[M] Great Galactic War

[Sigma]

The Shadow of War looms over the Milky Way Galaxy. from all across the galaxy, war breaks out. from human space, tensions rise between the Terran Federation, Colonial Alliance and the Sternreich as the pact signed long ago has been forsaken for the sake of dominance of the human race.

Meanwhile, the Alien powers begin their own campaigns. invading formally neutral planets and star systems, even clashing with each other, and the humans.

The Great Galactic War has begun...and the galaxy has become a dangerous place.

[Higurashi]

Councilman Raymond looked over the stars as the other councilpeople gathered behind him. Well, more accurately he was watching a screen that depicted what the stars would have been from where he was looking. In reality, there was several hundred tons of metal plating, people, supplies, and other things between him and open space. This was because they were on the main command ship of the Colonial Alliance's navy, the Star Gazer. An apt name for what he was doing in Raymond's opinion. He often watched the stars for seemingly no reason. He simply thought they were beautiful.

Raymond then turned around to look at his fellows. Most men wouldn't be able to tell that they were all staring at him. But Raymond had a certain sense of 'constructive' paronoia that allowed him to tell when people were watching him, even if appeared that they were faced another direction. He now smiled. It was always good to put on a smile for the public at a meeting such as this. Afterall, who wouldn't be watching such a historic occasion? In fact, though Raymond didn't know it, hardly anyone was actually watching this 'historic occasion'. This was because not many people in the Colonial Alliance really cared. Everyone only wanted his own peice. Raymond was oblivious to this of course.

In case the reader was wwondering, the hostoric moment was just another routine meeting between the Council. They hardly ever did anything accept in war-time. Even then they only gave general orders. Attack this faction, capture this man, and the such. They only rarely gave specific orders to the military. Generally the military did its own thing while the council gave the appearance of control. Raymond, as usual, thought he had actual power over people. In truth, this was limited to just how much the man could insult others. He had a basic disregard for anyone else's feelings, but somehow retaining the appearance of diplomacy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

Lord Commondore Lincon stood to the side as the meeting began. He was only here so that the Council wouldn't screw everything up into an unfixable mess. They had nearly managed to do it several times but for Lincon's interferance. Lord, he thought. There was that one time when the were going to declare a schism against the Terran Federation. The council had thought it was a great idea.... at least publicity wise. The idea was that they declare a Schism and make it look like they were not to be messed with. In reality it would have only suceeded in pissing the Terrans off, and causing a brutal and bloody war which Lincon knew that the Alliance wouldd likely lose in the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~

The meeting went on as usual, with the regular diplomacy issues coming to the front first. There was one incident of note out of approximately several dozen. This was the case of an alien trader (A Travin) saying that several Alliance citizens had stolen his goods. While this normally would have been passed to the local authorities, it was taken to the council due to the nature of the goods. Supposedly, it wass one hundred metric tons of a valuable mineral named Metalchloporxium. (Lack of names.) The mineral was in raw form, and would only amount to a dozen tons of usuable material. The problem was that MPCM was used in building the most complex computers that the Alliance knew of. it wa s a dangerous situation. If they gave him the goods, there would be an uproar amongst the Tech's Union. If they didn't..... there might be sever consequences with trade. The Travians were the lifeline of the buisness. If they pulled out, there would be no market. It was resolved that the Travian would have to come up with more evidence before it was decided. The goods were placed in storage.

[Shifty]

Grand Councilor Uari was thinking, and thinking, and thinking. Strains were becoming tense between the Human factions, and even amongst the other races. So far, the AZC had been quite neutral, and was determined to stay that way. Unfortunately, there was a growing number of Adiri who thought they chould eter the fray and try to capture other worlds during the coming chaos. Uari knew it woul bring the Adiri into a bloody war, with nearly endless possibilities as to the outcome. He was awoken from his reverie by the sound of a fist pounding on a table, a most un-Adiri act. When he looked up, all was quiet, and three Vaersk were standing in the doorway.

"To what do i owe your presence, Senator Imberga." Uari said. He looked behind the Vaersk senator and saw all five of the leaders from the Senate of Zerok. "It is uncommon for one Senator to come to the Adiri council, let alone several." He spoke English, as it was one of the few languages both Vaersk and Adiri could learn easily. He could have spoken his native tounge well enough and been understood, but he liked the Human language. When spoken by an Adiri, it sounded light and airy, almost melodic.

"We of the Senate have come to confer with you. It is a matter of urgency, and one best decided by those best accustomed to the problems f our respective people." Senator Imberga said. He too spoke english, although it was much harsher, more guttural, than when Uari spoke. Still readily understandable, though.

"Well, go on. We are alwasy open to help our neighbors." Uari said, sweeping his arm to include all of the Vaersk and Adiri in the room.

"Councilor Uari, we of the Senate have deduced that our homeworld has begun to become overcrowded and..." Imberga searched for the word. " harsh. Too harsh even for a the Vaersk. It is a dying world, sir, and land previously habitable is now a blistering waste or frozen tundra. We have several colonies, but none have the resources to take more than a few thousand more colonists. We need more planets." He banged his fist on the wall for emphasis.

Uari took time to think about what Imberga had said. He was a young Vaersk, only 42 and already a prominent senator. Still, he had a valid point. Adir was becoming far too crowded as well, and like the Vaersk, his races colonies couldn't accept more Adiri. "Well, Senator, how do you propose we solve this problem? All of the habitable worlds near enough to be practical are already colonized, and terraforming could take decades, even centuries. The only solution would be to go to.... war." He almost whispered the last word He sat for a second, then continued. "Senator, what you propose is going to war with our neighbors to capture their colonies and resources, am I correct?"

"Yes, Coincilor." the Vaersk responded. "You are."

""Do you realize what this would entail? We have hardly the army to conflict with eeven the weakest of our neighbors, Arming new soldiers could alone take months to accomplish." Uari said. He knew this day would have come eventually, just not this soon.

Imberga said, "Sir, nearly one third of the population of Zerok is homeless or jobless, and we are creating an excess of materials. With Vaersk industry and Adiri technology, we could have one of the greatest armies in this part of space." Imberga was breathing calmly, but couldn't keep the anxiety from his voice. "The other races are nearly at war with eachother, and we willl be engulfed into the flames of war soon enough. If we start arming ourselves now, we need not fear losing a war, let alone a battle. All of the Senate of Zerok is willing, as are the Vaersk. All we need is the support of the Grand Council and we can go to the AZC and give them our proposal." Many members of the council were by now whispering amongst themselves, as were the Vaersk behind Imberga. They were all waiting on Uari. They need not wait long.

"All infavor of Senator Imberga's proposal, say 'Aye'." Uari declared. Everyone in the room said "Aye". "Well, Senator, it seems we shall have to pay a visit to the AZC Council." He looked at the Vaersk troop in the hall. Imberga craned back his head and gave a loud, guttural yell. It was primeval, and the other Vaersk followed suitew. It was the Vaersk sign that they were ready for battle, and meant to instill fear in their enemies. Uari almost flinched, and thought it was very fitting. For the first time in centuries, the Adiri were to go to war.
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Imberga was correct when he said they could create a great army in a short time. The AZC Council agreed to the proposal, however reluctantly, and began to arm both the Navy and the Army. Many formerly jobless Vaersk were in factories constructing ships, armor, shields, or weapons, or putting on a uniform as part of the Vaersk Marines. Within weeks, the AZC had constructed ten new warships, of which three were dreadnoughts, the largest in the AZC fleet. Older ships were retrofitted with new engines, shields, and armor. thousands of troops were ready for battle ever day, armed with the most sophisticated weapons the AZC could provide. The only question now was who the first battle would be with, and when.
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Aora was tired. She had a right to be, after nearly two days straight awake. She had been coordinating her operatives' movements and actions, which was xhausting to say the least. She would get relieved in one more day, but that day seemed like an eternity.

She sat in a decent sized room in a large, comfortable chair. In front of here was a large console and a dozen video screens, of which only half were currently running. On the console ws a canteen of water. Aora knew the other Coordinators hated when she put drinks on the console, but she didn't care. It didn't hurt the machine, and she needed to stay hydrated on her three day shifts.

One of the dead screens in front of her sparked to life. It was providing a live feed from one of the Infiltrators, Furi. Aora leaned in close to make out what was on the screen. Furi had been tracking a Travin cargo trading ship, supposedly carrying a large cargo of MPCM. The Adiri Agency was hoping to "aquire" it, as both the Adiri and Vaersk homeworlds didn't have the correct chemical makeup to have natural MPCM deposits, or the materials to produce it, which meant they had to import it, and that was becoming increasingly expensive, at least to the AZC. They had permission to use almost any means necesarry, as long as they stayed covert

The current video showed a massive chunk of the material in a warehouse, somewhere. There was a flag in view, but the quality of the video was sketchy, and Aora couldn't make it out. HSe spoke into a microphone hooked around her head. "Furi, where are you?" She wished she didn't need to ask that. In fact she shouldn't have too but for security reasons, Agency operatives coulnd't carry trackers outside of AZC space, as they could be reverse tracked to the Agency's headguarters.

The response was rough, and hard to hear. "I'm currently i-... -ial Alliance storage wareho-..." Not only was his connection bad, but he was whispering, which meant he was somewhere he shouldn't be. The Colonial Alliance wasn't supposed ot have this cargo, which meant it was either stolen or contraband from the trader. Aora guessed the second, as the Colonial Alliance didn't have the resources to steal a chunk of MPCM this big unnoticed. At least, Aora didn't think they did.

"What planet are you on? We need to know, if we're gonna get this rock anytime soon. And change your frequency. All I get is static here, which is annoying." Aora took a sip of water from her canteen and leaned back in her chair. Relations were currently unstable with the Alliance, or any human faction for that matter. At least it wasn't the Sternreich. Stealing something like this from them would have been impossible.

"Currently on the pl-........-ordinates ar-....-id you get that?" Furi said.

"Dammit, Furi, I didn't get any of that! I said fix your connection!" Aora nearly screamed into her heaset. She would have thrown her headset to the ground, if she thought it weouldn't brake. She refrained, knowing it would brake if she did. She was using outdated equipment, which should have been replaced centuries ago. It may be near instantaneous, bu it still sucked.

"Sorry." Fur responded, his voice now coming clearly over the headset. "I am currently o-" He was cut off by the sound of footsteps and shouts. From what Aora could hear, they were human, and they weren't happy. "Shit!" Furi said. Aora heard the voices come closer.

"Furi, get out, now!" Was all Aora could say. She heard humans yelling, Furi trying to explain. She heard the human's accuse him of spying, which Furi quickly denied, saying he got lost. Then She heard someone scream, a human. Then a loud crack, the sound of a human arm breaking. Several more yells, threats to shoot. Furi swore at them. Aora saw Furi running in the video feed. Then two gunshots, and Furi arching his back, now newly perforated with two neat, bloody holes. He fell to the ground, the fall breaking his headset ad sending static to Aora's ears. One of the humans found the camera and threw it to the ground too, stopping the video.

Aora just stared at the screen. This was the first time she, as a Coordinator, had lost an operative. She quickly regained herself and pressed a button on the console in front of her, then spoke into her headset. "We have an operative down, I repeat, Infiltrator Furi is down." Within seconds, sirens were going off all over the base. Adiri were running every which way, as Aora made her way to the boss's room to report what she had seen and heard.

[Fox Xalian]

The white marble city of Eracor, the capital city of Atlana, the capital world of the Atlanian Empire. It shone in the morning light. People went about their business, kids went to school, adults went to work. And the Alliance fleet came into view, their command ship, the Kibalay, blocked out the sun. Suddenly Atlas class transports landed in the palace grounds. Troops and tanks came out, the battle to retake Atlana had begun.

Jed Rebic, the leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Atlana, the RAFA, or rebels, was watching as his troops started to retreat into the palace. Three years, he had held out for three years, now it was all going down hill. "The tides of war have shifted, now this is my last stand" he said quietly.

"Sir, our troops have the palace grounds" Teal'c, the First Prime of the Free Jaffa Nation said. "Very good, you and Master Brae'tak take the Legion down and help them" Fleet Admiral Wolf Xalian said. Teal'c nodded and marched to the quarters of the Jaffa Legion, his own army inside the Alliance. "Jaffa kree!" he said loudly, leading his Jaffa to the transports.

From the safety of a high rise apartment building, Captain Sora Kalnima watched through the scope of her sniper rifle. She picked off soldier after soldier, making sure the rest of the Alliance Military could get through. She watched as the fleet provided fire support, blowing up emplacements.

Commandant Keelah Xalian was at the door first, along side her cousins, Commandant Arianna Xalian and High Commandant Sabre Xalian. "The explosives are set" she said. They all got behind a pillar that had been destroyed. "Fire in the hole!" Arianna said loudly, blowing up the door. Rebel troops rushes through the breach, but got cut down by 1st Lieutenant Emerald Silknam's shredder tank, one that was owned by the Talin Hul's leader, High Commandant Zap'linda Tilkan before he was "promoted" to that rank. "Charge!" Sabre ordered. His troops charged into the palace. He secured the first three floors.

Commander Talin and her squad braced as their drop pod hit the landing pad on the palace. She opened the door and led her troops through. All the Republic Commandos happened to be women, considering every 1 in 10,000 births was male, the exact opposite of the former Valian Federation, it was rare to see a man in any Republic squad. They took the final three floors. Wolf had already landed. He had linked up with Sabre and they all broke through the door into the throne room. "Die shul'va!" Sabre and Wolf both yelled, firing at Jed Rebic. He fell quickly. Arianna ran over to his body. "He's a clone, the real Jed Rebic escaped" she said.

High above Atlana a small transport made the jump to hyperspace. "I'll return, but first I'll cause some trouble for them" he said quietly to himself. He went towards the Adir-Zerok Confederacy. He sent out a small communications burst. "This is Supreme Commander Jed Rebic, formerly of the United Systems Alliance, calling the Adir-Zerok Confederacy, I have information about an imminent attack on some of your out lying worlds, I repeat, the Alliance is planning to attack you, I request asylum in your lands, I can provide you with the weaknesses of their military forces, especially their fleet" he said.

[Higurashi]

In just under an hour, the entire Warehouse disstrict was locked down. There had even been a special deployment of the Seventy-Fourth Valhallan. The security forces had been taken to debreifing. What they reported was disturbing. The spy was an Adiri. Rarely had such a thing happened on the world they were on, Exvalon-7. The security forces were as green as spring grass, and most everyone was surprised that they had been able to take down the Adiri.

Colonel Isaac, who was in charge of the Seventy-Fourth, in particular was shocked at the events. Upon further study, the Adiri proved to be a special operative. The doctors and techs said his equipment was rather advanced, even for his species. The most striking feature was that the holes caused by bullets had closed up. It appeared that they would have healed if he hadn't died of blood loss. Isaac found this intruiging. He had never seen a case of almost regenration before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

When Councilman Raymond was alerted to the incident, he was furious. He went about in a rage for an hour or two, yelling at seemingly nothing about the audacity of the Adiri. Raymond simply couldn't believe that someone would spy on them. There had been no hint of trouble between the Alliance and the Confederacy. Raymond then stormed out of his office, demanding that the council be gathered. Even who saw him figured that he was going to do something stupid. They were terriably, right.

When Raymond reached the councilroom, the rest of the council was already there. They were tired, as they had been aroused from their sleep to a sudden Council call. This rarely if ever happened, especially when it was Raymond doing the calling. He was always one for ettigue and rules. They now could tell that he was mad enough to break any of those rules to accomplish whatever goal it was that he had in mind.

They had all just sat down at the table when the intelligence reports arrived. They spoke of forboding things. Apparently the Confederacy had been mobilizing its army. There was no apparent reason why except for a few reports of ecological degredation. Raymond cared little for this reason, and saw no actual link between it and the spies. As the council continued, he did what was most possibly the stupidest action of his entire career. He ordered the deaths of all Adiri and Zerok in Alliance space, then declared war.

[Atrum Daemon]

Times of war and strife meant one simple thing for the Gedie-Travin Trade Empire: massive influx of profits. They knew well how high the demand for their military-grade exports would become for many of their client race and systems. The Trade Empire had never sought to expand to fully control other systems due to the great size of the Pendulum System and the even greater size of their trade network. However, this by no means meant that they were defenseless. Both races of the Trade Empire possessed well-tested armies and naval power. But, they were not looking to use any of their military power on any of the human or other alien factions. No, they were more concerned with the growing violence of secessionists within their own star system. That did not mean they were going to ignore problems their own traders faced. One such problem was being discussed by the high powers of the Empire.

----

“This is outrageous!” Trade Minister Rogor half-shouted within the council room. “Those ignorant humans have no idea the real value of the MPCM mineral.”

“I agree,” Lord Heritor, a very prominent Travin noble. “As of this moment, the mineral is being kept in a storage unit of the Colonial Alliance.”

“The loss of the whole hundred metric ton payload has not gone over well with our buyers,” Treasure Minister Hanza said calmly. “But, they have agreed to wait until either the situation is resolved, or a second payload is shipped.”

“Sending a second payload would be no problem,” Tech and Science Minster Omar said with a light shrug. “Most don’t know that MPCM is a very simple mineral to synthesize into it’s raw, usable state.”

“Well, if we don’t get the hundred shipped out by the end of the month,” Rogor said, “then the client is going to pull his deal. How fast can a new shipment be ready?”

“I can have it ready and shipped out by the end of the week,” Omar said after a momentary pause to do a few calculations in his head. “Let everyone squabble over this small incident.”

“Agreed,” said the low, rumbling voice of the Emperor. “Letting them believe the mineral is difficult to produce has seen a rise in the price of it. However, in this situation, it would be best to do as Minister Omar has suggested. Synth a new payload and ship it with a more secure Travin ship. All agree?”

There was a rousing chorus of agreement from the council room.

[Shifty]

Councilor Ol of the AZC Council read through the report in front of him, anger and sadness growing inside him. From the report, almost 1,000 Adiri and Vaersk had been killed, needlessly by the Colonial Alliance. Apparently, it was due to the discovery of an Adiri spy on one of their planets. Although those numbers were small, considering there were 10 billion Adiri on their home planet alone, massacring innocent civilians was unthinkable. Around him, the whole council was arguing, asking what to do. Being the oldest of the AZC Councilors, Ol was usually looked upon to create order, which he did.

"Enough of this squabbling!" He yelled. "We must decide what our course of action should be."

"Crush the humans as the bugs they are!" One Vaersk, Councilor Gresh Immalda said. Shouts of agreement followed. Ol knew he was probobly correct. To not do anything would mean nearly every senator and councilor of the AZC and it's constituent parts would be impeached, leading to mass anarchy, and most likely the loss of many of the AZC fringe worlds. Still, attack would be the spark that lit of the powder keg of war in the galaxy. Arguing began to resume, but Ol held up his hands.

"We shall retaliate,." He said. All was quiet. "Alert the Navy and Marines. They are to head for Alliance space. Their orders are to escort several Adiri councilors and Vaersk Senators to negotiate with the Colonial Alliance about resolbing this problem peacefully. If not..." He didn't need to finish. Everyone knew what would happen.
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Grand Admiral Tilra watched from bridge of the ANS Delra Miver over the Adiri fleet. It was a magnificent sight. Adiri ships weren't blocky and gray and black, but had smooth, flowing lines, and were silver with various colored stripes to indicate class, name, or purpose. Tilra heard the door open behind him, and turned to greet her guests.

"Councilor Ton and Councilor Grasa, I presume." She said, bowing to the two esteemed men.

"Yes, We are they." Ton said, also bowing. "You must be Grand Admiral Tilra."

"I'm sorry to say I have never met the first female Grand Admiral. It is a pleasure." Said Grasa, bowing deeper than Ton.

"No, not at all. Pleasure is all mine."Tilra said. "It is not every day that I get to have two important councilors upon my humble ship." She paused and looked at the doorway. "Are the two Vaersk Senators coming as well?" She asked.

Ton Replied, "Yes, they should be along shortly." He had berely finished when two of the most influential Senators walked in, Senator Grusk Imberg and Senator Ibren Seolm.

"Senators, glad to have you abord." Tilra said, punding her chest with her right hand. It was the traditional Vaersk greeting, and she had learned it was similar to a greeting used by humans in the "Roman Empire" some 3000 years ago.

Both of the Vaersk returned the greeting. Imberga said, "Glad to be here, Admiral. Are the others aboard their vessels?" He was asking about the other politicians.

Tilra checked her console, then replied. "Yes, in fact. You are the last. We should be entering hyperspace soo-" She was cut off by a sudden message.

"This is Supreme Commander Jed Rebic, formerly of the United Systems Alliance, calling the Adir-Zerok Confederacy, I have information about an imminent attack on some of your out lying worlds, I repeat, the Alliance is planning to attack you, I request asylum in your lands, I can provide you with the weaknesses of their military forces, especially their fleet" The voice said.

"This could prove... advantageous to us." Councilor Ton said. The other politicians agreed. "Go ahead, Admiral.

Tilra nodded and reacted quickly, and put on a headset, speaking into it. "Attention Supreme Commander Jed Rebic, this is Grand Admiral Tilra of the Adiri Navy. We will proide political asylum within our borders. You are to head directly to the planet Zerok. Once there, guards will escort you to a safe location until further notice." She just as quickly pressed a button on her console and spoke again. "Attention ANS Kelri, ANS Realla and ANS Amira. you are to remain here and are to remain battle-ready until further notice. Be ready to head for any of the AZC fringe worlds ASAP. Understood?" She waited a second before finally pulling off her headset and turning to the politicians again.

"Are we very much finished? The sooner we reach the Colonial Alliance, the sooner this can be over." Senator Seolm remarked.

Tilra sat in her chair and swiveled it around to face Seolm. Se didn't say anthing, but just smiled and turned back around to her console, hitting a button. The entire ship lurched into hyperspace, followed quickly by 15 other ships. Soon, they would be within spitting distance of the Alliance's defenses, and hopefully, within hours of reaching a peaceful solution.
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Aora was sitting at a table, surrounded by five surviving members of her team. They were all their to be briefed on their mission; To recover Furi frm the Colonial Alliance, and as a secondary, sieze the MPCM. Aora was easily the most nervous of them all. She had just lost an operative and good friend. She knew he wasn't dead. Even though reports said the humans declared him dead, it wasn't true. Adiri have two hearts, as one would be too little to supply blood to all their limbs given their height. The humans had most likely checked his left heart, and not his right. He would be in extreme pain and most likely unconcious, but alive. The door opened and a seemingly unimportant Adiri walked in.

All of the adiri at the table stood up quickly and bowed t the figure. "Greetings, Boss." They all said.

"No need for that now." The adiri known only as Boss said. His voice, unlik e most Adiri's was deeper, almost a bass. "Fomality is a luxury now, and one that inhibits efficiency. Is everyone here?" He looked around the room. It was a huge room, with a table in the middle for almost 20 people. After a few seconds, he nodded. "Good. Now, you're mission is to infiltrate a Colonial Alliance morgue to retrieve Infiltrator Furi. Being a morgue, it won't be too difficult. The trouble will be getting into Colonial Alliance space, as their council has ordered every Adiri and Vaersk to be killed on sight, and then out again safely and covertly." The team shifted uneasily in their seats. "You all know I'm not for the specific intelligence stuff. That's Coara's field. I'm just here to tell you one thing; Bring him back, no matter what, and leave nobody else in those humans' hands. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir." Was the unanimous response. Boss left without another word, and Coara began to give her report on the security of the area,ad how they were to get in without being killed.

[Higurashi]

When Colonel Isaac got the order, he couldnt believe his ears. "Please confirm that." He said calmly into the comms unit. The man on the other end of the line confirmed it. Isaac still simply could not believe it. It simply wasn't possible. How could the Council declare war over a single spy? To make it even worse they had ordered a Schism. It was in-humane, against every moral fiber in ISaac's body. Killing innocent, defenseless civiliamns? That was madness. Still, Isaac obeyed his orders.

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In the morgue, Seargent Tanil was watching over the body of the infiltator. He was wondering just how the man had gotten ast security protocols. Tanil figured it was easy to be truthful. The man could have slipped in on a trader vessel, then almost just walk in to the storage facilities. Security hadn't been that tight. Tanil assumed that the security team had been on their way out to go home when they spotted the intruder. They were even more lucky to have killed him. It was then that he heard a moan. He looked around and saw no one. He then looked at the body. It was moving. He started running, screaming into his headset.

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Seargent Degovin was already walking toward the morgue when the alarms went off. He was in the company of Major Roth, Captain Raslen, and Captain Reydan. All four of the had been chatting away when the yelling started in their ear-peices. They all started running and came upon Seargent Tanil. He joined up with them and raced back to the morgue. When they arrived there, the 'dead' Adiri was waking up. Major Roth approached, Assult Rifle raised. "You better start talking scumbag." Was all that he said.

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Lord Commondore Lincon simmply couldn't believe what was happening. The council had basically gone rouge, and there wasn't a thing in the world that he could do about it. Lincon was the moderator. He was the one that was supposed to make sure the council didn't screw up. It seemed that he had now failed. There simply wasn't time, He rationalized. I wasn't alerted to the meeting. They had already made the decision before I even knew it. This of course didn't make things any better. Lincon now had to obey orders, and plan out a bloody war with the Confedracy. It was increasingly apparent that Councilman Raymond was insane.

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[spirits breath]

The lands were rich with life. trees and forests amounted a large part of the scene. Alone without even the rustling of wind and leaves, two figures stood next to each other. the one, a strong and colored as a healthy leaf, Lith stood looking down at one of his closest friends. Embraced in soft black fur, and tough jet black scales, Selena croutched low in respect.

A light voice came out as the Rialtnia looked skyward as the stars began to appear. "My king. Our ships are almost done. we are working on the communications relays as we speak on our last one. they will bring great glory to your name." Lith scratched at the ground lightly, bowing his head to the grass as his way of kneeling.

A relaxed voice came up from the king. His tail making a thick indent in the grass. "You mean the four ships that you have been working on four the past two decades? That is good. Strong, highly capable, and should help with negotiations. We need allies, not foes. Perhaps a culture lesson?"

His reptilian voice came out with a slight chuckle. "You Nargacurran could always find something to learn. Nice, but I feel as if we should be more than prepared for the worst. Like now for instance. We have perfected personal sheilding. Must be the first in all the galaxies to do this. Even found out ways to allow it to resist certain things. Say explosives or fire. sure they aren't inpenetrable, but they should help us immensly."

It was Selena's turn to laugh. "always with you Rialtnia. You think too much with your teeth. Now then. What if say, you come across a civilian who is hurt. And to eliminate any ties with you, that civilian is a human. What would you do to it?"

Lith patted Selena's patch of fur on his back. "We don't kill civilians. I have enouhg of your speaches given to me, I gave the glory of reciting them to many of my soldiers. They follow it to the very letter. Now, I am preparing to send a single ship. We have smaller ones, but we will send word if anything comes up."

Selena watched the twin moons make their way above, listening to the soft pads of he friend dissapate.

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One Week Later
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A single large ship floated near what must have been the milky way galaxy. Drifiting through space as it conserved fuel once it hit a suitable speed. there was no telling how fast you are going in space, only how much closer a destination gets. The ship, called Dauntless, resembled a flagship, or a mothership if anything. It's size was ;arge enough to hold tens of thousands of beings on top of it's crew. Also one of the only ships with it's own forest to create fresh oxygen instead of having air recycled numerous times.

Twin clinks of claw rapping metal made Lith's entry known. While he and about every one of the crew wore a uniform with a personal sheild emmiter. Currently set on off of course to conserve it's life. With a uniform of a light blue, and black emroidery, he looked out onto the stars.

Gently a lick ran along the end of his tail. A male who came along as the name of Zharr around his crew. Otherly known as messenger to others. He gave a light bowing motion before he mentioned the comm relay. "sir, we have found a nearby planet. Potential allies in my opinion. Should we establish a connection?"

Lith turned and licked at the other Rialtnia's face. "Thank you for letting me know Zharr. By the way, I may suggest to polish your scales a little before we attempt much more than talking. We don't wish to show them that our messenger would be allowed to be a bit durty after a nice meal I assume?"

the white Rialtnia gave a light lick of his lips. " She always seemed to give me a bit more than usual." He began to happily pad off to his own quarters.

"I never did understand that boy..." Lith muttered to himself. as he walked over to the communications relay. flicking a few switches, he contacted a planet below him. "This is Lith Faldore of the Incendians. I wish to set up a place we may talk face to face. We wish for a peaceful negotiation, no bloodshed to be made at all."

[Fox Xalian]

"Admiral, we have scanned all sectors, but have found no sign of Jed Rebic, we believe he might have run to another faction to cause some trouble for us" Warrant Officer Tion Xalian said. "Okay Warrant Officer Xalian, keep watch for a rival fleet that may attack us" Fleet Admiral Wolf Xalian said. Warrant Officer Xalian saluted. "Is there anything else?" High Commandant Sabre Xalian asked. "Yes father, I mean sir, the twin worlds of Alkanima and Salinsa are reportedly fighting, it seems a rebel cell popped up on Salinsa and began the attack just after we reclaim Atlana" Warrant Officer Xalian said. "Fair enough, we'll send a squad to help deal with this problem" First Prime Teal'c said. Again Warrant Officer Tion saluted. "Warrant Officer Tion Xalian out" she said, closing her hololink. Sabre looked at Wolf. "It seems that the clean up has begun" he said. Wolf nodded. "I suggest we send members of the JDA to watch over our borders" he said. "I received word that an Atlas class transport went into the Adir-Zerok Confederacy" Commandant Arianna reported. Sabre sighed. "I think we should watch that border closely" he said. "Right, Keelah, you take the bulk of the Talin Hul forces with you and your JDA battalion" High Commandant Zap'linda Tilkan said. Keelah nodded. She knew she would be commissioned for this mission. They all saluted and closed their separate hololinks.

-

Commandant Keelah Xalian was on the bridge of the JDA battlecruiser Tilanka. "This is Commandant Xalian to JDA battlecruiser Siltina and Talin Hul battlecruiser Helkinsa, form up on the Tilanka, we are heading towards our colony in the Disalgin System" she said. "Siltina copies" the commander of the Siltina said. "Helkinsa, forming up" the commander of the Helkinsa said. She lead the forces of the JDA and Talin Hul on the hyperspace route to the Disalgin system.

-

"Supreme Commander Jed Rebic copies" Jed Rebic said. He hit the hyperspace route to Zerok. He checked his cargo. Three of his best troops, just in case, and some examples of weapons and armor the the Alliance would use, along with holotapes with the plans for the ships of the fleet, especially their command cruiser, the Kibalay.

-

Admiral Kalin of the Republic watched as the Kibablay took up position around Alkanima. She used the ring transporters to get Teal'c and his Jaffa Legions to the surface. This was her first mission without her sister Talin and cousin Kalnas looking over her shoulder. Commander Talin had been put under Commandant Arianna's palace guard commanders. And Fleet Admiral Kalnas was back above Volarous, watching over the final parts of the construction of their biggest ship, the Olinas, it would be double the size of the Kibalay. But it would take longer to build.

-

A small explosion occurred in the Volarous Shipyards, right near the Olinas. "What the hell!" Kalnas yelled. "Sorry ma'am, it seems the sublight engines aren't ready yet, we can't get the power core to power the super laser cannon you wanted" 1st Sargent Vala Jalnima said. Kalnas sighed. "How long?" she asked. "As long as it takes" 1st Sargent Zala Jalnima said, shrugging slightly. "Hey at least you have the three best engineers in the Alliance" 1st Sargent Sala Jalnima said. "Yes I do, dismissed" Kalnas said, saluting the triplets. They saluted back and went back to work. More trouble in the construction. First a group of political terrorists had targeted it, then the rebels did the same, then they had to stop with funding the construction to fund the war. Now with this set back the ship wouldn't be ready any time soon. So they couldn't do anything with it to give them an advantage in the impending war.

[Sigma]

On the edge of the Kasara System, in the end of Imperium Space, a grand fleet was beginning to mass over the world of Kasara. the fleet numbered to around a hundred and twenty vessels, over half of the Imperial Navy had been gathered.

The fleet consisted of over eighty frigates, with sixty five Saklars and fifteen Kortuls. thrity corvettes, five battlecruiser, four battle carriers and finally one Dreadnought acting as the flagship. where this fleet intends to go, is but a mystery to even the crews of each vessel. however, a handful of officers have knowledge of what's to come.

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

Within the Captain's Chamber aboard the Vulkoras Dreadnought, Emperor's Glory. Admiral Satzi, and three other fedorian captains, Egtiu, Rae and Nhulis gathered around a holo-display of Emperor Moai III. kneeling before him. "Is everyone here?" the emperor asked.

"Yes your majesty." the Admiral replied, then raising his head. "Where shall we begin the campaign, sire?'

"It pleases me to see you all so willingly serve the Imperium. the enemy you will face will be a challenge, however, I have faith that you will succeed."

"Who will be our enemy?' Captain Egtiu asked.

"You will invade the Empire of the Stars." he said as the rest of the officers immediately raised their heads in shock.

"Forgive my words, sire... " Captain Rae said as he stood up. "But I fear that even this mighty fleet may not be enough to attack these fanatical humans. their troops are ferocious and unrelenting, not even the mal'krin could send fear into them."

"As well that we have not enough data on their starships" the Admiral added ."To go in blindly is suicide..."

"I suspect that you would have doubts..." the Emperor said. "But do not fear. I have provided your fleet with prototype weapons that may prove valuable for your coming campaign. they currently wait aboard on one of your carriers. now go, fight with all your might, for the glory of the Imperium!"

[Shifty]

As soon as the Confederate ships were out of hyperspace, their shields went up. It would take almost half an hour to get them to full power. Why they couldn't keep them up in hyperspace was that they were literally torn off the ship as fast as they were generated due to how quickly the ship was moving. Tilra didn't know the science of it, just that it happened, and that there are at least a dozen physicists working on the problem. Now, Tilra simply looked at the four politicians on the bridge of the ANS Delra Miver.

Personally, Tilra hated politics. Too much beuracracy, not enough action. Now that the Colonial Alliance had all but declared war, Tilra's life just got a lot more interesting, and a lot more stressful.

The communications officer on the bridge sent out a message to any Alliance personell in the area. "This is the ANS Delra Miver, of the Adir-Zerok Confederacy. We are on a mission of peace and negotiations. We will not attack, but will defend ourselves if fired upon. I repeat-" He continued giving the messge again, to make sure a ship didn't shoot at them because of ignorance.

"Senators, councilors, I hope you were briefed on safety and security protocol before you were brought on board?" Asked Tilra, her eyes darting from each politician to the other.

"Of course, Admiral." Replied Councilor Grasa. "You forget, I was an Admiral before i was a councilor."

"Good, so you know that if we are to come under fire, then you are to go immediately to the shuttle bay for immediate evacuation. The sooner you're out of harms way, the better, because then we can get into the battle without fear of your safety." Tilra said. She didn't wait for a response, but instead turned to her console to check on the other ANS ships.

There were only 15 ships with her, of the now 75 ship fleet, but all of them were large ships. One of them, the ANS Fralna, was a carrier two times as large as the Delra Miver. It carried a couple thousand fighters and bombers, but lacked raw firepower to defend itself. Thus, it needed an escort, such as the Delra Miver or the other 14 ships, most of which were cruisers and frigates.

Tilra checked the specs of her beloved flagship, to make sure everything was functioning and ready for the worst. The main broadside batteries were operational, as were the smaller AA batteries. The engines were running at peak efficiency, and the shields were now at 27% and would be done in about 13 minutes. All of the Vaersk boarding parties were ready and awaiting orders, as were the damage control crews and the med-bay.

On a seperate screen was the specs of the Delra Miver's primary weapon: A massive magnetic rail gun, a recent addition to the Adiri arsenal. If wasn't a fast weapon, and took several minutes to load, but a single shot from it could destroy most frigates or cripple a capital ship. Currently it was being loaded with a depleted uranium round with a thick tungsten sheath, capable of reaching speeds exceeding mach 10. If Tilra requested, it could be armed with a a nuclear warhead round for extra punch, or a new, very well kept secret weapon, called the REAPER round.

She looked up at the comm. officer. "Any response from the Alliance yet, Reges?" SHe asked.

[Fox Xalian]

Jed Rebic came closer to Zerok. He looked at it. It reminded him of Atlana. He landed at the location he was ment to. His two guards got out of the back and placed their weapons on the ground. After that Jed Rebic got out and stood beside his troops. "Now where are those guys who are meant to escort us to the safe location?" he said quietly.

-

"Sir, Alkanima Security Forces have reclaimed their world, we are now moving onto Salinsa to take out the rebel cell" Admiral Kalin said. "Very good, keep me posted" Fleet Admiral Wolf Xalian said. Kalin saluted and turned off the hololink. She watched as the transports went from Alkanima to Salinsa. Pretty soon the final rebel cell would be destroyed.

-

the JDAN Tilanka, JDAN Siltina and THN Helkinsa all dropped out of hyperspace near the edge of the Disalgin System, near the USA-AZC border. "This is THN Helkinsa, our scanners pick up no movement near our location, it appears the AZC isn't planning an attack" the commander said. The Helkinsa was a interdictor-class frigate, it could pull any ship out of hyperspace by activating it's gravity well generator. Unfortunately it's shields, weapons and engines wouldn't work as well when the field was active. It also had the second best long range scanners out of the three battlecruisers there. "This is the JDAN Siltina, we still shouldn't let our guard down, we have no idea what kind of ships they have, or when the attack will begin" the commander siad. "All crews stay frosty, we don't know if Jed Rebic has told the AZC any lies about us" Commandant Keelah said. They launched three Cerber-class recon ships each to scout the AZC territory near them. Unfortunately the Cerber's stealth technology wouldn't work in space.

[Higurashi]

For several minutes, the only response from the Alliance was static. There appeared to be no within communications range. This was soon rectified. The main Alliance fleet jumped into the system in close formation. It was a risky tactic. One that could have caused a number of friendly fire collisions. But, thanks to a large amount of luck and co-ordinationtion, the Alliance somehow pulled it off. The fleet numbered approximately ninety ships in all. What the Alliance lacked in firepower, they more than made up with in durability and numbers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Councilman Raymond was at the head of the fleet, with the rest of the council staying back on the homeworld. He had taken personal command of his 'crusade' against the Adiri and Zerok. This made it somewhat obvious that he was insane. Most men had never thought of Raymond as a mentally unstable man, but it seemed that the spy had pushed him over the edge. It seemed that there was no way out from the impeding war. Thankfully, Lord Commondore Lincon rectified that.

Raymond had just began to speak when the door to the bridge opened behind him. Several men came on screen, dressed in Matte Black with three red stripes down the left shoulder. Each of these men was wearing an Overcoat and triangular hat with a symbol of a flying eagle imprinted on it. Lord Lincon then entered. He was dressed much the same except that the stripes on his shoulder connected at the bottom end, and his hat was round.

Raymond clearly hadn't been expecting company, and he turned around, blustering feircely. "W-what are you doing here Lincon!? Who are t-these men?!" Lincon simply took a large pistol, also with the eagle crest of its side, then said, "Councilman Raymond, you are hereby charged with treason, and endangering the people of the Colonies with your stupidity. Summary execution is in order." Raymond only got out a "What are you talking abou-" Before his head was blasted to peices by the pistol. Lincon then looked to the screen, and began negotiations.

[spirits breath]

Lith clicked the relay off. His frontal claws rose and fell on the flesh surrounded metal. "Odd. Normally we would have received a message. Must be the communications unit failing. Selena did say it was still in progress, and unlike this ship, I can have a forest in me for oxygen to help others fix it."

a light voice came from a female. the looked more along the lines of an earthly deer. "sir, excuse my rudeness, but perhaps if we land on the planet below us, we can fix it up. Maybe be able to make direct contact more possible."

The Green Rialtnia looked over at his assistant. He spoke almost to himself, yet aloud. "Landing on another planet may not be considered... welcome. Especially wheb the landing ship can't send out or receive transmitting calls. Sending scout ships possible, though very risky as well." Lith had begun to make a thin oval as he paced back and forth. "Man I wish selena was here. Thinking of all the customs and how to's. The other nargacurrans on this ship however are here to learn more about other cultures and beings."

Soon the female rose up and lightly trotted over to her superior and lightly licked his tail to get his attention. (this is the equivalent of saying hey in a highly respectful way in this culture. Yes they keep theselves clean) "Sir, we could land the ship and simply go on about the repairs. That should help to keep us looking less hostile. All the while sending out a small group to figure out the relationships you are looking for."

Lith soon stopped, jaw hanging open. He turned to lick her cheek happily. (a thanks) "You are wiser than you make youself out as. I like that. Now then, lets prepare for our decent. Should tell Quar to get her legs cleaned. Or or arms. Pincers?" He stood there wondering for a moment. " Just tell her to get herself ready. I would rather not be on her bad side. As skilled as she is, she still creeps me out. Though the less I have her looking over me the better. The scrimneang left the bridge, undoubtfully to alert the crew of what is happening.

Letting the gravitational pull of the unmapped planet to the Incendians, they began to plot their landing point. Their landing zone would be in a clearing near a bed of water. The purple and red ship have a fluid pulse as it pushed power into engines so that it may slow it's fall. As this was done, the ship began to send out a small porobing tentacle to see if theair was brethable outside of the ship, the light sounds of the ship pulling air in followed.

Once landed,several of the crew ran out and began to climb the ship to th communications relay.Hryssar lazily flew up to the top, gently holding his stinger up. As he did so, he began to make himself busy like what he was related to. A small group, including a new Nargacurran and Zharr began to set out. with them was two more rialtnia and the female deer, whose idea surged this. It wasn't until she began to talk, that she was known as Jewl Invesian. The group offive set out with a simple goal. Find civilization, and then make sure they are clear that they are not hostile. With them, they had their personal sheilds now set to the on position and a small radio to communicate with Lith. A small group of soldiers were ready to charge in at a moments call of help or assistance.

[Shifty]

Furi woke up slowly, not fully realizing what had happened. Then, he felt a pain in his chest, and it all came back. The last thing he remembers was running away from some humans, then two loud cracks. Gunshots. A sharp pain in his back, and he was falling. The, blackness. He heard someone talking, and sirens. He tried to ignore it, to find what was wrong. He had a hard time breathing, his lungs working as hard as possible to get more air. He just stayed still for a moment. He had been in this position before. He just had to sit still and let his left haert fully restart, to get pumping again.

He could only imagine the look on the Human's faces when his wounds helaled up. they must have taken the fact that he stopped bleeding as a sign he had died, when in fact millions of tiny nanobots were repairing his body tissue, and had sealed the broekn ateries, even broken down the one bullet that had hit a rib and stayed in his body. He also knew that he woud now be questioned, possibly tortued, to get answers and information. So, when a human wielding an assault rifle barged into the room, Furi was ready, already sitting up on the table.

Furi simply stared at the gun, and decided to call the human out on his action. "If you really wanted information, you wouldn't dare kill me. You'd merely maim me, which I'll tell you right now won't do you any good. I mean, I already came back from the dead once, right? So, what say you stop pointing the gun at poor defensless people, and we start over. I'll even begin. Hello, my name is Furi, and i'm from the Adir-Zerok Confederacy. Who, may I ask, are you?" He looked the Human straight in the eyes. if he was correct, the human would lower his gun and not kill him. If not, then the room would soon be plastered with what was once Furi's cranium.

[MikeZZZ]

Deep in space, the scout ship Auroa jumped out of warp.

"Report." The Captain ordered quietly to his crew.

"All systems are in the green, cloak engaged, scanners operational." the Engineer replied black, just as quietly.

"Good, lets find out what this planet has to offer us. I'll be in the ready room, I want a report in 1 hour, weaknesses and strengths included." Captain Darko ordered.

"Sir, it appears this race has starship capability, no match for us, in the early stages. Orders?" a crewmember asked.

"Same as always Cadet. Launch probe and send message to council for first contact request. After that, I hope you know what to do. Darko smiled, thinking of when he used to be a cadet not to long ago.

"Yes Sir!" the Cadet responded sharply.

Still smiling to himself, Darko headed to the ready room, flanked by 2 bodyguards. You never know, mabey these people will want to join us, or mabey they will be hostile. Darko paused slightly at this thought, Your as bad as that Cadet. he thought to himself. War is not fun and games all the time, you are only a scoutship now, not that monster battleship. Grinning, he thought of the good times, before his command was revoked. Finally in his ready room, he sank into a chair, and thought of the good days, as he awaited council reply.

[L]

The unmarked hyperspace ship jumped in to the edge of Fedori Imperium space. A small world that the bug-people had recently conquered.

Aboard the small ship were 2 people. Lauren Fen, a Terran Diplomat, sat at the terminal of the craft, her fingers quickly running over the controls as she steered the craft towards the planet below.

'Are you sure this is a wise course Captain? General Almedias is not known for his... sanity... of late'

The second being spoke through the craft's comm-system. The AI voice of the hyperspace jumper was a nuisance most of the time, but Lauren was glad for the company on these lone journeys.

'Probably. But we serve the Federation, and General Almedias is the Federation. Terra help us if he's wrong'

She leaned back in the seat for a moment, sighing. Then she hit the communication button that would send a message throughout the system.

'Fedori People. I am Lauren Fen of the Terran Federation. I respectfully seek an audience with your leaders'

Lauren hit the button to stop the communication.

'Lets hope they're not hungry...'

[Sigma]

Elsewhere in the Royal Palace on the Capital of Fedori Prime, Emperor Moai III sat on his throne watching a holo-display of the Garrison Commander on the colony world of Oslora, reporting to him immediately of the detection of a Terran Federation vessel that entered the system just moments ago.

"I see." he said, rubbing his "chin", "And this is a not a warship?'

"No your majesty." the Garrison Commander replied. "They came with the request to speak with you."

"Very well then." he said as he stood from his throne and deactivated the hologram, dialing it to War Minster Sunfal. the holo-display of the dark green-colored fedorian then appeared. "Is there something you need, sire?"

"Yes, there is. prepare my ship. we're leaving to the colony of Oslora. they've detected a terran federation ship, and they want to speak with us."

[spirits breath]

The white raptor seemed to bounce in his own steps with excitement, rather odd for what he normally would do. though he usually doesn't have to keep pace with a group of followers.

A tired voice came from the group behind Zharr. "Zharr, calm down or we are tying you up and dragging you around. Or do I just have to bite your meaty legs a few times."

Almost playfully, Zharr turned mid hop and jogged back to the group, giving a playful nip at the air towards his fellow Rialtnia. "come on, you all seem like you had a rough night or something."

Jewl moved up close to zharr and jumped on his back with her frontal legs. she spoke in a semi-seducftive tone. "Well then, be a sweetie and carry me if you have so much energy. Or at least work the communications for Lith all night so I can get a good rest. Much more than the few hours I get every so often. Never seems like it is enough"

Soon the group went along the edge of the forest, a small beach clearing to see the oddest thing ever. It was a city...in the water. Or on the water. As hard as it was to tell, it had to be massive.

Thr group of five staired at the city before gradually setting up some sort of a antenna and box as a form of communication. Moreso Jewl set it up, looking about as a near fool for being the only one in the group who could do that.

Roughly an hour passed, Zharr restrained on the ground and his wimpers of being stuck danced in ignoring heads. Once set up, she began to establish a connection to the city's communications array. "Attention? this is Jewl of the incendians. We are at the front of your city, where it points at us currently. There is five of us and we wish for negotiations. Is there some sort of bridge or any form of transportation so we can have talks? We are unarmed if it means anything." We are always unarmed...

[Atrum Daemon]

“I think all parties involved,” spoke a mechanically tinted voice from the morgue doorway, “would prefer you shut your worthless mouth and just answer questions.”

The voice belonged to a black clad Gedie general whose entourage was standing outside the door. The deep scars on the general’s face showed bits of the complex cybernetics that made up some of his jaw and skull, glowing slightly in the dull light of the room as he stepped forward until he was even with the Terran pointing the weapon at the prisoner. “I am Garl Hellstrom here on the behalf of the Gedie-Travin Trade Empire. And I would very much like to know why one of my Travin merchants had his cargo confiscated and what made this little shit think he would get away with stealing it.”

Hellstrom had been the furthest out from the Pendulum at the time the Travin merchant reported the attempted robbery of the MPCM payload that had been confiscated. Wanting to keep up appearances of valuing a mineral the Trade Empire had gone through lengths to make seem very expensive and valuable to produce, Hellstrom and a small detachment of his men had been tasked with discovering just what was happening.

[Sigma]

Before the Invasion Fleet was to jump into Sternreich Space. the Admiral and other officers were curious as to what new weapons waited within the Battle Carrier Fist of Fedori.

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

The Admiral's shuttle slowed it's thrusters as it entered the carrier's hanger bay, turning and facing front as the boarding ramp lowered down the back, the four stepped forward as they were greeted by General Cezarus. "Ah, you've arrived early!" he said.

"Are they ready for display?" Admiral Satzi asked.

"Yes, yes. come."

The group followed the General as they approached the prototypes in the center of the hanger bay, covered in a large cloth. "What are these things?" one of the captain asked.

"Gentlemen, I give you the new generation of mechanized infantry." Cezarus said as he signaled some hanger staff to unveil the weapons.

The group was in awe as to what they saw. several new types of mechs that could turn the tide of battle. the first mech (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/sigma830/Robots/robot-2050.jpg) at a quick glance, looked very much like a Gurab "Shock Trooper" variant with body and weapons, however it's twice the size and armed with four plus plasma cannons at the front, and a missile launcher on the back of the mech between the plasma cannons. and it was dark green and grey in color. "This is the Torab. a more militarized version of the Gurab. the Emperor hopes that this will eventually replace the gurab in the years to come and become the symbol of the Imperial Army."

Next to the Torab was the much taller mech (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/sigma830/Robots/robot-298.jpg) of the bunch. taking on a more humanoid appearance. standing at 8.80 meters tall. it was also dark green in color, with orange mixed in. the mech was equipped with a plasma cannon arm shield and a payload of missiles on the back along with it's thrusters. "This, my friends is the Gosu Command Mech. the new face of Military Commanders on the battlefield."

The last (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/sigma830/Robots/robot-1116.jpg) was the smallest, a Powered Armor of sorts similar to that used by the Mal'krin Hunters, but more heavily armored. it's main body was truly intimidating, it was armed with two lance-like laser cannons mounted on the arms of the powered armor, and an external missile launcher. "Finally, here is the Orotyug Combat Suit."

"Most impressive!" the admiral exclaimed. "Our chances of victory seem brighter. how many of these do we have on this carrier?"

"Unfortunately the numbers are small, only a hundred torabs were built. as well as hundred Orotyug's and five Gosu's."

"Hmm...it will do. but let's not be hasty with these. only on our agreed orders can these be sent out in battle."

"Agreed." The General said. with that settled, the Admiral turned to the captains, alright, return to your ships. we're jumping to hyperspace within the hour!"

[L]

Oslora,
Fedorian Space

Lauren stepped out on to the lush, beautiful, planet of Oslora and looked around wide eyed. Though she had dealt with aliens before, she had never actually been on a non-human planet.

She placed a finger against her ear, activating the comm device lodged there.

'Can you here me ship?'

'Yes Captain,' the voice came back, 'I am calculating odds of 100 million to 1 of you surviving this encounter. Please be careful'

Lauren sighed.

'Thanks for the confidence boost'

'You are welcome Captain'

Lauren cut the communication and waited as she saw the Fedorian delegation head towards her.

-

Terra,
Sol Solar System

General Almedias paced back and forth aboard his flagship.

'What's taking her so long. We're on a time frame here and the woman is taking her sweet time'

'General...' Lieutenant Brett Sanders sat in front of the desk, watching his commander pace.

'If she ruins this for us, I'll have her deskinned and her organs placed on display on the front of this ship as an example of what happens to those that fail me!'

'Yes General'

'What are you doing just sitting there you fool? Get out – get our troops ready. I want blood to flow as soon as we get word from that stupid little girl'

'Yes General' Lieutenant Sanders left the General's office, relieve evident on his face to be out of there.

[Sigma]

The Emperor's Flagship, the Emerald Moon arrived in orbit of Oslora. a shuttle immediately left the hanger of the flagship and headed down the suface to the Terran ship's location.

As it landed and the boarding ramp lowered, a single Terran left the ship, the Emperor was surprised by this. he would've expected a few guards, the terrans seemed trusting of the Imperium. perhaps this is a good thing.

"Welcome to Oslora." He said. "And what brings you here? what does the Federation want with us?"

[MikeZZZ]

A narrow bridge rolled water over it’s sides as it emerged clear of the watery tomb that was once it’s home. Inside the ship lied a pair of armed soldiers, rifles at the ready for their ‘guests’. A soft comment rose about what they could be faced with.

Darko heard his head piece click on. A female was on the other side of the communications. “Sir, it is true they are unarmed, but there is a few more beings behind them waiting. I would advise caution. They are within sniper range.”
He rose his hand up to the head piece, clicking it on. His voice spoke out in a harsh tone. “We let the unarmed ones in. We are prepared for this situation, and if they try anything, the door is locked behind them. They will be put to sleep and I am sure our scientists would enjoy them for study.”
“Yes sir, I will open the door now.”

A large opening began to emerge from the front of the city ship, it rose in two parts. Both sides moved up and then parted away in a scissor-like fashion.

[Fox Xalian]

The Alliance fleet formed up on the Kibablay in high orbit above Atlana. The rebels had been defeated, and there was no sign of Jed Rebic or an AZC war fleet. The time had come to cement their victory.

On the stairs of the Imperial Palace two Bladerunners stood either side of a royal blue carpet. They raised their swords to make an archway. Two banner carriers stood behind them, the banners blocking the view through the archway. Suddenly they moved the banners and the Emperor walked through the archway, flanked by his military commanders. Fleet Admiral Wolf Xalian stood to the right of the Emperor, and High Commandant Sabre Xalian stood to the left. "Peace!" the Emperor called out, raising an orb above his head. The crowd, a mix of Imperial and Republic citizens, cheared and clapped. Three fighters flew across the sky, letting off fireworks as they went, and the band played the national anthem of both the Alliance and the Empire.

Back on the Kibablay after the speeches where given the Admiralty Board had their first meeting in the same room since the beggining of the war. "Now what are our orders?" High Commandant Sabre asked. "We patrol our borders, we have been getting reports of military forces from all over the galaxy have been mobalising against each other" Fleet Admiral Wolf said. "We have our boarder worlds on alert already, we also have a small hold out fleet orbiting the three main worlds in that area" Fleet Admiral Kalnas said. The other Board members smiled. "We shall do the same for the Empire" First Prime Teal'c said. "As shall we" High Commandant Zap'linda Tilkan said. As the meeting was closed they all had a drink of the finest rum to come from the Disalga system as a toast to the Alliance, and peace, for how ever long it lasted.

[Higurashi]

Major Roth stared at both of the aliens for several moments before lowering his weapon. Several thoughts were through his head, cheif among these, How the hell are these fucking aliens fucking aliens getting through our security? He once again looked from alien to alien before holstering his weapon. He heard a tone in his earpeice and tuned into the Colonial Alliance's main news channel. All hostile actions against the Confederacy were to halt. Anyone caught in hostile actions after the order were to be court matrialed. He indicated to the other humans to hostel their own weapons, which they did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lord Commodore turned from the screen when negotiations were concluded. The Alliance was done here, in more ways than one. With the death of Councilman Raymond, a new era had begun in the history of the Alliance. Preperations were already in place for the Re-naming of the Alliance. It would soon be called the Imperium of Man. Its goal would be to unite all of mankind under one banner, wether they liked it or not.

The Former-Alliance ships jumped from the system back into their own borders, but not without leaving a parting gift, the now decapitated body of Councilman Raymond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Shifty]

Four very large, very heavily armored vaersk special force soldiers guarded a single adiri, dressed in a long black cloak. They all approached Jed Rebic and his guards. They stopped about 15 feet from them, and the adiri spoke, in a uncharacteristicly low voice.

"You must be Jed Rebic. My name- well, my name is unimportant. I'm simply called 'Boss' by others. Now, if you and your guards will hand over your weapons, you can follow me to a safe location, where we can talk." He kept a staraight face and stared at Jed, sizing him up.
================================================== ================
"I'm glad we could come to an understanding, Commodore. I hope you and your nation well." Councilor Ton spoke into his communicator. He puled it off and looked at Tilra. "Well, that's over now. Let's return ho-" He was interrupted by a transmission from an Adiri colony on the outskirts of AZC space. It said a United Systems Alliance ship was spotted by one of it's sensors. From all reports, it looked like a scout ship, and did not have clearance to be where it was.

"All ships, prepare to jump to planet Retra 11565. We will jump as soon as possible." She switched to communicate with the ships she left behind, and sent them to the same coordinates. She didn't have to wait long, and all capable AZC ships were on their way to the border of AZC and Systems Alliance space.
================================================== ================
"Thank you." Furi said to the humans when they lowered their weapons. Then he adressed the Gedie. "Sorry to dissapoint you, but this little shit didn't try to steal yur cargo. I was trying to, what's the word? Oh right. I was trying to liberate it from these humans who stole it in the first place. So, mister high-and-mighty, why don't you get your facts straight before accusing someone of theft." He looked back at the humans. "So, do I get to go free, or am I still a P.O.W?"
================================================== ================
Admiral Urald of the ANS Kelri was one of three AZC ships first to arrive at Retra 11565, along with the ANS Realla and the ANS Amira. "All ships, initiate scan for all unverified ships in the area. If those Alliance bastards think they can sneak in and not have us know about it, then their gonna get a really bad surprise." he turned to his officers on the bridge. "Order all cannons to load and be ready. If they don't cooperate, make sure there's nothing left pf them."

[Fox Xalian]

Jed Rebic smiled. "Of course" He said, signalling his troops to hand everything over. "This is the sort of stuff the United Systems Alliance uses, I thought it would be useful to you to know what they had" he added. He smiled and let the troops lead the way.

[spirits breath]

Jewl took the rough relay and strapped it to her back, the misshapen rectangle with a pair of wires as an antennae seemed to be a offset to her brown fur. The two Rialtnia had reluctantly let Zharr go, a bad mistake as he immediately bolted himself down the bridge with haste.

“No, wait! Humans still dislike you running at them. Otherwise I will be sure to make you eat something I make.” Jewl began to run on all fours after Zharr, making large bounds past the other Rialtnia. The nargacurran known as Sten by some, also because Seinden didn’t work so well when saying it fast. He lazily followed, more listening with a light chuckle at Zharr’s childness.

As it played out, on the bridge was the five Involpiates, Zharr stopped dead, letting Jewl scramble for grip and moreso look like a fool to him. His voice rose out with a long hiss. “I still despise those large green things. Don’t know how you can eat them.” Slowly he rose up his right claw and hit himself. His mindset went from his childish self to a more serious self. “Now then. Lets go…” Slow steps left the Scrimneang with her jaw dropped.
“I can never understand you. You are a cub in nature, yet you can be normal by raising your claw a moment, push your claw in your jaw muscle, and somehow become the un-Zharr.”

The five cautiously entered the ship, claws clanked against the metal floor rapidly with the five of them making steps. The door closed behind them. Zharr looked up and gave a downwards movement with his snout.

[StormWolf]

Kronus - The Capital World of the Reich

From the Golden Palace at the heart of the grand city-planet of Kronus, the Fuhrer sat at a polished wooden table. The legs were embossed with golden leaf and rubies. With the Fuhrer, sat Standartenfuhrer Landa, the leader of the Waffen Schutzstaffel Death Corps. Both men wore greatcoats of black leatherm both were adorned with medals and ribbons, both men were laughing and enjoying the aged Spice Wine from the Fuhrer's own personal stores.

"So, mien frieund," the Fuhrer said before taking a sip of his wine from a fine crystal glass, "your Schutzstaffel boys are faring well on that rotting hell of a world you call home?" Landa chuckled and nodded,

"Yes, mien Fuhrer, they fare quite well... the ones that are worth a damn, anyways. You know how we operate; at the first sign of weakness, the candidate is executed." The Fuhrer nodded and smiled broadly, slapping the table and wagging a finger at the Colonel,

"And that, Colonel, is why we are greater than the rest. That is why we are destined to rule the stars." Hans Landa's ever-present smile only widened as he nodded in complete agreement with his glorious leader.

"No, mien Fuhrer. Not we. You. We are but the tools in which you may build your glorious empire. Our purpose is to make your dream come to pass." The Fuhrer could only smile at his old friend and clasp him by the shoulder,

"Danke, mien frieund. Danke."

Suddenly, the grand golden doors to the Fuhrer's chamber opened, followed by the metallic thud of SS combat boots. The Colonel and the Fuhrer looked up to see the intimidating form of Hauptscharfuhrer Ansgar Stiglitz. His hair was as black as deep space and his eyes seemed to be just as empty and daunting. Unlike his superior, the Colonel, Master Sergeant Stiglitz always appeared to be in the mood to kill. Landa knew that Stiglitz always was, too. He made sure of it.

Ansgar Stiglitz stopped before the grand dining table and saluted his Fuhrer and his Colonel; bringing his fist to his chest and raising his hand, now like a blade, high above his head. Under his other arm, Ansgar cradled the intimidating helmet of the SS combat armor.

"Heil Heinrich. Heil Landa." the Sergeant spoke in his cold killer of a tone that echoed through the massive room and seemed to chill the very air. The Fuhrer and Colonel raised their hands in a response to the salute, then the Fuhrer told the SS Sergeant to be at ease.

"What is so important that you must interrupt our meeting, Master Sergeant?" Landa spoke with a chip in his tone, his blue eyes glaring in to the deep blue of the Sergeant.

"Forgive me, Standartenfuhrer, but there are reports from our infiltrators out in heretical space. It seems that the Terran Federation has no decency and no shame, and have formed a feeble alliance with Xeno scum. They plan to invade our space." The Colonel grimaced angrily and shook his head. The Fuhrer, on the other hand, finished his wine and knitted his fingers together, looking at the Sergeant cooly.

"So, my child, has the infiltrator used his brain, which I paid have paid to improve, and has he transmitted the coordinates of the attack?" The Sergeant, who appeared to be completely unintimidated, simply nodded,

"Yes, meien Fuhrer. They will be assaulting the Haven system." The Fuhrer nodded and calmly pressed a button on the table, bringing a hologram of the Hochmiester to life.

"Hiel Hienrich." The Hochmiester saluted in the same fashion as Stiglitz did, and the Fuhrer returned the salute in the same manner as before.

"Hochmiester Rasmus, has the Hauptscharfuhrer come to you with the same information he has come to me with?" the Fuhrer spoke coldly and firmly. The Hochmiester gave his affirmative,

"Yes, mien Fuhrer. I even spoke to the infiltrator directly from the Hauptscharfuhrer's vox unit. We already have a counter attack in place." The Fuhrer leaned forward, his interest piqued,

"Elaborate for me, Mochmiester." the Fuhrer said in a calm, cold, and sadistic tone. The Hochmiester just smiled and brought up a display,

"I assumed that mien Fuhrer would want to deliver a harsh message to the swine that infringe on our empire, so I have placed the 5th Fleet in two locations, one half blockading Haven VII, while the other half remains in the asteroid belt surrounding the system. The adimentium and ceramite deposits in the asteroids will mask the heat signatures and vox signals from the enemy sweeps. The only way they could be detected is through visual contact. The 5th Fleet consists of 50 Apocalypse Cruisers, 80 Tritons, and around 100 Thors. The planet has the new Kraken (http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/911/911760/tom-clancys-endwar-20080919013041507.jpg) orbital defense lasers surrounding the planet."

The Fuhrer smiled, as did Landa. The Fuhrer raised a finger, his lips parting in a wicket white-toothed smile,

"Hochmiester, what about ground forces?" The Hochmiester brought up another display,

"Though there is a minuscule chance that the scum will even taint to soil of our precious Haven VII, we have six great companies of our soldiers ready in wait. We have Hydras (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100130210142/warhammer40k/images/b/b4/Hydra_Flak_Tank.jpg) in place, as well as ten armored companies and around 30 Jackals." The Hochmiester smiled with a sense of completion when he saw the Fuhrer applaud the defenses.

"Very impressive, mien Hochmiester. Still, one more asset will be sent to your aid. Stiglitz will be arriving with a company of five thousand SS elites, including five hundred men in Crisis Suits." The Hochmiester nodded and saluted,

"Long live the Reich! Heil Heinrich!" then the hologram fizzled out.

"You heard me, Sergeant. You have a transport to catch." Stiglitz saluted the Fuhrer and the Colonel before turning on his heel and making his way to the SS barracks to gather his men for the counter-assault.

"Long live the Reich."

[Sigma]

Sternreich Space, Haven System

On the outer edges of the Haven System, a series of blinks flashed out from the darkness of space as the Fedorian Fleet existed out of Hyperspace. the fleet moved in clustered formation, all vessels forming a shield around the Battle Carriers and the Flagship.

From the Bridge of the Emperor's Glory, Admiral Satzi sat and watched from his command chair as all ships in the fleet began moving to the closest human world of Haven VII, the first world to fall to the Fedori Imperium's Campaign of conquest. "How long before we reach the planet?" the admiral asked his XO, easily seen the planet from where he sat, seemed so close, yet not close enough.

"ETA, around seventeen minutes, sir."

Admiral Satzi leaned forward and folded his fingers, glaring into space. "What of Enemy vessels? are any detected in the system?"

"Our sensors are detecting around ninety ships of various classes orbiting, but that is all."

"Good...prepare all fighter squadrons for launch and send the drones ahead...I will not hold back...and will display to these humans of the Imperium's power! I will show no fear!"

[L]

Lauren watched the approaching figure and recognized him as the Fedorian Emperor. She tried not to allow her surprise to show on her face. She'd expected some subordinate, another diplomat maybe. Not the Emperor himself.

As the Emperor approached, Lauren bowed formerly then straightened.

"Welcome to Oslora," The Fedorian Emperor said, "and what brings you here? What does the Federation want with us?"

'Your... Majesty' The woman faltered slightly. Not even started and already thrown off guard. She closed her eyes for a second, composing herself, then opened them and spoke with more resolve.

'Emperor Moai. It is a pleasure to meet you and I bring peaceful greetings from General Almedias. He wished he could be here personally, but pressing matters have his attention at the moment'

Lauren paused for a moment, not wanting to rush over her words. The Ship A.I took the moment to interrupt.

'You're proceeding well Lauren. Try not to screw this up or General Almedias may have your head on a pike'

Lauren ignored this and pushed on.

'Your Highness – General Almedias wished to discuss a sensitive matter with you. The Terran Federation has always been the sole hope of humanity, joined together through our expansion to the stars. Now, however, there are factions... the Colonial Expansion and the Sternreich have split from the Federation and turn their back on human heritage. On Earth. The General wishes to remedy this and bring the wayward human factions back under Federation control'

The woman paused for a moment before pushed on.

'Or the General wants them... eliminated. To this end he requires assistence and believes the honorable Fedorians would be able to assist in bringing humanity back under one banner. He is willing to trade for the honor of fighting side-by-side in an alliance against the false-human factions'

[Atrum Daemon]

Hellstrom resisted the urge to grab the stupid human creature by it’s throat and demand the answers his leaders wanted. Hellstrom was normally known as a patient man, but the way he seemed to have been totally ignored really irked him. He crossed his arms and waited for someone to either answer him or point him to someone who could answer him.

***

“It seems that the Sternreich’s Haven system is about to be assaulted by the Federation and the Fedorians. Should we assist in any way?”

The question came from a slender Travin in a black suit with gleaming yellow eyes. He was Ammon Hearth, commander of the special military unit The Legion as well as a captain within the Travin’s intelligence department. The Machine Emperor thought for a moment, several of the appendages extending from his throne whirring and buzzing in the silence. “Not at this time, no,” the Emperor said, shaking his head. “We have more pressing matters to worry about than disputes between factions of humans. We will remain impartial as we always have. Unless one side or the other attacks something that belongs to us, we will simply conduct business as usual. Now, what of the other matter?”

“The Secessionists have taken action, sir. The main factory on the forge world Llos has been captured.”

“I see. Are we to consider this a declaration?”

“I am not sure,” Ammon shook his head lightly.

“Send in Old Boss and his boys. See just what these Secessionists are doing.”

“Right away,” Ammon said, saluting and exiting the throne chamber.

“Trade must flow,” the Emperor said to himself. “This Secession may prove a large problem if they aren’t stopped quickly.”

[Sigma]

"Hmm..." The Empreor rubbed his chin, thinking this over. "I think I'm willing in an Alliance with the Federation. however, I have unknowingly already moved a step forward in your General's plans. "As we speak, I have sent a vast fleet to strike the ones your federation identify's as the "Sternreich" " he paused as a servant drone brought him a small holo-device. he pressed down on the center and in the instant a holo-image of the very same fleet appeared.

"With the might of my military at your side, your dissidents will fall. however if I may ask, what does I and my Empire receive in return in aiding you?"

[Shifty]

Boss smiled as his Vaersk guards took the weapons. "Very good. Now, if you'll follow me." He turned, and started to walk towards a transport shuttle. His guards followed suit, two beside Boss and two behind jed and his men. Boss continued to talk. "I suppose you have never been to Zerok before, have you Commander? It's a rather dusty place, not suitable for much life, but rich in many, many minerals, making it an ideal industiral planet. Right now, directly above our heads, there are about 15 new Dreadnought ships being constructed in the orbital shipyards."

"Sir, i don't think it's wise to give them that kind of information." One of the Vaersk guards said, looking shiftily at Jed.

"Mister rebic here will need to know the strengths and weaknesses of all of our units and ships to help us counter the Alliance. Might as well start now." Boss retorted. He stepped into the shuttle, followed by the others. "We're going to go into low orbit and dock with a different ship. A cargo vessel. It will take us to our destination, a space station in the outskirts of AZC space. Near our border with the United Systems Alliance, actually. Don't worry, you'll be safe there. It's existence is kept top secret."

Boss looked out a nearby window as they exited the atmosphere. Below them now was the planet Zerok, nearly aentirely desert and colored a dusty tan and brown, with a few oceans. "You'd think with so much water, it would be more hospitable." He sighed. "Commander, Zerok is a dying planet. Every year it grows hotter, and it's populace becomes more reliant for imported food and water. That is why we are mobilizing for war. Before we rebuilt the AZC army and navy, Zerok had an unthinkable unemployment rate. Now, if they aren't working in factories or shipyards building weapons of war, they're in the army, learning to fight the enemy. Still, overpopulation is an issue, both here and on Adir, my home planet. We need more space for our people to live. That is why we are going to war."

He took a breath, then stared directly at Jed. "Mister Rebic, if you hadn't promised us information on the Alliance's weaponry and their plans for war,we would never have given you asylum. As it is, you are a very valuable asset right now, and I hope we can trust you and your information." He looked from his guards to Jed's guards, then to Jed again. "We can trust you, right?" he said.
================================================== ==
"Are we agreed then?" Councilor Ol asked the rest of the AZC council. Nobody in the room said anything, but they all looked somber, saddened. They all had reason to be. For the first time, the Adir-Zerok Confederacy was going to war. Councilor Ol continued. "We will send our entire fleet to the united Systems Alliance world of Atlana as soon as is feasible. Dismissed."
================================================== ==
Tilra was both astonished and excited at the same time. She had just sent the four politicians to their shuttle, where they were to return to Adir and Zerok. Currently, her fleet was to change course and head for Atlana and try to take advantage of the recently failed rebellion there, declaring war on the united Systems Alliance. it woulb be Tilra's first taste of real combat, and she didn't know how she would fare.

She had spent as much time as possible looking up all of the info on her fleet and it's captains and admirals. She had to know what each ship's abilities were, and how best to use them. She wouldn't be handling the puny 16 ship fleet sent to negotiate with the humans. She now comanded the main AZC battle fleet, which had exactly 125 ships in it, 59 of which were produced recently. All ships were rerouted from Retra and sent to the Atlana system. The first order was to send out a request for immediate surrender, then open fire if they decline, or if they fire first. The hope was to catch them by surprise, as they seemed to be celebrating their victory over the rebels. If they did, then Tilra's job would be made a whole lot easier.

[StormWolf]

Surface of Haven VII

The city of Highever on Haven sounded the alarms as the long range scanners picked up the expected enemy fleet appearing out of hyperspace. The civilian population, though terrified at the thought of being invaded by heretics and xeno monsters, they proceeded to the war shelters in an orderly fashion. Seeing the black uniforms of their beloved soldiers and the enigmatic SS Death Corps ready to fight and die for defense of the system and for the glory of the Reich made the civilians much more at ease. The massive super-heavy class tanks made the very ground tremble in fear as they lumbered in to position, just incase a ground assault should come to pass. Hauptscharfuhrer Ansgar Stiglitz and his company had just unloaded from their Herecles Class transport ship. So the dogs had decided to invade Sternreich space and shatter the feeble peace that had kept the glorious empire's guns at bay. This will be a day the enemy will regret.

In high orbit over the planet, half of the 5th Fleet stood guard against the approaching enemy invasion fleet. To an assaulting army, the small blockade of ships would appear to be a rag-tag last minute defense assembly. That was exactly what the Hochmiester wanted. Captain Picard, aboard the Apocalypse Class Mephiston, watched the long range visual displays. The aliens decided to be the more honorable of the two assaulting forces and showed their hand first. That made Picard's stomach twist. That his own species could be such honor-less cowards made him want to bombard Earth itself in to dust. The Captain pressed a button on his chair, opening up a secure vox line to ground control.

"This is Picard to Haven VII Actual. The enemy fleet is approaching. ETA fifteen minutes. Requesting activation of Kraken orbital defense lasers." Picard released the button and waited for a couple of the longest seconds he had ever experienced.

"Copy that Picard. Governor-General Ulrik has given you the green light. Heil Heinrich." Picard nodded with a sigh of relief.

"Solid copy, Haven VII. Glory to the Reich." The Captain switched his vox-com over to the Kraken batteries without a moment of hesitation,

"Kraken Batteries, this is Captain Picard. Orders received from Ground Control, fire at will on the enemy fleet." Picard's console came alive with the affirmatives of the Kraken batteries as their weapons charged. Blue bolts of light burst forth from the massive barrels of the Kraken batteries, their powerful laser technology that surpasses even Lance class weaponry.

Back on the surface, Sternreich soldiers and SS troopers made their way to the designated battle stations. Everything was organized and mechanical on all fronts. This was the first time anyone had dared venture in to Sternreich space under the banner of war. The men and women of the Reich were determined that this would be the last time, as well.

Back on Kronus, The Fuhrer and Colonel Landa observed the tactical holographic display of the Haven system. Heinrich felt himself swell with pride at how loyal and powerful his empire had become. Ten years ago, they were all but deserters of the Terran Federation. In that time, they became a bustling machine of industry and war. Staying isolated from all other civilizations kept the Reich a secret, and it was that thick layer of secrecy that was going to give the Reich the upper hand in this fight. The enemy did not know what to expect. The enemy would run if things got bad. The Reich's soldier, on the other hand, would not retreat, and they would not surrender. It was victory, or death.

"Colonel Landa, I want to make sure all of the Haven system is safely guarded. However, leave the moon colonies unguarded. Heavy civilian casualties at the hands of our attackers will be the spark that will burn these scum out of existance." The leader of the SS nodded and saluted the Fuhrer. It made complete, perfect sense.

"As you wish, mien Fuhrer, so it shall be done."

[Sigma]

The Fedorian fleet came under attack by the beams of the Krakens, obliterating most of the advancing drone fighters and weaken the shields of the front-line warships. with a quick order from the Admiral, the fleet attempted to disperse and avoid the incoming beams, an order the Admiral hoped he would not regret.

"Damnit...all ships engage at once!" he shouted out. "Launch all fighter squadrons in the fleet! your main targets are those defense satellites, all capital ships are to focus all firepower on the enemy fleet! I won't be made a fool of damn you!"

Within moments, hundreds of fighters both manned and automated burst forth from every ship with a hanger in the Invasion Fleet. the large swarm broke in two half's, one speed towards the kraken's, the other supporting the fleet. a flotilla of six assault frigates led by a battlecruiser moved ahead and fell under heavy fire by the human ships, hails of battery fire rained on the fedorian ships, however they returned fire as well.

Back on the Emperor's Glory, the Admiral grew desperate and fearful of the situation. for the first time in his military career this was indeed a first experience he felt, he hardly fought in such a large scale battle against such a relentless enemy, but shook these thoughts out. "Large the Titian Pods!" he ordered. "I want ground troops down there this instant!"

"But, sir!" his XO objected. "We can't afford to send ground forces! they'll be shot down at this point."

"Thats an order! we're not open for debate!" he angrily shouted.

"Yes...sir.."

Minutes later, several hatches slide open as nine egg-shaped objects shot out from the Emperor's Glory's underbelly, and sped towards the planet's surface, each carrying a titian ready for bloodshed and destruction.

[StormWolf]

"Sir, the enemy swine have launched fighters. Requesting orders." an ensign at the scanner console reported calmly. Captain Picard stroked his chin for a moment as he studied the tactical display. The enemy was already panicking. They had not expected such firepower from such a small blockade. The Captain was not even warmed up yet. The Captain was known for turning up the heat in combat situations, all the up to the thermo-nuclear level.

"All ships fire missile pods at the oncoming enemy fighters. After the volley, deploy all fighter class ships. All nuclear silos prepare for launch." the Captain observed the tactical display brought up by a new scanner sweep. Picard's eyes squinted angrily at the contingent of smaller enemy craft that tried to skirt around the defenses to make a beachhead. The Captain knew that the mission of the landing craft was a doomed. They would either die in the black of space or they would die upon the soil of Haven.

"Deploy the heavy assault craft to intercept that formation that is trying to outflank out position."

The missiles fired in a wall of destructive warheads, each targeted at the advancing enemy fighters. Whether or not the missiles made contact was not the main concern. The missiles were a major threat and that much ordinance would clutter any sensor array. With the missiles causing chaos with just their presence, the Excalibur (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3927770661_f910fcdaab_o.jpg) fighter ships flowed out of the blockade, ready to fight and die for the Reich. From the ground and from a small hanger on one of Haven VII moons, the Orion (http://www.flatrock.org.nz/wolf/images/X2_Pix/D_Thor2.jpg) heavy assault craft locked on to the frequency of the flanking enemy craft.

Back on the Mephiston, the other battlecruisers in the blockade reported back to the Captain,

"Mien Captain, all nuclear silos are hot and ready to purge the enemy." Picard remained silent, observing the carnage unfolding in the blackness of space before him. The beams from the Krakens, the explosions from the missiles and the weapon flares from the dogfights. The Reich had drawn first blood, and blood will continue to be drawn until the enemy is but a husk to be blown away in the solar winds.

"Purge the unclean. Launch all silos at the enemy cruisers. Glory to the Reich" the alarms sounded as the silo bay doors opened. smoke billowed out as the warheads prepared for launch. With targets locked, the only thing left to do was to press the button. Picard did not even hesitate. The Captain pressed his thumb down hard on the blinking red button, the button that had ended many lives before. Massive missiles shot free of the silos and careened towards the xeno fleet.

[Sigma]

"Admiral! Nuclear weapons detected! they're heading for the fleet!"

The Admiral was in shock and awe at what he was witnessing, the destruction that occurred right before his eyes made him tremble. however he remained firm and would not break just yet, but in the moment of chaos, a thought came up in mind, in the sheer panic his mind was clouded and could not see he may have not lost, not yet at least. "All corvettes! engage those nukes, prevent as many as possible from reaching the fleet! and I want a few fighter wings to aid them." he then turned to his XO. "Prepare the heavy beam cannons. I want the Emperor's Glory and remaining battlecruisers to target any enemy vessels, and blow them away.."

"But, Admiral." he again protested. "Should we be careful on using them all at once? if we-"

"I will not lose to these humans! I'll do whatever it takes to dwindle their numbers. even if it means losing our trump card."

"...Understood."

As the flagship and three other battlecruisers were charging to fire, the missiles clashed with bits of the fleet, already destroying sixteen warships, a battlecruiser among them. a few frigates lost their shields in the blasts and wee left vulnerable. as the dogfights became fierce, five Kortuls broke and joined the fight and acted as support for the fedorian squadrons.

"All bomber squadrons follow me! target those large ships!" one of squad leaders said as three bomber squadrons thrust through the dogfights and target one of the Apocalypse ships.

[L]

"With the might of my military at your side, your dissidents will fall. however if I may ask, what does I and my Empire receive in return in aiding you?"

Lauren saw the Fedorian fleet surrounding a Steinreich planet. She knew it immediately – Haven. She quickly rummaged through her coat pocket, fishing out a small tablet. At the same time, the Ship A.I took the moment to interrupt.

'Lauren, I have forwarded a copy of the conversation to General Almedias's Flagship. He should have the Fedorians response within the hour and proceed to Haven. Good work. Had I had money on you surviving your encounter I would be a very rich A.I right now'

The diplomat ignored the ship and handed the tablet to the Fedorian Emperor.

'The General is willing to discuss proper trade, but upon your acceptance he has authorized me to present you with this. They are schematics for shield technology. Unfortunately they are specifically designed for our own ships, but the General believes that your own scientists should be able to modify it for your own ships. It may not help you in this battle just yet, but he hopes it is a worthy gift for your alliance'

[Fox Xalian]

"This world reminds me of the twin mining worlds Alkanima and Salinsa, both are insanely dusty and uninhabitable, except for the few mining colonies that have small terraforming generators" Jaed said. "And of course I'm trust worthy, the Alliance trusted me with the secrets I just gave you didn't they" he added. One of his guards looked up from the window of the shuttle. "With your permission me and my fellow guard would like to join in the frontline conflict against our former friends" he said. "Yes Master Sergent Galin is right, she is one of the few Volarians to join my cause against the Alliance so she'll know the best way to combat a Volarian Commando group, and First Sergent Hilan is the only Talin Hul tank commander to join us and help exploit the weaknesses of the Talin Hul shredder tank" Jed said. "The shredder tank is called that because of it's powerful rapid fire rail cannon, it literally shreds anything it fires at, the turret has a full 360 degree rotation, the only weakness is it has a long cooldown and reload time after firing, hence the fact they don't all fire at one and are given an escort group consisting of six Growler attack tanks" Hilan said, showing the hologram of a shredder tank's design.

-

Commandant Keelah was woken up by her second in command. "Set general quarters, put all orbital stations on high alert, all gravity well generators are to be activated, nothing shall get past us" She ordered once she reached the bridge of the Tilanka. She sat in her chair and radioed the Siltina and Helkinsa. "Get ready, it appears our long range sensors have found an AZC fleet readying near our position" she said. The commanders of both the battlecruisers nodded and closed thier links. The shields and weapons of the fleet, consisting of the three battlecruisers, six brand new destroyers and 12 frigates, as well as the orbital defence stations all came online. "Shields up weapons online" Keelah's weapons officer said. She smiled, and watched as the screen before her showed the gravity well generators all activated. "That should slow them down" she said quietly.

-

As this order was being carried out a small automated message was sent to the Kibalay to alert them that a emergency alert was sent out and that it was not a drill. Sabre read the note and looked the the leader of the Jaffa, First Prime Teal'c. "Get the Hat'aks (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061030033651/stargate/images/c/c4/Ha%27tak.JPG) ready for deployment to support Commandant Keelah in the Disalga system" he said. "As you wish" Teal'c said, inclining his head and marching out of the room towards his shuttle which would take him back to his Hat'ak class battlecruiser. (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060801043426/stargate/images/8/8c/Anubis_mothership.JPG)

-

Keelah sat and waited for either a radio message, or an IPBM, inter plantary ballistic missile, to come onto ther scanners. It was a tense wait. But she knew the fleet would now be on high alert, and all defences would be activated all over the Alliance, just in case something went wrong today.

[Atrum Daemon]

“Begin testing sequence nine,” Omar said into the speaker.

“Test sequence prep complete. Beginning test of Mobile Armor Unit: Leela.”

The computerized voice spoke to the entirety of the testing floor. A group of Gedie and Travin scientists had gathered in front of a large, bipedal machine. The large machine stood on reverse jointed legs to better balance the light frame and accommodate the speeds and jump height the machine was expected to achieve. The Leela was one of the three fully autonomous mobile armor units that were meant to be sold in the new line of military hardware. Unit production was complete, but Omar, being the paranoid man that he was, wanted to run a few last minute tests.

The scientists gathered all input orders to the machine at the same time. The Leela unit created an internal list based on priority of the command and executed a forward jog, a jump that cleared half the room, and a mid air missile strike that destroyed a collection of targets. “All right, I’m satisfied,” Omar said. “Make the announcement and have the Durandal units be the first on the offer.”

***

A high priority message sped through all trade and communication channels: The Trade Empire had completed production and testing of new autonomous mobile armor units and they were ready for sale. The first on the block were the Durandal units, which were heavy-framed bipedal machines that could switch to an alternate flight mode. They were equipped standard with a heavy battle laser, arm-mounted rocket clusters, and back-mounted machine and sniper cannon. All government bodies on the Trade Empire’s trade routes received the message.

“With the trouble brewing in the Haven system,” Rogor’s holo projection said to Omar, “there should be good demand for new machine units to die in place of living soldiers.”

[Sigma]

"Ah, this shall be useful in the future. "The Emperor said as he took the tablet and handed it over to the servant drone. "Work will begin in reverse-engineering your technology once I return."

"Sire." The War Minister spoke as he walked down the boarding ramp. "Forgive my interruption, but we must be going now. with current events, it's not safe in the border regions. "

"Correct." the emperor said as he turned to the human diplomat. "I'll have to take my leave for now, human. however I look forward to our future encounters. good day." the emperor and war minister soon left up in the shuttle.

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

"Admiral, beam cannons are charged and ready to fire!"

Admiral Satzi was pleased with this and felt that he could very well make his enemies fear him. he quickly stood up from his chair and pointed his finger towards the sternreich fleet. "All ships open fire!" he yelled out the order.

Within moments large cannons rose up from under the Emperor's Glory and her three battlecruiser escorts, they begun to glow brightly as they charged up and in second a the cannons fired powerful beams towards the Sternreich fleet.

[Shifty]

Boss simply nodded, and was about to speak when he heard a report on his communicator. It was a very small device, with the listening part inserted into his ear as to be nearly undetecable, and the voice part was integrated into his voice box, also to be undetectable. He listened to the report and frowned. The shuttle docked with the cargo ship above Zerok, and Boss led the way out. Finally he spoke. "However much I thank you for that information, there is a much more urgent matter to attend to, and i'm afraid it can't wait until we reach the secure location. As of just a few minutes ago, the entire AZC fleet was headed straight for Atlana.War has been declared, and we need your schematics of every cruiser, fighter, or whatever ship the alliance has, and we need them now."

Boss stopped and turned to face Jed, his face very serious. He let out a sigh and continued. "As for putting your men in command positions, I'm afraid I can't make that call. I'lll have to check it in with my superiors." He walked into a large room with a conference table in the middle and several chairs along the sides. in the middle was a small pedestal, about half a foot tall, a holo projector. "Just download any holograms you have or other information, and we can survey all of it in detail. We will also be able to transmit the data to any AZC ships in battle, as well as to our destination. So, if you will..." He pointed to a computer console on the near end of the table.
================================================== =====
The AZC battle fleet was a sight to behold as it appeared at Atlana. All 115 ships shimmered silver in space, with various other bands of color denoting class. A slgith distortion could be seen around each vessel as their shields began to charge, and all of their guns were readied. On the ANS Delra Miver, the rail gun was being loaded with a REAPER round, or Rapidly Eexpanding Atomic Particle Eradicating Reaction. When it detonated, every atom within a 200 meter radius was stripped apart, every particle being torn from its atom, and the particles were launched into other atoms, causing them to tear apart, and so on. With each particle, the effect would grow become weaker and weaker, but if could easily eradicate an half of a massive battlecruiser. As soon as she could, Tilra sent a request for immediate surrender of the United Systems Alliance fleet. Compliance would withold nearly all of the USA's colonial or sparsely populated worlds to the AZC, but allow them to keep most of their heavily populated or capital worlds.. Denial woud result in war, and an attempt to forcefully annex any USA territory.

[StormWolf]

"Capitan, enemy heavy ordinance incoming." the ensign of the Mephiston reported. He had a twinge of stress in his voice as he reported the energy readings on his monitors. Picard, however, was not even feeling an increase in his pulse.

"All danger close vessels perform evasive maneuvers." Picard spoke in to the vox mic on his chair. Some of the younger officers and ensigns on the bridge looked at the Captain and to each other with some disbelief,

"But... sir... what about the forces on the ground? The civilians? The casualties will be-" the Ensign began but was cut off by the Captain's powerful voice.

"They will be avenged, Ensign. If we lose the upper hand now, more will die, now make the damned evasive maneuvers, or I will feed you to the SS!" Seconds later, the ship started to change course, as did several others in the small fleet. The beams came with a blinding flash. One of the battlecruisers got severely grazed, blowing one of the hangars and half of the aft hull off of the ship. Another cruiser took a beam head on, disintegrating the large vessel on impact. Several fighter craft and orbital defense lasers evaporated at contact.

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

On the ground, the destructive bolts smashed in to the planet surface, shaking the very earth and sending a great plume of explosive fire in to the sky. Sergeant Stiglitz stumbled as the planet trembled beneath his feet. The shrieks of people burning alive flooded his vox-com. At first, he thought it was an artillery placement or one of the bunkers, but the high pitched tones of women and children praying to their God for deliverance meant that one of the enemy beams hit a population center and burned through the walls, maybe more than one.

"Captain Picard, you had better give those murdering bastards hell to pay for this!" Stiglitz growled up at the sky. Right now, there was nothing more he could do.

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

"Fire back with everything we have at this range. Primary target is the enemy flagship. All weapons are free." Picard's voice was angry and cold, the man's bald head twisted with frown lines and bulging veins as he ordered a full out attack.

The second half of the fleet remain in wait, staying in the asteroid field, laying in wait like a serpent should any reinforcements arrive. For now, they watched as the combat erupted in the deep vacuum of space.

[Sigma]

Satzi began laughing hysterically in triumph as he witnesses the enemy fleet fleeing from his attack. they never saw it coming, he sat back down as he saw the his beams scorching the surface of the planet, he then focused his gaze on the floor, not bothering looking his crew in the eye, this both worried, and in a way, scared. "Now they see the power of the Imperium...they see what our weapons are capable of..." he said, still not looking up for a few moments before raising his head. "All remaining ships, form new attack formations and charge at them head on." he then looked to his right arm rest and pressed a few buttons, contacting the General.

His Holographic image appeared in front of the Admiral. "What is Satzi?"

"General, prepare all your troops for immediate deployment. we're going to hold off the humans long enough for your forces to reach the ground."

"Is this wise? half my landing force wont even make it. and even if we do-"

"Do what you can General. let me handle the defense of your transports."

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

The Battle was now in it's second round, the two fleet now facing off in a renewed assault by the Fedorians. the remaining fifty frigates and a dozen corvettes charged first towards the advancing enemy ships, taking heavy damage, even losing a few ships as they entered the fray. the battlecruisers and battle carriers left the Emperor's Glory along as they moved in slowly to reinforce the attack.

During the advance, all landing craft and gunships in each carrier, cruiser and the flagship departed out of the hangers, gathered and form a convoy, with gunships and a dozen fighter squadrons acting as escorts headed down the planet's service as quickly as possible before the Sternreich take notice.

"All ships empty your torpedo and and missile tubes!" the admiral sent the order all across the fleet. "Protect the invasion force at all cost! even if it we lose every single ship! do whatever it damn takes!"

[Fox Xalian]

Wolf received the surrender message. He took up his comms console. "This is Fleet Admiral Wolf Xalian, commander of the Atlana garrison and commander of the Atlanian Imperial Fleet, we shall consider your request for our surrender, but with your weapons on line we have no way of knowing if you will honour the terms of surrender and attack us anyway. Please allow a small delegation to come onto the surface of Atlana so we can talk" he said. He waited for the response. He knew a precise shot from the planet side mega rail cannon could blow a sizable hole in the armour of any ship. It was also upgraded as an ion round so it had a chance of negating shields.

-

Sabre called in the rest of the fleet. He watched as over 200 Volarian battlecruisers, almost 150 Jaffa Hat'aks, over 100 Talin Hul destroyers and almost 300 Valian frigates. As well as the Avia Carrier and the Kibalay command cruiser. From inside the Kibalay, Avia and Teal'c Hat'ak who fighter squadrons launched and helped surround the AZC fleet.

-

The outlying worlds all had no ships garrisoning them. With no fleet protection all that could defend was the orbital and ground based defenses. The defense commanders all waited for an attack. This was a risky move made by the Alliance Admiralty Board.

-

Lucine was at the rail gun and watched as they loaded the first warhead. “I hope the new thermonuclear rounds work as we hope” she said to the chief officer there. “They will work, lets just hope the radiation doesn't affect our ships or planet” the Chief Officer said. Lucine nodded and went to the firing console and got ready to acquire a target, her hand hovering over the satellite tracking button.

[StormWolf]

The renewed vigor of the enemy was refreshing. Picard felt the coldness of possible death settle in his stomach, but that would not make him shy away. Whenever a nuke was loaded in to a silo, it was fired at the enemy. The turbo lasers and lance batteries opened fire as well. All of the fighters and heavy assault craft concentrated their fire on any possible landing craft.

"Second fleet, this is Captain Picard. Today, you will save your families from certain death. Fire all missiles!" Upon receiving the orders from the Captain, the second half of the fleet opened all of their nuclear silos, locked on target, and fired all of the warheads they had loaded.

"Send in half of the Thors!" Picard barked over the vox-com at the second fleet. His ship shook as enemy fire smashed in to the thick armored hull of the battlecruiser.

+Captain, this is the CAG. There are too many enemy fighters to concentrate on the landing craft. Requesting that we concentrate on enemy fighters+ Picard sighed and remained silent for a long while, the sound of the ship rattling under the enemy fire.

"That is a solid copy, CAG. Heil Heinrich" Picard flipped a switch on his chair, switching him over to ground control,

"Haven Actual, this is Picard. Enemy forces inbound on your position. Be ready for contact."

+Copy that, Captain. Godspeed and good luck. Heil Heinrich.

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

-Surface of Haven-

The alarms went off yet again, warning the forces on the ground that enemy forces were breaking through the atmosphere. The Anti-Air Hydra Tanks pointed their quad-barrels towards the sky. The mounted AA cannons on top of buildings swiveled, waiting for the first enemy ships to break through the clouds and smoke.

[Sigma]

Thanks to the efforts of the fighter escorts, the invasion force had finally left the main battle zone and have entered the atmosphere of the planet, all seemed well for he moment, only to be fall under attack once more by sternreich anti-air tanks. while the landing craft took damage, their sheer size prevented any sever damage to crash.

Aboard the lead ship, "This is General Cezarus to all Meltra Gunships, i'll need half to take out those anti-air defenses. and the rest to moving into the " in the instant, all ten gunships broke formation and split, one group moving to drop troops near the Hydras. while the other group made for the city of Highever.

The numbers of the first group were already shrinking as the Hydra's shot down three gunships, forcing the last two to scatter and land far, yet close enough for soldiers to take out the tanks.

Meanwhile the second gunship squadron were inches away from the City of Highever, and so far, haven't encountered any movement on the ground. "Alright boys, were about to land." Captain Vaars, a kasar officer said. "Weapons ready and be prepared for anything, we're not clear on enemy numbers but I'm sure it's hellova lot."

The Meltra's hover down slowly as the side ramps lowered, unloading sixteen soldiers each. "Use the gunships as cover, unload some crates as well, we can only hold out for so long."

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

"Admiral! enemy reinforcements coming from behind!"

"Impossible! there was no hyperspace signatures! how the hell did they get here...? no matter, continue the attack!" suddenly the massive ships shook violently. "What was that?"

"It seems we have incoming warheads, converging on the ship..." the XO said grimly, knowing their fate in that instant. the ship fell under attack on all sides and corners as the warheads collided with the Emperor's Glory, "We're losing control, the ship's heading for the planet.....we're going to crash." The XO turned to see the admiral remaining still and silent. he mumbled something to him, he couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but he may have understood, what else was there to say? "ABANDON SHIP! ALL CREW ABANDON SHIP!' thee fedorian dreadnought, the pride of the Imperial Navy, was now broken husk as escape pods and shuttles left in mass. the massive ship began it's final descent towards both opposing fleets and Haven itself.

[Shifty]

They're stalling so they can cut off our escape routes. Tilra thought. She was at first optimistic, as the enemy fleet was minimal at first. Now, hundreds of ships were surrounding her fleet. Without any knowledge of the enemy's armor or weapons, she could only hope that they were inferior to the Adiri's technology.She thought, then responded. "This is Grand Admiral Tilra, commander of the Adir Zerok main battle fleet. I will agree to your terms." Was all she said. She alerted three of her highest ranking officers, Admirals Olmin, Gelli and Urald, to act as delegates. Tilra herself would not go, as she would need to be safe in case negotioations went awry. She told all ships to aquire targets, and coordinated their positions as to make her defenses as effective as possible. Her flagships was dead center of the fleet, with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fleets on her left, and the 4th and 5th on her right. Currently, with all of the positioning and preparing done, all she could do was wait, and pray that this would be over soon.
================================================== =====
"W'ere on apporach to the surface now,." Admiral Urald reported to Tilra as soon as she sentthe order. He had recieved the message as well, and knew the admral would send them down to the planet. He just hoped the Allaince wouldn't stab them in the back and oen fire during negotiations. If would be underhanded, but it would give them another advantage, besideds overwhelming numbers. "Gelli, ready for your first negotiation?" He asked the newbie admiral.

"I'm ready." Admiral Gelli said. He was the youngest ever to become and admiral in the fleet, and was often looked down upon for being inexperienced. That he was chosen to help with negotiations said a lot as to what Tilra thought of him. We'll see how they laugh when I go down in history as one who helped double the size Confederacy. He thought.

[Fox Xalian]

High Commandant Sabre Xalian, his cousin Commmandant Arianna Xalian and their cousin Keelah Xalian all stood near the AZC transport. They had enough snipers that the delegates from the AZC would have no chance of an attack. Sabre stood just in front of his cousins.

-

Wolf smiled and opened a comm channel to the AZC commander. "As you can see, not ewven half our fleet has out numbered you, but then a war would cause unacceptable losses on both sides, so I am glad you have allowed a delegation team to come to a solution without recourse to unneccisary violence" he said. He waited for a reply.

[Fox Xalian]

High Commandant Sabre Xalian, his cousin Commmandant Arianna Xalian and their cousin Keelah Xalian all stood near the AZC transport. They had enough snipers that the delegates from the AZC would have no chance of an attack. Sabre stood just in front of his cousins.

-

Wolf smiled and opened a comm channel to the AZC commander. "As you can see, not ewven half our fleet has out numbered you, but then a war would cause unacceptable losses on both sides, so I am glad you have allowed a delegation team to come to a solution without recourse to unneccisary violence" he said. He waited for a reply.

[Shifty]

"Stay sharp, and don't so anything rash. Any agressive action could be a catalyst right now." Admiral Urald said as they stepped from the transport. They were guarded by 6 vaersk marines, two in front, two behind, and one on each side. It was a futile effort for protection, but provided at least a small sense of safety. Urald bowed to the Allaince officers, followed by the other admirals. "Greetings." He said. "I am Admiral Urald. With me are Admirals Gelli and Olmin. Our commander, Grand Admiral Tilra, wis es to send her regrets that she could not meet with you, but she is tied to her duties under the current... circumstances." He paused for a moment. "Now, you have had time to ponder our requests during our descent. So I will ask now, as to get it out of the way. Do you accept our terms for your surrender?" He corssed his arms and stood as tall as he could, which was just over 8 feet, and looked the three Allaince delegates over.
================================================== =
"You speak truth, sir. You obviously have us outnumbered, and that gives you a great advantage indeed." Tilra responded to Wolf's message. "If we can reach a peaceful solution, I will be very glad. Of course, if i were you, i would worry more about any unrest within your own givernment. I heard you recently put down a rebellion, am I correct?" She paused, then decided to try to rattle her opponent. "You also failed to capture the rebel comander, if I remember the intel reports. Not knowing where he is must disturbe you. Last i heard, he even had data on all of your nation's weaponry and tactics." She hadn't recieved any intel about the Allaince yet, but she would soon, hopefully, and she also hoped to rattle Wolf. An angry and frustrated opponent was dangerous in that they took risks, but they also made far more mistakes, and Tilra would need every advantage possible.
================================================== =
Three adiri sat in silence in a cramped shuttle, heading towards the planet Exvalon-7, now under the control of the Imperium of Man. TTheir shuttle looked very normal, but it was much smaller than a standard one, and had two cloaks. One against radar and other sensors, and one for visual sensors. It was also a prototype, and this was it's first mission. The trio of Adiri were all dressed in jumpsuits, with pieces of armor covering vital areas, and matching helmets. When the shuttle landed in a secluded area, the occupasnts jumep out, and they aslmost instantly dissapeared.

"Ain't claking technology a wonderful thing?" Said one of the adiri as he looked at his comrades. Their helmets had several imaging selections, and through infrared they could see each other clearly.

"Shut it Quir. Our comm links are hard to hack into, but not unhackable, especially if we talk." Said another.

"Erena, Quir, shut upow's not the time." Said the third coldly.

"Sorry, Ras." Quir and Erena said simultaneously. Without another word being said, they started to head to their destination. it didn't take them long to reach it, and they made sure to stay out of sight.

"Aora, we're at the location. I need directions to the morgue.: Ras said.

"No problem Ras." Aora said.She took a quick sip of water and sent Ras some coordinates and a map, which the team could read in HUDs in their helmets. "You should hurry. If your found, it could end very badly, and with our fleets out of range, were' helpless against other attacks." She said, not even trying to hide the fear and caution in her voice.

"Don't worry, sis. We'll survive." Quir said. Aora smiled at that. Quir was only 5 years younger than she, and was even set to become the leader of his own team soon, if he played his cards right. If he were to be captured too... Aora blocke dhtat thought out. She had enough to focus on right now. Another distraction could prove fatal. She watched the teams progress as Ras gave occassional reports on their locations. Within minutes, they were inside the morgue. It was surprisignly easy. Just a few technological tricks, some hacking, and any cameras in their path were decieved, infrared or not.

"All reports indicate this room as where Furi was held. If he isn't there, then search te entire area for him." Aora said. She got three brisk rogers, and the team snaked it's way through the morgue, barely avoiding passing doctors and soldiers. Finally, they were at the room. "Report, Ras. Who or What is in that room?" Aora asked.

"I have several human guards, all armed, and..."He paused. "there's a Gedie in there. I... i think it's General Hellsrtom!" The Aora was shocked, as were the other three. What was a Gedie general doing here? His appearance complicated the operation. If they were to go as planned, it would mean almost mean war with the Gedie and Travin, if not a trade embargo. "Aora, what is our plan?" Aora thought for a moment, not sure what to do. "Aora!" Ras's voice sounded like a yell, though he had actually hardly whispered.

"Go ahead as planned, but one change. If the good general resists, offer him the cargo that was confiscated. If he still resists, then incapacitate him, but don't kill. That will give us time to prepare for anything the Gedie-travin might do." Aora spoke quickly and harshly, hoping her new plan would work.

Ras simply agreed, then walked into the room. He was glad the general was kind enough to leave the door open. Quir closed the door, and all three quickly uncloaked. Quir and Erena pointed their guns at the human major and one of the captains, and Ras pointed his gun at the back of Hellstrom. "If anyone dares say a word unless I say so, you'll get a bullet in the spine. If you cooperate, you'll all live, and this will end without any blodshed or injury. Is that understood?" Ras said, his voice altered by his helmet to disguise it. "Now, if you will all slowly place your weapons on the ground now. That includes rifles, pistols, knifes, even a pen. Anything that can be used as a weapon, drop it now, or face the consequences later." He waited for the them to comly. He hoped they did. Even though he wouldn't hesitate to wound, or even kill anyone in the room, it would only be as a last resort. If they did resist, they would first just drug them or break one of their legs for the humans. For the Gedie, he didn't know. It would be an interesting, if very deadly, experiment.

[Fox Xalian]

Wolf chuckled. "Oh we know where he went, he ran to you and has mos likely asked for political asylum" he said. "Just so you know he got the data he stole when the reballian began, he has no idea of the layout of the Kibalay, or the range of the planetary rail cannon, or even the location of our main production and mining worlds" he added. "And he has most likely already lied to you about us" he said, chuckling slightly. He sent a coded message to his brother, Sabre.

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

Sabre looked over the message that appeared on his helmet visor. "I am High Commandant Sabre Xalian, and these are my cousins, Commandant Keelah Xalian and Commandant Arianna Kalnima, our leader, Fleet Admiral Wolf Xalian is also wrapped up with the same problems as your commanding officer" he said. "So what are the terms?" Keelah asked.

----------

Sora and her sniper group all took aim at different targets. She targeted Admiral Urald, her finger was not on the trigger, yet. They had to protect each of the delegates.

---------

Siapa Kalnima kept his fighter group close to the bombers surrounding the main AZC ship. He knew this was a dangerous mission, but he was happy his daughter Lucine and daughter-in-law Sora where on the planets surface.

----------

Jed Rebic uploaded the plans for the Imperial and Volarian battlecruisers. He also sent some plans for the shredder and Mk. 66 VII heavy battle armour.

His guards wheren't what everyone thought. They had gotten to a comm station and radioed the Alliance. "He has done it, we can't talk long, they should get the false data any second now, send pick up at this transponder location" Master Sergent Galin said.

[Shifty]

Tilra didn't change her expression, but her mind was abuzz with thoughts. One of the mst prevalent was about a mistake Wolf made. He revealed that the Allaince had a planetary rail cannon, when Tilra didn't know if they did, or if it was operational. Mister Wolf, you just healped me form my battleplan. She spoke back to the Allaince commander. "What Jed Rebic told us was that you were planning an attack. Our reasons for war go far beyond that, I assure you. Please note that you have absolutely zero knowledge of our weapons of war as well." She smiled at that, then recieved a notice saying that Rebic had just downloaded the intel on the Alliance to her ship. She viewed it quickly and smiled more. Every advantage will help. She thought as she sifted through the information.
================================================== ===
One of the vaersk guards around the AZC delegates shifted slightly. he had seen the glint of a sniper scope, and moved closer to Urald, hopefully directly in the snipers line of fire. If anything, it would delay an assasination attempt.

Urald didn't notice, and responded to Sabre. "Our terms are that surrender your most uninhabited worlds to the AZC. You may keep your most heavily populated worlds, or any industrial worlds. You must also hand over any military information to us, including weapon specs, main military basing areas, and planetary defenses." He paused, and thought about the alternate option proposed by Tilra. Finally, he spoke. "You could also choose to join the Adir-Zerok Confederacy, meaning your military would join with ours, as well as your races. You will be treated as equals, as long as you do not disobey our laws and customs. As a part of the confederacy, you will be granted full citizenship. You will be required to elect several delegates to appear in the AZC council, and you will be subject to their decrees before those of your own government. Your laws may remain as well as your government, but will have to be changed as to fit within the guidelines of the Confederacy."

He paused to breathe, then continued. "If either of these terms are unbearable, then there is no more reason for us to continue this meeting." He waited to hear the response, his muscles tensing. If they declined, he doubted they would make it back to the fleet safely. He turned his gaze to his guards. They were hand picked by their commanders, and each was almost 9 feet tall without armor, and was weaing shock trooper armor, adding another foot to their height, and making them look like walking tanks. Their guns were held at the ready, and their faces were hidden by a gold tinted visor. Urald wondered what they were thinking about. No doubt what a waste of time this was. From his experience, Vaersk were impatient for politics, especially soldiers. They loved action, and were born ready to fight. He held back a smile as he thought. He almost pityed anyone who had to fight a frenzied vaersk marine.

[Fox Xalian]

Wolf chuckled. "I know more then you may think, you think we are the only faction who has traitors in our midst?" he asked. He was trying to play a card that he didn't have. "We know the defence systems of your capitol worlds" he said. He hoped this would work.

---------

Sabre stepped back and Arianna steped forward. "Excuse my cousin, he is not the diplomatic type, the Xalian family have the best military and economic people in the Alliance, but us Kalnima's are the real diplomates" she explained. "Anyway onto the terms, we will only agree if we keep our full soveringty, but we will give you military access and 50% of all the supplies from our mining worlds and the uninhabited worlds we own, and we will make ships and tech for you, and our counsel will join yours, our military, economic and civilian counsels will be with yours" she said. "We will also want Jed Rebic, the leader of the rebels, delivered to us to face trial for treason, murder, deprevation of liberty and many other charges" she added.

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

Jed Rebic's guards ran to the hanger and found a shuttle. "We need tp get to the location" Master Sergent Galin said. Suddenly an alarm went off, a security breach alert for the hanger bay. "So this is how it is, you where working for the JDA!" Jed Rebic yelled. His guards aimed their pistols at him. "Our job isn'tr to kill you yet, the war you started will be used for that!" Galin yelled.

[L]

From his lush office aboard the 101st Apollo, the General smiled. The message that had just come through was exactly what Almedias wanted to hear and he couldn't wait to get started. He smiled and hit the button to the bridge of the Federation's Flagship.

'Yes General?' the voice of Captain Tong came through.

'I want to jump in 10 minutes Captain. Destination is Haven, and we're going in hot. Alert the Captains of the rest of the fleet, they know their roles'

'Aye Aye General'

After the communication had been cut, Chris rose from his chair, grabbed his jacket to make his way towards the armory as messages were sent to the other 100 Terran Battleships in the fleet currently orbiting Earth.



-


An hour later the 101st Apollo Flagship jumped in to the Haven system with 10 of the Terran Battleships.

Chaos ensued aboard the Apollo as most of the 20-man crew on the bridge shouted warnings and commands to each other. A message was sent instantly to the Fedorian ships to announce their attentions.

Captain Tong simply stared at the screens in from of him. The men on the bridge knew what to do.

'Get us closer to Haven's atmosphere and deploy the fighters! The General is going in personally'

The Captain looked over at his XO, who had just issued the command to the pilots, his eyebrow arched.

'General Almedias is going down himself?'

The XO looked up and shrugged.

'Yes sir – that's the report I just got from Flight Bay Alpha'

[Shifty]

Tilra had to stifle a laugh at Wolf's words. "Oh really? We Adiri have one of the most advanced and effective intelligence operations that any traitor would be discovered and tired before he knew what hit him. As for our defenses, I have little doubt you have at least some inkling of what we have, but I'm also sure you don't have any details or know any weaknesses." She stopped and listened to a live feed of the disscussion between her admirals and the Alliance's delegates. Upon hearing this, she sent a message to Urald as to his response.
===============================================
Urald puased to think. He also listened to Tilra's message. He pondered her words, and then spoke. "That would be an acceptable proposal, but for one thing; why do you offer so much just for one man? If he is worth giving up nearly your status as an independent nation and half of your resources, he must be more valuable than previously thought. As it is, he is a much more valuable asset than expected. We will accept your proposal, but Jed Rebic will stay in our custody. We offered him political asylum, and we have not the authority to decide this matter. it would have to be discussed by the council, which could take weeks, even months." He didn't lie, what with the AZC council being made of two races with completely different political philosopies; The Adiri's isolationism, beuracracy and tact, the Vaersk's expansionist beliefs and their habit of taking advantages as soon as they see thm, and to hell with the consequences. They would be lucky to make a decision within 4 months, let alone immediately.
===============================================
Boss had stood back, just behind Jed, but his guards had acted very quickly, contrary to their great size, and spread out to surround Galin and Halin. The vaersk all pointed their guns at Jed's former guards, and Boss produced a large, very mean looking, pistol from his cloak, and stepped in front of Jed. His arm outstretched, it was revealed his arm was not even be natural. His entire arm was bionic, with bright, highly polished, silver colored metal covering a mass of wires, pistons, and tubes within his arm. If not for it's sheen, it would look like a normal arm at a distance.

He pointed his pistol directly at Galin's head, and said. “If I were anyone else, you'd be dead right now. But Im me, so you'll live, albeit in pain." lowered the gun’s muzzle and aimed at Galin’s right leg, and calmly pulled the trigger. The gun produced a deafening roar as it launched a 20mm bullet at Galin. It hit the leg just above the knee, shattering the femur, and cracking the kneecap. It also nearly blew Galin's leg clean off.

Boss didn't wait to see what happened to Galin, as he immediately shifted his gaze to Halin, his eyes cold and emotionless as e aimed at the traitor’s cranium. “If you don’t put your gun down, you’ll be much worse off.” He said, his voice a steady monotone. He adressed Jed, never taking his eyes off Halin. “Jed, I hope you didn’t know anything about this, or else you’ll end up just like Galin there, or worse. I expect you to tell me everything you know about the Alliance, holograms or no, as soon as we get to our destination.”

[Sigma]

In high orbit of Fedori Prime, the Emerald Moon out of existed hyperspace above the capital of the Imperium. below them was a world alive in activity, millions of small dots zipping back and forth all across the bright cities all over the globe. hundreds of ships, from civilian, foreign, merchant, and military filling the space around the planet, docking or departing from the dozens of large space station, and shipyards in orbit.

The Emperor's ship flew over pass the traffic below and headed for the shipyards as they begin constructing more ships for the Navy as the war with the Sternreich, and soon the Colonial Alliance progresses. the Emerald Moon soon approached one construction yard with a unfamiliar starship class being built. it was a ship slightly smaller then the battlecruisers and was 1573 meters in length.

"Magnificent." The Emperor said from his Chambers, watching through the large glass window. besides him was the War Minister. "The Mardook Destroyers will finally fill in the void that our fleet needs. how soon will the first two be complete?"

"Well, sire. at the current pace, a month." the War Minister replied.

"Let us hope our battle lines remain unchanged in when these are complete."

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

Elsewhere in the Tarak System, a small force of forty ships, twenty assault frigates, ten anti-fighter frigates, seven battlecruisers, two battle carriers and one dreadnought. this Battle group was to rendezvous with a federation fleet and move into Colonial Alliance space.

At the bridge of the leading Dreadnought, the Invincible, Commander Ry'lah, a rare breed of albino Fedorians, stood at the helm, and looked out and stared into the world of tarak. "Begin jump to hyperspace."

[MikeZZZ]

For over two decades, the Atlantian way of life has been upheld. For three decades, we have remain hidden from the outside world, and it all comes down to this. Supreme Commander Data thought, as he headed to the council chambers. Three long decades, since our last Head Chairman had passed away. In that time, the New Chairman had pushed for greater expansion, and more contact with the outside Universe. The new laws he had passed, had led to controversy and conflict with the old ways. Data continued his train of thought, only pausing to bow to a higher Council member. Taking his seat, Malick, the New Chairman called the meeting to order.

"The First order of business, any news from the outside universe Commander Data?." The chairman asked eagerly.

"No Sir, we have met no races, but we have observed many fleets being gathered. It seems that the galaxy is going to war." Data answered, taking his seat again. At his words, the younger, less experianced council members nodded and whispered among themselves eagerly. The older more experianced ones just shook thier heads in fear. They, like Data remembered the last Galactic war that had almost destroyed Atlantis for good.

"If the galaxy is going to war Commander, why are we not getting involved? I know for a fact that Atlantis is getting crowded. We need to expand beyond the borders that we have now and gain new resources and territorry." Malick yelled, his voice getting deeper and louder with each sentance. All around the room, heads were nodding. "With the permission of the council, I move to eliminate Commander Data from Council, and replace him with someone else." Malick said. His voice raising, he continued over the uproar. "I also move that we meet and get to know our fellow species in this galaxy!!!!!" He ended, as the chamber rose to a defining roar.

Quickly Data left the council room for his quarters. Flashing his badge at the guards that got in the way. Only one was stupid enough to try and stop him. "Sir, With all due respect, Chief Malick wants to see you now." The poor lad said. That was as far as he got, Data brought his hand forward and up, knocking the kid out with a punch to the chin. Data arrived in his room, locked, and barracaded the door. Quickly yet calmly he brought up his secure channel to fleet DarkOrbit. Handpicked, he knew the commanders would follow through with thier orders, to the death.

__________________________________________________ __________
On board the Battleship, Darkness.

Captain Michael took a deep breath. He had been dreading this moment for a long time. Ever since Commander Data had contacted him about a special mission, his life had turned into a whirlwind. First him, his crew, and the rest of the people in his fleet, along with the ships, had been marked destroyed in Altantian records. Then they had all gathered here, on the edge of Sternreich space, cloaked in an astroid field. They waited for the order that never came, for months. Now that dreaded order had arrived, and he was delaying. Stepping forward, he walked onto the bridge, calmly and slowly. Mantaining his dignified pose, he sat down. "Lt, Prepare the fleet, order Fifty has arrived." The bridge was silent for a long minute, then the order was given, and the cloaked fleet moved out. Toward a small Sternreich planet on the border. If commander Data wants a message delivered, Michael thought, then we are exactly the fleet to deliver it.

Hand picked from hundreds of commanders, BattleFleet DarkOrbit was one of a kind. Comprised of One Battleship, Five Cruisers, Ten Frigates, and roughly Twenty Scouts, it wa a fleet made for one thing. To hit the target, and get out fast, that was the goal today. To hit the target, and get out in one piece, with a minimum of casualties. No prisoners were to be taken, and no one if captured would live past Five minutes. The small remote Detonater in the back of everyone's skull would see to that. As for the ships, Auto Destruct had been beefed up, nothing bigger than a piece of paper would be found. The only visible markings on the Black ships, because they all were painted black as death. Was the words in white on the side, those fatefull words were, ATLANTIAN EMPIRE.

[Sigma]

In high orbit of the Gedie homeworld of Salusia. three fedorian transport vessels and two frigate escorts exsit out of hyperspace, approaching the heavily defended world. at the bridge of one of the escorts, was Supreme Commander Alta himself. he took interest of the new mobile weapons the trade empire had recently created, and thought they could be of use in the Imperium's arsenal.

"Prepare communications." Alta ordered.

"Aye Aye, sir." one of the comm officers responded.

"This Supreme Commander Alta of the Fedorian Imperial Military. we've have come with interest in your new Durandal units, and am willing to pay a heavy sum for over a thousand of these Durandals."

[Atrum Daemon]

“Stand by,” an automated voice said in response to the communication. “Routing your message and link to Science Minister Omar.”

“Greetings Supreme Commander,” Omar said happily once the comm was rerouted. “I am quite pleased that the Fedorians have taken interest in our new units. Now, I have been authorized to offer you something few of our customers get. Since you are the first buyer on stage, we would like to offer you the chance to come down to the surface and look through the entirety of our new military inventory. I’m sure you’ll find many more useful tools in addition to the Durandal unit. Your ships would need to stay in orbit and under monitoring of the defense zone, but that’s simply a precaution, you understand. So, what do you say?”

***

Hellstrom sighed deeply and whistled loudly, summoning his entourage into the morgue to point their own heavy assault weapons at the new intruders. “Okay, here is what’s going to happen,” the general said. “I and my men are going to walk out of here and leave this planet and system behind us. This whole thing is a huge waste of my time and I am NOT in the mood to have a pistol pointed at the back of my head. That sound reasonable?”

As Hellstrom spoke, a small appendage poked out from a slit in the back of his coat and pressed the barrel of a small, but very effective energy pistol into the abdomen of whoever was behind him. “Let me walk. I get out of your hair, and this little gun doesn’t go off.”

[Sigma]

"These terms are acceptable, Science Minister." The Supreme Commander replied, look to one officer, receiving a nod as he sent a message for all ships to remaining in position. "I will be on the surface shortly, I do look forward to see what else you can offer to the Imperium." he said as he cut off communications as he immediately headed for the hanger bay.

------

In a matter five minutes, a shuttle left one of the frigates and headed down towards the planet to the meeting point for the Commander and the Science Minister.

[Atrum Daemon]

It was storm season on Salusia. This meant that the shuttle’s decent through the atmosphere was guided by special beacons so they wouldn’t get lost in a storm collection and be destroyed. The landing pad was relatively close to the research and development division, giving them a short walk to the building where the inventory was kept.

Science Minister Omar awaited the Commander with a small contingent of Gedie Elite troopers. The Elites were all females in close fitting, cybernetic enhancement suits and were only there as a precaution due to the recent rebel threat that was being investigated.

“Welcome to Salusia, Commander Alta!” Omar shouted over the wind and thunder.

[Sigma]

As Alta stepped out, he was met with heavy winds blowing against him, making loss some balance as he left the shuttle. he turned back to the shuttle, "I'll handle everything from here, return to orbit!" he shouted. the pilot complied, the ship soon lifted off and with the aid of the beacons, returned to the small group.

The Supreme Commander then turned to the Gedie, "Shall we move on then? I can't stand this storm."

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

Meanwhile, somewhere outside of colonial space, the battle group existed out of hyperspace. all that now needed was the arrival of the Terran Federation's fleet and the invasion would begin.

[Atrum Daemon]

“Follow me,” Omar said, “and don’t be worried about these guards. They’re just a security precaution. We’ve had some recent trouble with secessionists.”

The interior of the building was brightly lit. Omar let the guards go and led Alta down a series of corridors to a simple metal door. Omar pricked his finger on the scanner by the door to open it, leading Alta inside. Other scientists, testers, and engineers were inside the large, warehouse-like space. It was filled with Gedie military products, the most prominent of which were the automated mobile armor units. Omar led Alta to the first line of the machines and turned to face him. “We have three models of these mobile units. The Durandal is our heavy unit and the most versatile in terms of weapon load outs as it’s heavy frame can support a wide variety of weapons. We also have the Leela, which is our light framed scout model. And lastly is the Tycho, our super-heavy support units designed with mobile artillery platform in mind, but can be used in a number of ways.”

[Sigma]

"Ah, these are quite impressive." Alta said, with some amazement in his tone, though he wished to be professional. "Our Gurabs are nothing compared to these machines." he paced back and forth as he scanned each of the three units closely, and was very pleased what he saw before him.

He walked back to Omar and gave a nod to him. "You sir, have one happy customer. your machines will be a great assist in the battles to come. I'll take three hundred of each unit instead."

[Fox Xalian]

"How was I to know these people didn't support me?" Jed asked, sounding slightly offended. Halin lowered her gun and went to tend to Halin's wounds. Jed sighed. "I had already sent to data before this happened, but as with all JDA agents Galin and Halin will have a location for pickup, I suggest we send them back like this" he said.

---

Arianna nodded. "It is settled then, the Alliance will be allied with the AZC and a non-aggresion pact will be signed on the AZC capitol world, after which time our fleet will resume patrol of our boarder worlds" she said, holding out her hand for Urald to shake.

---------

Wolf got the message that an agreement had been reached. "Well that was fruitful, wouldn't you say Admiral Tilra?" he asked. He signalled his fleet to break formation around the AZC fleet and get ready to resume normal operations.

------

A squadron of transports landed in the hanger of the main AZC battleship and offloaded the first lot of supplies.

[MikeZZZ]

A lone scout ship jumped out of warp. Red lights could be seen flashing across the ship. If you listened closely, you could hear screams.

______________
Zelli-On the Bridge of the Doomed Ship
"Sir life support just died on decks 5-12. Airlocks failing across the ship. Cloaking is down, weapons down, communication is dead, the ship is dying sir, I recommend immediate evac." a voice could be heard saying in the conference room. Outside the crew waited nervously for the answer.

"Very well, set us down on the nearest planet Sgt. I don't want to loose any more lives. Also get a scan of the planet on the way down. I want to know what is down there exactly." The captain could be heard saying.

Sgt Ryan walked into the bridge room, he stood there for a minute, gathering his thoughts. When he spoke it was with barely restrained emotion. "Sound the Evacuation alarm, we are leaving the ship. Head to the nearest planet and scan as you go. We might be down, but we aren't out. I also want all essential items gathered in the Hangar for the crash landing. It's going to be rough, but we can do it." The bridge sprang to life as he slowly sat down in the command chair. The captain was busy trying to contact the Homeworld for a rescue.

"ETA on arrival, three minutes." a robotic voice said.[/Zelli]
__________
Fox- On the Planet
The radar station on the planet designated P3X-727, a small world that would be producing ships and tanks for the United Systems Alliance to use in the war, picked up something. “Contact our security teams, we appear to have a possible spy ship coming in hard” the stations commander said. They watched as the ship picked up speed. “It's not a spy ship, I think it's crashing” the commander said, calling up the emergency service groups.[/Fox]


___________
Zelli-Back on the Bridge

"Brace yourself!!!!" Ryan's voice rang throughout the small ship. Then everything went dark. When the crew woke up, Sgt. Ryan was taking stock of injuries and casualties.

"Captain is dead, only 12 crew survived the crash. Lots of food and water here, the air is breathable for us outside. As for weaponry, we have two sniper rifles, and five automatic machine guns. What happened to that scan cadet?" Sgt. Ryan asked quickly, knowing time was a factor.

"It showed that there were people here, but that about it. No tech level, or anything shown." the Cadet replied.[/Zelli]
___________
Fox-On the Planet
Commander Talin lead her troops over to the crashed ship. Even though it had crashed they still had to be careful. Their protective suits made sure the radiation wouldn't affect them. An advantage of this was that scans wouldn't show anything since the radiation formed a protective barrier, making this world seem uninhabitable. Talin walked up to the door and found an access panel. “Ma'am we can't get in without the codes” Sgt. Hilda said. Talin nodded. She banged on the door. “Volarian Commandos! Can anyone hear me in there!” she said quite loudly. Her voice was altered and amplified by her protective suit. Sgt. Hilda and the other four commandos aimed their various weapons at the door just in case. There was one shotgun, two SMGs, an assault rifle, a sniper rifle and one commando wielding two pistols.[/Fox]
___________________________________________
Zelli-On the Ship
"Cadet I want you to get the survivors and arm them. We don't know who is out there."... Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door, interupting Sgt. Ryan. “Volarian Commandos! Can anyone hear me in there!”

"I guess that answers the question of who is out there." Ryan said calmly as he picked up a machine gun.

The Cadet arrived a moment later with 3 crewmembers. "Sir, the rest are dying and can't be moved." he said as he picked up the sniper rifle.

"They will die with honor then. Set the auto destruct sequence, I'll go talk to our guests." Ryan ordered. Pointing at the other 3 Cadets, he ordered them to pick up weapons and follow him.

Going to the door, Ryan yelled, "This is Sgt. Ryan of the scout ship DP3. I'm coming out with some crew, don't shoot." Making a small motion with his hand, he arranged the crew on either side of the door. He also told them not to shoot, but not to let anyone get inside. Carefully, he opened the door and stepped outside, rifle slanted sideways across his chest, saftey on. "I'm Sgt. Ryan, may I ask who I'm speaking too?

___________________________
Fox-Outside Crashed Ship
"I am Commander Talin of the Volarian Republic” Commander Talin said. “You idiot, didn't your sensors tell you there was radiation out here!” Sgt. Hilda yelled. Commander Talin raised her had to quieten Hilda down. “As Sgt. Hilda said, there is high levels of radiation on this world, we have some anti radiation meds with us, we can get you and any injured to our base for medical attention” Commander Talin said. Sgt. Hilda signalled the squad to assume emergancy escort formation. She was Talin's second in command.

_________________________________
Zelli-Outside Ship
"Well that changes things." Sgt. Ryan said slightly turning toward the ship. "CADET, Get your butt out here with the crew on the double, we are leaving NOW!!!!" Turning back to this Sgt. Hilda, he said "No we didn't see radiation, in case you can't tell, we crashed! We meant no harm, and will go peacefully, but this ship will be destroyed, so I wouldn't recomend entering it." Not waiting for the Sgt's reply, he turned and faced Commander Talin, "Ma'am, I would be delighted to talk with you after our treatment." His crew chose that moment to step outside, unarmed, and get into the formation. "And with that, we can leave. Cadet, whats the self desruct set for again?" Ryan asked calmly.

"Five minutes Sir." the Cadet responded nervously eyeing the guards around them.

"Good, Commander we are ready then." Ryan said as he turned back to Talin, ignoreing Hilda for the moment.

[Fox Xalian]

Talin nodded and lead them towards the main base. "We are lucky, we have been able to have bio domes on this world, you'll be at Angelica Major Dome, the largest Dome on this world" she said. Sgt. hilda was a bit a head of them radioing into the Dome Guardians. "This is Sgt. Hilda, voice ID 22374, we are inbound from patrols and investigating the ship that crashed, we are code 22-77. rerquest immediate Psytech assit on our arrival to Angelica Major" she said. "This is Angelica Major command, we are ready to recieve your 22-77, Psytechs are on standby near bay three" the reply came over the entire squads radios. "Bay three it is then" Tain said. "I'll talk to Hilda about yelling at you later, she'll get a warning this time" Talin added, looking at Ryan. As the Dome came into view it was obveous that it would be nearly immpossible to see since the radiation filled the air around it thicker then near the crashed ship. "Dilantium creates heaps of raditaion when used in manufacturing, hence we used an out of the way world that couldn't be used for anything else" Hilda said. She checked the radiation levels and handed everyone meds. The squad injected them into special ports on their suits. "This will help to keep you rad levels as they are now, we have the meds to lower your rad level in the Dome" Jalinar said. Jalinar was the only female Jaffa to become a warrior for the 22nd Commando Squad, and the only non Volarian in the Angelica Major Dome detatchment. She didn't need the meds as much because of her symbiote, but took them anyway just to appear to be like her commrades.

[MikeZZZ]

"We are lucky, we have been able to have bio domes on this world, you'll be at Angelica Major Dome, the largest Dome on this world" Tailen said. "I'll talk to Hilda about yelling at you later, she'll get a warning this time" she added, looking at Ryan.
"Dilantium creates heaps of raditaion when used in manufacturing, hence we used an out of the way world that couldn't be used for anything else" Hilda said. She checked the radiation levels and handed everyone meds.
"This will help to keep you rad levels as they are now, we have the meds to lower your rad level in the Dome" a person from the squad spoke up.


"Ok, Sounds good to me." Ryan said, nodding to the rest of his group, they all injected themselves. Suddenly, a large explosion occured behind them. "Don't worry, that was my ship. Ryan said sadly. "Now we really are stuck here for a while. Oh, and by the way Miss Tailen, once we are taken care of, would you mind explainin what species you are? We don't get out much." Ryan added with a tense laugh. Slowing down a little, he motioned for the rest of the survivors to gather around.
"Cadet Edwin, your now acting Sgt. I'm Captain." Ryan held up a hand at the look of excitment on Edwin's face. "Don't say anything, just listen. Your first official order, is to keep everyone together. I don't want to loose any of you. I don't know or trust these people yet, and I don't know what thier intentions toward us could be." Ryan said quietly.
"Yes Sir. It's an honor Sir." Sgt. Edwin said just as quietly. As Captain Ryan sped up to walk with Miss Tailen, he heard his new Sgt. giving orders to the rest of the group. Smiling to himself, he said, "Sorry about that, anyway, where were we? Ahh yes, you were going to explain about your species." Smiling even bigger, Ryan awaited Commander Tailen's reply.

[Fox Xalian]

Talin smiled. "Most of us are Volarian, this world in in our space, we are part of the United Systems Alliance" she said. Jalinar looked at them. "I am the only non Volarian in this group, I am a Jaffa, I carry a symbiote that acts as my immune system, hence the fact the radiation doesn't affect me as it does the rest of you, I didn't even need the meds that Hilda gave us, I'm Sgt. Jalinar by the way" she said. Hilda ran off ahead to the Dome. Talin lead them to the door Hilda was standing beside. "So what else do you want to know?" she asked.

[MikeZZZ]

Talin smiled. "Most of us are Volarian, this world in in our space, we are part of the United Systems Alliance" she said. Jalinar looked at them. "I am the only non Volarian in this group, I am a Jaffa, I carry a symbiote that acts as my immune system, hence the fact the radiation doesn't affect me as it does the rest of you, I didn't even need the meds that Hilda gave us, I'm Sgt. Jalinar by the way" she said. Hilda ran off ahead to the Dome. Talin lead them to the door Hilda was standing beside. "So what else do you want to know?" she asked.

"Many things, like I said, we don't get out much. Even crash landing shouldn't have happened. Speaking of that, Sgt!" Ryan yelled, turning around quickly.

"Yes Sir." the Sgt. Edwin answered quickly.

"Why in the name of god did we crash? Was it that radiation cloud we went through?" Ryan asked. Giving a discreet nod, and one of many prearranged signals, he made sure that everyone had a weapon nearby, and was ready for action. Just in case these new found friends tried anything.

"I'm not sure Sir, I didn't have time to check the scanner." Edwin replied. Nodding in return.

"Very well." Ryan was only slightly phased at the size of the dome. "So we are all going in that?" He asked Tailen caustiously turning back to her. Not wanting to offend her in case she considered it big or small. Not sure what to say as well.

[Fox Xalian]

Talin smiled. "This is only a medium sized Dome, it houses roughly 1 million people, and that's only about 25% of it capactiy" she said. Hilda opened the door and stood beside a Psytech as she was decontaminated and given raditaion neautralizing meds. Jalinar did the same, although the Psytechs kept insisting she should just go on through. "After you" Talin said to Ryan after her squad was finished. "I'll tell you more once we get insdie" she added. Hilda was already in the security room, her helmet was off, revealing what looked like blue glowing lines across her face, the same was with the other Volarians.