall.

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

From above the ruined city, the General's ship loomed over and begun it's descent upon the city center, crushing what little remained. the massive board ramp then lowered down, unleashing hundreds of soldiers and vehicles, moving down as they reinforced the troops sent to conquer the city. the General, some his officers and a squad of Elites were the last to leave the ship, and as his feet touched the ground, he scanned his surroundings and breathed in deeply, "Ah...nothing like the smell of victory...." he said with a grin beneath his breathing mask. he then turned back to face the officers, "Prepare the men to set up camp, and radio the commander of our new location."

"What of the locals, sir?" An Officer asked.

"Make use of them. we'll need the extra workers."

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

Elsewhere, in the Capital City of the United Provinces of Fortuna, a cloaked stranger wondered about in the market district of the city, on his back was a large sack, carrying clothing and other items.

The cloaked stranger soon had a chance to escape the masses, and hide himself in a dark alley. he set the sack down, and and untied it, as it unfolded, it revealed pieces of an Enforcer's armor and gear. in about seven minutes, the stranger disguised as an Atlanian Enforcer shot straight up skyward, and jetted for the Supreme Chancellor's Palace.

[GraftRaven]

The organics had chosen the hard way, both jets barrel rolled to try and avoid the weapons, but one was torn apart in a hail of bullets and fell to the ground with a crunch. The other was struck in its weapons rack by the rocket and exploded with its own payload, sending low-velocity shrapnel in all directions.

Back on the south end of the Manufactorum seven more jets were launched and sped off towards the balloon, these were armed with two machine guns each and flew in a three dimensional cone formation. There was a two minute period of rest at the attack site, then the Hunters arrived with storm of bullets from their guns which would punch hundreds of holes in the balloon given the chance.

Already elevators on the south side were running nonstop, raising squad after squad of infantry and squadrons of tanks, preparing for whatever would come next. As they were raised the ground forces assembled into ranks and stood perfectly still in stony silence until the next elevator Load arrived,then they would move forward one rank until that rank was filled.

[Higurashi]

In the Grand Palace, High Chancellor Hiltra's stand-in, actually named Hiva, was just finishing her make up. SHe always enjoyed the times when Hiltra was away. She got to put on all the pretty clothes and jewelry. Of course, she had to give it all back, and then there was the work, but OH the SHOES! The shoes were just fabulous. There was other down sides of course, such as being mistaken for her even when she wasn't doing her job. People were so formal, and Hiva loved to party. She hated it when the noise was always killed when she entered the party room.

Thing was, Hiva looked exactly like Hiltra. The scientists said they even had an almost identical D.N.A signature. No one knew why this was. They were from two completely different families. The recordkeepers had found that Hiltra's great-great-great grandfather had breifly dated the equivelant of Hiva's grandmother, but nothing ever came of it, and no child had been born in the years after. (Conspiracy theorists state that this is a lie, and that Hiva is actually Hiltra's twin secret simiamese twin.)

Hiva sighed again and continued her primping, determined to erase a single identifying spot on her left cheek. As such she didn't notice the danger coming towards her.

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

Meanwhile, Hiltra was being frustrated yet again. The remaining nobles were calling for their fellows to be released from prison, and have their lands returned. There had also been unrest in the population. The sudden demise of the noble caste had been shocking, and some didn't believe it, others were happy, and yet others were angry. The angry ones were quite loud to. There were protests all over Fortuna, and some had to be broken up because of violent tendencies. People real when change comes, and this time the resistance to it was large.

Hiltra stood up from her command table and looked out onto the Grand Parade Ground again. Nearly all of the army was assembled, and only a few reamining companies of Honorable Militia were absent. It was assumed that the remaining nobles had been holding them back to protect their own hides. After all, if the lower citizens rebeled, they would need protection. There had already been heated arguments about this. Hiltra sighed and sat back down at the table, covering her face with her palms.

[Sigma]

Numvera, Capital City of Oridel

Watching up high in the former Senate Building, now the Stronghold of the new rulers of numvera. Supreme Administrator Caulder watched from the balcony of his chambers as his armies begin mobilizing for the Rendallan Offensive. legions of chimeran soldiers matching in an orderly fashion. his moment of peace and bliss was interrupted as an Military Officer stepped in.

"Why do you disturb me in this moment of triumph?"

"Well..uh..sir.."

"Answer me!" he turned and shouted with an angry expression.

"Ye, sir!" he snapped to attention, the fear getting his words out correctly. "Our assassin has successfully infiltrated the Fortunan capital."

Caluders's angry expression soon became relaxed, and he seemed more calm. "Go on. what of his progress?" he said.

"He reported that he has begun the mission. and that is all we heard from him."

"Excellent...the Atlanian Fleet will be weakened...and we'll be there to see to that."

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

The Numveran Assassin came crashing through the Chancellor's room, rolling in and quickly rose up, aiming his pistol at her forehead. "Prepare to die, chancellor." he said as he was about to pull the trigger.

[Higurashi]

Hiva had just been about to finidh her lipstick when the assasin crashed through the window. She screamed and jumped (sort of, its hard to do in a dress), smearing the lipstick all over her face. She screamed again when she turned around and saw the assassin, proudly proclaiming her death. The two H.M. guards standing outside rushed in, and saw the the threat. The leveled their rifles in military percision and fired, while Hiva leapt behind a bed.

One shot landed in the assassin's forward knee, while the other took him in the shoulder. The assassin fell to the ground, and lay still. The first guard was about to land a shot in the man's head when his fellow stopped him. "Wait!" He shouted. "We need him for questioning!" Throwing up his arm. The two guards walked over, and restrained the assassin, then went to check up on Hiva. They didn't know that she wasn't the chancellor.

Hiva got up and burshed herself off. It was not the first attempted assassination that she had experienced. She then felt a warmth. She looked down to see her shoulder bleeding. The assassin's bullet hadn't lodged in her shoulder, but rather went through it. She then promptly fainted. In the aftermath, the prisoner was taken away while Hiva got medical care. Already rumors were flying about the assassin being an Atlantian.

[L]

The archaic skyscrapers of Rendallan's capital city sprouted up like a massive forest that surrounded and protected the central jewel, Castle Caer Gluion. The Castle itself was large and perfectly centered in the middle of the city.

King Pedrit stalked back and forth in his personal chamber. In the room also, were his 3 main Swordmasters – the longest serving and senior Swordmaster Alagosedhel, the Ranger Caranion, and the youngest, but most powerful of the 3, Prestolvór and Pedrit's wife, Queen Maethorn.

'They are an abomination. They must not be allowed to threaten our borders.'

'They may be an abomination Pedrit,' Alagosedhel was one of the few men in the world that could address the King with such familiarity, 'but they are too powerful. They would crush us with ease'

'Are not their forces divided though. They fight wars on many fronts, including internally' The Queen spoke quietly, though there was an authority in her voice born of hundreds of years experience as royalty.

Caranion, taking a sip from a glass of of aged whiskey, chuckled. 'And still they are managing quite nicely. I would advise against this course of action. There is also the matter of these Atlantians to the north – would it be wise to leave our northern border weakened... we can not attack and defend at the same time'

Pedrit nodded. 'We still don't know what they want though. Their ambassador is still waiting to speak to me'

'I could take a for-' Presto started to say, before being cut off by the older Swordmaster – Alago.

'Maybe the whelp should leave the tactics for those that have actually been to war'

Prestolvór's tribal markings glowed blue and his brow furrowed at being dismissed so easily. 'How about I show you real war old man!'

'ENOUGH! Both of you,' Pedrit strode between his 2 Generals, facing Prestolvór, 'There shall be no fighting in this room. The Numvera need to be eradicated, but maybe we should wait. Let the rest of the world weaken them. Then, when the time is right, we shall sweep in and finish them off'

The younger Swordmaster bowed, though his face still glowed brightly. 'Yes My King'

'Now Leave us you three. Send in the Atlantian Ambassador and we'll see what they want'

-

Hours later, in the darkness of night, a hooded figure – followed by a dozen other men – creeped out of the Castle Caer Gluion, heading towards the Drakan Forest that separated the Rendallan Empire and the Numvera.

[Fox Xalian]

Ambassador Kalnima walked into the throne room and knelt before the king. "Your Highness, we come bearing gifts and a request for an alliance between our nations," he said. He signaled to one of his body guards to stand and bring forth the gift, three blue gems and three marble statues, one in the shape of a fox, one in the shape of a falcon and one in the shape of a tiger. "Our two nations would benefit from this alliance, with our military and technological might and your magic we could become strong together and defeat the other nations" Ambassador Kalnima said. Being of Kalnima heritage he was trained as a diplomat and noble. He signaled to his other guard, who brought forth some armour. "For your royal guards" he said. His guards knelt beside him again and they waited for the answer, Kalnima didn't even break eye contact the whole time.

-

Sabre woke in the infirmary three hours later. He saw that Lucine was sitting beside him. "How did I guess it would either be you or my brother sitting there?” he said. Lucine smiled and stood up. "Wolf woke up one hour ago, he wasn't badly hurt despite the fall he took" she said. "He's watching our troops enter the city and set up,” she added. Sabre smiled. "I wish I could be there to watch too, but I guess I could watch when we take another city," he said. Lucine nodded. She helped Sabre stand and walked him to the platform on which Wolf was standing. "It is good to see you alive brother," Wolf said. Sabre nodded. "You know how much I hate to disappoint you," he said. They stood and watched the troops march through the city. "I sent an ambassador to the Rendallan's, I hope they accept our alliance request" Wolf said. "And I hope they like our gifts" Lucine added. "I think we should mix things up with our Shadowhand for the Reichstahl Empire" Sabre said. Wolf nodded. "We should spread propaganda to try and cause a rebellion," he said. Sabre smiled. "Exactly what I was thinking," he said. Lucine smiled as she saw her sister, Emerald, leading her tank battalions into the city. They had already gotten the civilians into the city, but it was not big enough for all of them, but Lucine had already shown them what her and her scientists had been working on, surrounding the island they had dropped pods that housed the city, it was in case they couldn't find land. But even with this island they would still use the underwater city to house everyone, it would also allow them to be more easily defended.

[L]

Pedrit listened intently to the Atlantian Ambassador, his eyes only slightly raising when he first produced a set of gems and statues. Then his brow furrowed when the armor was brought forth.

'Forgive me Ambassador. This has come as quite a... shock. We are of course honored to accept your gifts with the thanks of the whole Rendellan Kingdom' The king motioned for one of his guards to take the gifts, including the armor.

The king stood from his seat behind his mahogany desk, walked around and lent back on it, arms folded.

'Now as for your offer of alliance – we of course have enemies on our borders and a friend could be of much benefit for us. How much we can help you though... we will try. I can't offer you much in the way of gifts, and I fear your kind may not take to magic well. But I will offer you a few warriors and one of my Swordmaster's lieutenants – a lad, but skilled, by the name of Reklor. Between them they shall be able to provide you some assistance'

Pedrit was about to continue when a young elf burst in to the room, bowing hastily to Pedrit and his queen.

'My liege... it's Prestolvor. He's...,' Pedrit raised a hand, silencing the interruption and turned to Ambassador Kalnima.

'Ambassador, my apologies, but I must deal with this. If you'd mind, Reklor should be in the main barracks. Relay my wishes that he choose 5 warriors to act as a delegation to your Empire. We thank you for you off and accept'

-

After the Ambassador had left, Pedrit allowed his messenger to continue.

'My lord, Swordmaster Prestolvor and a group left the city not an hour ago. Heavily armed and headed towards the Numverans'

Pedrit sighed heavily and turned to his queen.

'To be expected I guess. We should be thankful the Atlantians want an alliance – if they can be trusted'

Maethorn, sitting in a comfortable deep chair, tapped her long fingernails on the arm of the chair.

'Reklor will suss that out, he can be trusted. We need to prepare the defenses though. The Numveran's will not like this attack'

[Fox Xalian]

Ambasador Kalnima walked to the main barracks and found a young man who could have been Reklor. "Are you Reklor?" he asked. He looked at the boy and smiled, if this was Reklor he could be of assistance after all. His two guards whispered to themselves, sound impressed.

-

Sabre looked at the best Shadowhand he had trained. "Your mission is to take two other Shadowhand and infiltrate the Reichstahl Empire, try to cause a rift in their military, but if you can't try to get the civilians to start an uprising," he said. the Shadowhand, a young girl named Sora, bowed before him. "Yes sir, I shall deal with that right away," she said.

-

Sora lead her two fellow Shadowhand across the border into the Reichstahl Empire, after a long ride in a transport. They had stolen some outfits, Sora was wearing the uniform of an officer and the others wore civilian clothes.

[Higurashi]

When Hiltra got the news that her double had suffered and attempted assasination, she was outraged. How DARE another nation preform such a dishonorable action! She was of course, fuming in her uarters when the news of the assassin's identity came through. It was an Atlantian! Hiltra stormed from her tent in a rage ands went to the control tent. When she rushed in, the whole place went silent. They were waiting to see what she would do. It was widely known that Hiltra was levelheaded right up to the point of her being enraged, and enraged she now was. She stomped over to the command table and brought up the files on the main screen. She stared at them for several minutes before speaking.

"Listen up ladies and gents!" She shouted with fury. "These bastards think that they can get away with murdering me, your elected leader! Well I'm going to tell you, they will NOT! We are going to smash these shits so far into the ground that they'll be in the mantle! Not one left! Not one freaking one left alive. Every one of them dies! We're going to blast their blasted home ship out of the sky, and roast marshmellows over their burning bodies! HAVE, YOU, GOT ME!?!?" Every single one of the personelle cheered heartily, though in their hearts they feared for their lives. The Atlantians had the most powerful airforce in history, and news would soon arrive of their new alliance.

The very next morning, Hiltra stood over the Parade ground, watching Noble Transports taking off and docking themselves with the Royal Battleships. Each Battleship would hold a full Legion (1000) of Honorable militia, and their vehicles in accompanyment to their regular crew. Each Battle ship was acompanied by two Mentionable Escorts. The mentionable escorts held a compliment (100) of Provincal commandoes each, along with their basilisks. All in all, there were 100 Battleships, 200 M.E.'s, 100,000 HM, 10,000 Provncal comandoes, 10,000 basilisks, and assorted tanks and ground transports.

[Sigma]

While the Fortunan Military took off in their airship fleet, security became lax, giving the numveran assassin time to escape and make his report.

In his cell, he discarded his armor and activated the jet-pack, causing it to go berserk as it bounced off the walls for a minute before exploding from the repeated blows to itself. the noise caught the attention of one of the guards as he ran toward's the assassin's cell. "The hell was that?" he shouted as he scanned the room from the small window on the door. the assassin was nowhere to be seen, only burnt armor. the guard then opened the door and slowly stepped in raising his las-rifle. before he knew it, the assassin struck his neck with the elbow and knocked him out. three minutes later the assassin now posed as the guard and ran as fast as he could.

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

"Supreme Administrator." An Officer spoke as he entered Caulder's Chambers. "We have just received a message from our agent. the mission was successful. Fortuna is mobilizing for war."

"Excellent..." He grinned. "Now Phase Two is in motion. we shall take advantage of this incident as a means to turn the tide of this global conflict, and convince the Chancellor to an Alliance."

[L]

Reklor had been bending over, retrieving a his sword for practice when he heard a ripple of whisperings go through the room.

He straightened up and was in the midst of turning when he hear a voice.

'Are you Reklor?'

He completed the turn to face a fancily dressed man and 2 others standing behind him, whispering to each other.

He hand was still resting on the hilt of his sword as he looked the new-comer up and down before speaking.

'Might be – who're you, and how'd you get past the guards?'

-

In the dead of night, the blue robed Pestro and his unit descended out of the forest to the border village.

The commando force had spent the day sussing out the village out and Presto was confident it would be the perfect starting point.

This will kick our King in to action. I know he wants this war, but those old fools hold too much of his attention. We require action, not talking'

As the others in his group prepared their weapons, Prestolvór closed his eyes and started murmuring, his fingers making small, rapid motions.

His cloak and face started to glow blue and electricity sparked between his fingers.

The rest of the group – weapons readied and defensive spells case, watched in quiet awe as even the ground around their Commander seemed to come alive.

Prestolvór finished the spell with a flick of his hand towards the village.

Five bolts of lightning lanced out the sky, striking the village in various places, starting fires and, in one case, an explosion.

Prestolvór smiled through tight lips.

'Wipe them out'

[Sigma]

Panic spread across the village as the people scrambled for cover as the explosion followed. the local Barracks at the top of the village came alive as at two dozen soldiers, both militia and legionnaires, streamed out to engage the unseen attackers. an Officer in a black uniform was at the front of the unit. "Scatter and secure all Village's entrances!" he ordered. "We'll lure the rebels into a trap." the officer assumed that this raid was perpetrated by the numveran loyalists, that however would lead to their deaths.

As one squad of legionnaires ran outside at the front of the village, they saw no sign of enemy moment. "This is Zeta Leader." the squad leader said over a comm-device. "No sign of the rebels....processing furth-...ARGH!!!!' the squad leader was cut off as he was struck by a arrow in the neck. his men watched in horror as he struggled to remove it, but became motionless. they turned to the forests, quickly aim their rifles and unleashed a hailstorm of lead.

[Fox Xalian]

Ambassador Kalnima looked at Reklor. "I am Ambassador Kalnima of the Atlanian Empire, our two facvtions have just formed an alliance and the King has told me that Reklor and six other soldiers of his choosing are to acompany me back to our command ship as part of the agreement" he said.

-

Sora and her Shadowhand managed to get near the capitol city of the Reichstahl Empire and set up a secret base for the spreading of propaganda. Sora moved towards the training camp to try and get a job training new troops, this would further her orders, while the other two went about trying to turn the civilians against their Emporer.

-

Two Cerber recon craft flew across the natio, scouting the other nations to see what was going on. "This is Cerber 1 to Avia Control, we have spotted potential threats near the United Provinces of Fortuna, they appear to be massing a fleet, we have no idea where they plan to hit" the communications technition said. "Copy that, we'll stay on alert, try and find out what they are planning on doing" Lieutenant Commander Midnight, the second-in-command of the Avia Carrier, and Wolf's adopted son, said.

-

Midnight linked into the Admiralty Board meeting. He looked at the hologram of Wolf. "Father, we might have a problem, the military of Fortuna are massing an army, they are loading up battlecruisers as we speak" he reported. "Thank you Lt. Commander, anything else?" Wolf asked. "No sir, nothing of imediate concern, Lt. Commander Midnight out" Midnight replied, closing down his link. Sabre looked at Wolf. "I think we should make a pre-emptive strike against them, just in case" he said. Wolf nodded. "Is the rest of the Amiralty Board in agreeance?" he asked. Ice nodded. "I think we should send Sabre and Emerald to lead the attack" she suggested. Sabre looked at Ice. "I will need more then that" he said, looking at Wolf. "Send Shad and Midnight with me, I'll need air support" he said. Wolf nodded. "I'll also send Ice and Cougar with you for battlecruiser support" he said. Sabre, Emerald, Ice and Cougar all nodded and closed their links from the meeting. Lucine looked at Wolf. "What about me?" she asked. "You are to keep making that new weapon for the Kibalay that you told me about" Wolf said. Lucine saluted him and closed her link. Wolf, who was sittingf on the command deck of the Kibalay looked out the window and wathed his fighters patrolling high above the city, they had taken position north of the island they had taken.

[Higurashi]

Hiltra sat in her chair, on the command deck of her personal ship, the Glorious Retribution. This was the flying ship that many Rulers of Fortuna had used. It had seen plenty of action, and its crew was the most tight knit and hardcore of all the ship crews. An added bonus was that the ship was three times larger than the largest Battlecruiser in the fleet. The same applied for almot anything else about the ship. There was three times the weapons, three times the crew, and even three times the amount of armour plating. The downside was that it took twice as much fuel as a regular battlecruiser.

The most defining feature, wasn't any of these. It was the ships main weapon, the Merciful Death. It was fully half the ship's length, centered right in the middle. It was a huge gun, with almost enough power to slit mountains. The MD could fire five shots before having to reload. Its ammo, a massive explosive solid slug that travelled at three times the speed of sound. The downside was that the ship couldn't fire any other guns while doing this, requiring it to be guarderd by four regular battlecruisers and their escorts.

The entire fleetr was moving, and it was going at top speed. (Approximately 456 mph) The escorts were currently flying perimeter defense, in a circle around the main fleet. WHen the enemy engaged they would fall back to their own parent cruiser to protect them from aircraft or ground attack.

Another few ships of note were the Valkerie, Armageddon, Cloudskimmer, and Battlecruiser 66. These were the Glorious Retrubution's guard ships. The only main difference was that they were equiped with long range launchers, meant for the Elite basilisks. While all battlecruisers were equiped with launchers, these could fire their Basilisks through the atmosphere, far faster and higher than the range of any known weapons. THe launchers could also be improvised weapons, launching large nuclear explosives much the same way they launched basilisks.

Now Hiltra rose from her chair, and went up to the central command post, a prestiged position which only the quickest and best hearing of the fleet could ever hope to man. Now Hiltra manned this post personally, and opened an almost cliche glass bow with a button in it, which she pressed without another thought.

All across the fleet, weapons were readied, men wakened and brought to their posts, and Basilisks put into launch position. Hiltra was going to send one message, just one to the Atlantians, the news of their doom, which she now did. She opened up the comm channel, and broadcasted on every known Atlantian comms channel. "Atlantians! You have defiled you own honor! As such we will show NO quarter! That is all." With that she turned off the comms and returned to her seat.

[Fox Xalian]

Sabre stood on the bridge of the Avia Carrier, he had taken command of this section of the fleet, he had taken eight battlecruisers with him in stead of the two that Wolf said. He watched as the bomber and fighter squadrens swarmed around the fleet, he had full cammand of them, every fighter, bomber, intercepter and transport that was on the ten battlecruisers and the Carrier were his for this battle. "Shields up weapons online" Lt. Commander Shad said, looking at her brother. "Engines to full, maintain War Cruise speed" Lt. Commander Midnight said. Sabre manned the communictions console. "This is High Commandant Sabre Xalian to War Cruise fleet, we are going on our first decisive battle in this war, since we have won against the Rebels we have been building up, and taking that island was the last part of that, now we can, and will take our place on the world stage as a dominant nation" he said. He stopped for a little bit to gather his thoughts. "We have to send a message to the other nations that we will take any act of agression in kind, this is when we say we will not lay down and die, we will not go quietly into the night, today we celibrate our Independace Day!" he said, yelling the last bit. Ice manned her communications console. "Here, here sir" she said, the commanders of the other ships replied in the same way. Before the comm channel could be closed Sabre replied. "We have done nothing to harm you since we have only just claimed some land for ourselves, but you seem to be wishing to be destroyed, but honour dictates we give you this chance to surrender, so here it is, surrender and face our leader in a sword duel or continue this and be destroyed in the War Cruise, you have one hour to respond" he sent.

-

It took a couple of hours, full speed being 600 kph for this fleet, but they mad eit to a location surrounded by mountains. "Hold here, we have the advantage" Sabre said. "Yes sir" Shad replied. She got on the communications console. "All ships halt" she said. "All stop aye" the commanders repiled. "All fighters, bombers and interceptors get ready to scramble" Shad ordered. In the hanger bay of the Carrier pilots ran to thier ships and did their pre-flight checks. All the Wing Commanders radioed in. "Valkyrie Squadron standing by" "Seraphim Squadron standing by" "Skystriker standing by" "Blackstar Squadren standing by". Ice, Cougar and the other battlecruiser commanders flicked some switchs, they had bypassed all energy from engines to weapons and shields, this would slow down their manuverabilty but increased shield and weapon power. "Their fleet is on our radar sir, and no reply yet" Midnight said. "They have not responded, fire two warning shots" Sabre siad. Midnight nodded and fired their twin railguns twice, right passed the Glorious Retribution's bridge. Sabre opened the comm and hailed them. "Enemy fleet on our port bow, you have been give a verbal warning, those two warning shots will tell you we do not intend to leave, leave this area or be destroyed, this is your final warning" he said.

[Fox Xalian]

(Deleted because my computer double posted this for some reason)

[L]

Minutes in to the attack and a rain of bullets smashed in to the unit's shields, creating sparks and bright flashes of light as the bullets pinged harmlessly across most of the shields.

One of Prestolvór's men, however, had not cast his shield properly and after a dozen or so bullets had slammed against it, the shield faltered and after a few more, failed completely. None of the unit had time to react as the helpless man, silent until the end, was shredded to death by the gunfire.

Prestolvór had no time to look back and assess the casualty though as he and his men rushed in to the village proper, their blades flashing through a few unfortunate civilians that poked their heads out to see what the commotion was about.

The commander himself rushed past in to the heart of the enemy troops, his blade flicking out, causing mortal cuts on a few troops, until he found himself surrounded by enemy troops – cut off from his own men.

-

Reklor nodded to the Ambassador and looked back at his small squad.

'Pack it up people, our illustrious King in his esteemed wisdom wants us to take candy from strangers, and we must obey'

The men in the barracks surrounding the Ambassador silently moved to obey their commander, starting to pack for the trip in to Atlantian territory.

[Fox Xalian]

Once Reklor's troops got packed Ambassador Kalnima and his guards lead them towards the transports. "Once we land we'll be met by my cousin Arianna and she'll take you to meet Fleet Admiral Xalian, the military leader of the Empire" he said. One of the guards chuckled to himself. Arianna would be, most likely, interupting an Admiralty Board meeting to introduce Reklor to Wolf, and she'll be so excited about being let into an Admiralty Board meeting that she'll forget what she was meant to say, he should know, when he had to do that he was the same.

-

Lucine wasn't on the surface of the planet as usual, she was on an orbital platform, a space station in high orbit around the planet. She was talking with one of her scientists. "Once this is finished will it do what I want?" she asked. "Yes ma'am, it'll pull an asteroid out of the asterdoid field surrounding our planet and fire it at the target, it will even have a barrage capability" the scientist said. Lucine smiled, somewhat evilly. "Very good" she said. She checked on the status before heading to her ship to take her back to the command cruiser.

[Higurashi]

In response to the Atlantian message, the entire Provincal fleet started to spray death in a more or less percise wall of fie. On the Glorious Retribution, Hiltra aimed at the center of the enemy fleet, to one of their aircraft carries, and pressed a big green button. On the lower decks, a single small shot was loaded into an absolutely huge loading mechanism, and was locked into firing position. Nothing happened for a few seconds, then a huge rumble rippled through the ship. The single shot fired into the larger one, igniting the fuel, and the shot flew from the gun's barrel at beyonf the speed of sound.

The sheer force of the afterwind was enough to shift several battlecruisers off their inteded flight path, and there were a few casualties because of a battlecruiser, the Avian, hitting one of it's escorts. On the four escort battlecruisers, the Basilisks were fires at around the same time as the Merciful death. Instead of straight up, the launchers were at an angle, so as to shoot the drop-fighters directly above the enemy fleet.

On the Mentionable Escort Gallant, Captain Regendald shivered under the sheer enormousness of the fire being thrown at the enemy. If he tactical reports were right, this would be a long anf bloody battle, which the Fortunians could very well lose.

[Fox Xalian]

"All ship commence fire, launch all bombers and fighters!" Sabre yelled over the radio. The Carrier's twin Rail Cannons fired at the Gallant.

On board the Lacento, Admiral Ice Nikalay watched as the all the shots went towards the Fortunian fleet. "Fire all missiles at the biggest ship there!" she said. She checked the status of the other ships. The Tilanka, another battle cruiser that was slightly smaller then hers, crashed into the ground after being shot down.

Sabre had seen this. "This is High Commandant Xalian to Orbital Platform Cannon, target the United Provinces of Fortuna, fire the biggest asteroid you can find at the second biggest city they have, make it look like a natural disaster, bomb them all" he ordered.

-

On the platform Lucine had just left the commander heard the order. "Firing now" he said. He fired three small asteroids at the Fortunian capital, then the biggest one came, he fired it at the second biggest city. He watched as the asteroid broke up, the smaller pieces sped up, the larger piece was still on course for the center of the city, the rest should hit the outskirts.

-

Back in the battle, Warrant Officers Hailie Nikalay and Tion Xalian launched their Speedstrike Bomber squadrons. "Seraphim Squadron is ready, heading for target" Tion said. "Valkyrie Squadron is also ready and heading for the same target" Hailie said. They both went for the biggest ship.

-

High above the battle, three Ultra High Altitude Bombers armed their special ion bombs, bombs that would negate shields, but also traveled very slowly. "Targeting their engines, bombs away" the lead pilot said. Three ion bombs went for the Glorious Retribution's engines.

-

Back in Eracor, the new capital of the Empire, a group of civilians watched as the asteroids flew across the sky, they had no idea that this was a weapon, it looked like a asteroid shower, it was known to happen occasionally with the asteroid field surrounding the planet.

-

Sabre watched as three more of his ships went down. He pulled up a link to Wolf and called an emergency Admiralty Board meeting. "This battle is going to go to a stalemate, I request support or permission to retreat" he said. "I agree, we can't win" Cougar said. "Even if we do make them retreat we wont be able to continue the advance to their nation" Ice said. Wolf nodded. "I'll mobilize the remainder of the fleet and come to support you, we should be there in under an hour at full speed" he said. "Thank you, High Commandant Sabre out" Sabre said, cutting off his link. Ice and Cougar also turned of their links.

Wolf turned his chair around to the command console. "Attention all ships of the fleet, we are joining the Blood Rain against the United Provinces of Fortuna, form up on the Kibalay and prepare to move out" he said. He watched as the ships formed up. The Shadowstalker and Angelfire took position near the bridge. "All ships are ready sir" Wolf's second-in-command said. "Good, we move in half an hour" he said.

[Higurashi]

In truth, thee Fortunan's intelligence was severly lacking. It was painfully obvious to some that there was a simply massive station in orbit, but due to command structure, this important peice of info had, and never would, reach the higher-ups in the Fortunan military. This now held sever consequences for Fortuna, but not as disasterous as was possible. The reason Fortuna was as rich soil wise as it was was actually because of asteroids.

In the far past, back when the humans of the world were just mammals creeping amongst the trees, The Fortunan sea basin was originallyu land. The mountains on either side of the entrance had once been a full seaside mountain range, covered in pine trees and then snow. There had been an avian/squirrel species that had reined dominant, now extinct. Then the World Killer came.

Somehow the story had survived the ages, a giant meteor that had floated around the world as a second moon almost. One day it was told it had fallen from its lofty heights, and fell to the northwest tip of the continent. It was told that as it fell, many small fragments had fallen off, which now made the many small basins that populated the agrarian Fortuna. These fragements caused much devastation, but the worst was yet to come.

The main peice hit the farthest corner of the continent carving a great gouge before impact. When it hit, it went off with a bang like none other. The explosion was so immense that it blew an uncountable amount of soil into the air. The assorted fragments left the atmosphere the force was so great. Over time, these fragements rained from the sky, redistubting valuable rescoures, and the result was the Fortunan basin, with its fertile lands around it.

To this day, the area of Fortuna and some surrounding land was prone to meteor showers. As time went on, the people inhabiting the area of Fortune learned to deal with these disasters. When the neccesary tech finally became usable, the first priority was to set up a defense against these disasters. In every major city of Fortuna, there was a meteor defense grid.

But even with this, the sheer mass of the objects thrown at them sent the people of Fortuna into a panic. Ancient air-raid sirens wailed, and people either ran through the streets or cowered in bunkers. In the as of late poorly kept up meteor command center, there was frantic activity. According to rushed estimates, there was not hope for Fortuna's second largest Metropolis, Ouranberg. (Lol) While being the second largest, Ouranberg had the defense grid of a much smaller city. Such was the bane of having rapid growth.

The Defense Grid was raised in defiance, despite of hopeless odds. It was mainly comprised of gigantic Plasma cannons. These began lobbing their payloads into the sky, practically painting it a burning red. Shot after shot slammed into the Meteor, heating it up along with the atmosphere. Huge trails of slag and melted rock fell behind it, plowing into the landscape all around Ouranberg. But, as the estimates had implied, there was no hope.

In the Fortunan capital, Hival, there was a single wave of mass, stampeding panic. The people fled from the city in a single mob, practically trampling each other. The defense grid in Hival was much better, however, and fleeing the cty more or less caused more casualties then the meteors would have on their own. The defense grid hadjsuted fired a number of shots that would deflect the meteors, right when it noticed that their trajectory was the fleeing mob of citizens. There was nothing they could do as the meteors hit, killing approximately five and a half million people in an instant.

Back in Ouranberg, people said last prayers as the meteor fell, only to find some of their prayers (figuratively) answered. The Meteor, while still causing some death and detruction from heat and air pressure, overhsot the city, and landed behind the city, craving a great gouge of its own in the country side.When it settled, everyone could see that it was black, and slick as glass, as was the gouge it had created.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

[Fox Xalian]

After all the fleet had gathered, and that transport that Ambasador Kalnima and the Rendolan commander Reklor were in had landed on the Kibalay; Fleet Admiral Wolf Xalian sent out the order, they would go at full speed, they had to slightly upgrade the engines to fit the time frame of one hour at full speed.

As the Kibalay came out of the clouds behind and above Sabre's portion of the fleet all the plasma cannons and rail cannons started to fire on the Fortunian Fleet. Sabre opened a channel to his brother. "Glad you could join us" he said. "You know I never miss a party" Wolf said. He closed down his link and watched the battle. Already most of Sabre's ships had been destroyed.

[Sigma]

The Numveran Officer could hear the screams of his men as they fell one by one by the swift Elven forces. "The hell's going on?" he said to himself, pulling out a comm-device. "All squads report!"

"This Zeta-04, we caught ourselves an elf. there are no rebels...."

"This is Seirra leader! I lost all my men...those bastards....ahhh!" the line went dead there as his throat was slit by a charging elf.

"So...they finally fingered out the invasion..." the officer said grimly. "This won't go well with command.." he then switched to zeta squad's line. "Bring the prisoner at the barracks at once!"

"Yes, sir."