Ever since the Asmodean Collective's attack on Station Omega East, the war that followed had been a mess of mismanaged fleets, incompetent commanders, and overall poor execution on the part of the Universal Strategic Alliance. This wasn't much of a surprise to the Emperor of the Imperium Universalum, however, as he already knew that most USA members had only joined in hopes of receiving protection from the Imperial Armada. When it was made clear that they had obligations of their own when the Imperium was attacked by a foreign power, most of them had only scraped together token forces with inferior weapons technology, inefficient ship design, and inexperienced field commanders.
It had fallen to the Imperium to, once again, carry the weight of the war on their shoulders. Their weaker, less efficient allies were assigned to battle the weaker, less advanced fleets of the Cult of Asmodeus, while the Imperial Armada battled the real enemy with their best ships and most skilled commanders. And so the war proceeded for several years, with a few losses, and a great many victories, until the Asmodean Collective was pushed back to their core worlds.
Abandoning their colonies, the artificial intelligence organisms that made up the ships and ground forces of the Asmodean Collective assembled together for one last stand at their home star system of Nessus, where the "god" Asmodeus was said to keep its central processing unit deep under the surface of their homeworld.
To finish off this foe before they had a chance to replenish their numbers... a very real danger, considering how efficiently machine life forms could replace their ranks... the Emperor himself decided to lead the final assault, from the command and control center of the newly built Heaven-class flagship, Purgatory. Though he had a much larger vessel of his own that he could have used, the lack of efficient transportation between Achenar IV and Nessus, combined with the sheer expense of operating the Imperium Invictum, were the deciding factors in leaving it behind. That, and the fact that he would have been announcing to the entire galaxy the fact that he had left the Emerald Palace... a detail that was best kept hidden until after the battle was concluded.
As the Third Royal Armada prepared to attack, however... he received word that a third fleet was rapidly approaching. Making his way from the Fleet Admiral's quarters in which he had made his residence to the command and control center of the massive flagship, he noted the fact that the crew immediately went down to one knee at his entrance. "Stand up, everyone," he muttered. "I'm an admiral right now, so salute me as you would an admiral, rather than an Emperor."
At his words, the crew stood to their feet and gave a salute, to which he replied, "At ease. XO, what's the SITREP?"
"Sir," said a senior military officer whose nametag read "Simpson," "Third party battle fleet rapidly approaching. Sensor reports confirm that these are not Asmodean war ships, Cult of Asmodeus supporters, nor are they Glacian or any member race of the USA. Essentially... they're someone else entirely, though their speed indicates a highly advanced form of FTL travel."
"Interesting..." the Emperor remarked. If the Asmodeans had obtained a new ally at some point, it would make the battle more difficult... though he could always call for reinforcements if that was the case. "Comms officer, send them a message as follows: Unidentified vessels, this is Fleet Admiral Emperor Donald III of Achenar aboard the Imperium Universalum flagship Purgatory. You are entering an active war zone. Identify yourself, and whether you are friend or foe."
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