NationStates Jolt Archive

Skeelzanian Frontier
“Royalty on deck!” Rifles snapped to shoulders as 40 Skeelzanian Naval and Marine personnel saluted the new arrivals. Grand Prince Vladimir Skeelzot returned the salute, then offered his hand to the captain. “Greetings, commander. I apologize for springing this on you, but I’m sure you understand. Can’t have the Fedrals know critical movements.”

The station captain bowed. “No trouble at all, my lord. We relish any chance to break the monotony out here. Come, let us continue the inspection.” Vladimir nodded and followed the man into the depths of the station. He and his daughter were on a semi-annual Fleet Inspection Tour, which brought them to the lonely border outposts like this one. Prince Dmitri, however, was noticeably absent, laid up to an “illness.” This border outpost, SKZG-112, was the ninth they had visited so far.

Less than a hundred kilometers away, Princess Arkady stood on the bridge of the Vityaz, having watched her father’s shuttle dock at the station. “Let’s see how long he takes this time.” She didn’t like these inspections, they made her feel vulnerable. More vulnerable than usual that is. Standing only six feet and one inch tall, when the rest of your race was pushing seven, would do that to you. Turning from the vidscreen, she addressed the FS captain. “Anything on radar?”

“No, my lady. I’ll alert you if anything does appear though.”

Arkady nodded. The Phobos destroyer had some of the best sensor equipment in Skeelzania, she was confidant in the captain’s report. “Very well. I shall be in my quarters.” Saluting the bridge crew, she walked off.

Meanwhile…

The Ork gave a low gurgling noise, black blood welling up from its mouth. Slowly, like some great tree, it toppled over onto the steel plating. Its former subordinate grinned before wrenching his blade out of the corpse’s chest. Kaptain Trakkol scowled; he didn’t like sudden changes in the pecking order right before battle. “Yooz gunnery kaptain now, so yooz get to yer station!” Grabbing a half-eaten leg of meat, he threw it after the retreating Ork for reinforcement. Other members of the bridge crew stared hungrily at the corpse, but dared not leave their stations.

The Spasmastic Rage was an Ork Marauder, and its Kaptain one of the few who risked operating so close to the Skeelzees. However, Trakkol knew there was good loot to be found on the supply ships that regularly came out here, and he intended to snatch one. When his friends in Skeelzania informed him a transport would be arriving shortly, he impetuously launched his ship towards the station, hoping to snag his prize before they began unloading. His krew shared similar feelings, and all hoped to make a good profit with this latest venture. Suddenly, the sensor officer began gibbering excitedly. Looming into the vidscreen was the asteroid station, accompanied by a sizeable ship. Prey. Lifting himself out of his command chair, Trakkol bellowed his orders. “All gunnerz are ta load! Target dat rok and knock ‘er out, den weze take da ship! Firez on my orders! Now, moves!”

Onboard the station, Vladimir was about to inquire about the new cannon when the alarms went crazy. His captain-turned-tour guide knew instantly what it was: “Orks!” Urging his Prince to follow him, he dashed onto the bridge where his fears were confirmed. An Ork Dessie, Marauder most likely, was barreling down on them, minute flashes heralding the bombardment that was to come. “Battle stations! Comms, signal the Vityaz, now!”

Trakkol grinned, it looked like it would be a clean sweep. Like a child playing with a new toy, he jabbed his finger down on the “firez” button. After only a brief delay, hundreds of pounds worth of railgun slugs rocketed out from the dessie’s bow, set on a collision course with the station.”

Arkady was just about to step into the shower when the alarms went off. Mumbling to herself, she grabbed a towel and sprinted onto the bridge, nearly giving a startled cadet a heart attack. She arrived just in time to see SKZG-112 torn apart by numerous impacts, and then consumed in fire as the fusion containment fields collapsed. The ship’s captain stood numbly in the center of the bridge, his mouth agape. Calm and collected, Arkady strode across the bridge and slapped him. “Fool, pull yourself together and return fire!” When he failed to respond, she drove her fingers into his left kidney. Now the crew leapt into action.

Even as the Ork dessie hurtled towards them, the Vityaz pulled away from the station. Panels slid back revealing railgun and missile mounts, and the flicker of a shield turning on surrounded the Phobos. Gunning its engines, the Skeelzanians narrowly avoided being rammed by the Ork craft. Clubbing his helmsman, Trakkol grabbed the ship’s controls and brought her hard around, tossing unprepared Orks against corridor walls. As the destroyer swung back into focus, he ordered a second barrage. Hundred-pound slugs tore through space, carrying away the Vityaz’s conning tower

Arkady had to steady herself as the ship gave a lurch, accompanied by a grinding sound. The comms officer cursed and threw down his headphones. “Damned Orks carried away the tower; only half the message got through.” She nodded, then returned to watching the Ork dessie come about. By now all weapons were ready, all four tubes loaded. As the Spasmastic Rage lined up for another shot, she gave the order. “All torpedoes, fire!”

Four heavy fusion torpedoes, each with enough explosive power to equal several gigatons, shot through space and into the Ork vessel. The first one skimmed along the top, impacting against bridge-bulb where Trakkol directed the battle. Within seconds he and the entire bridge staff had been reduced to molten slag. Two more torpedoes streaked down the ship’s sides, self-detonating at the halfway point. The fourth and last torpedo had the luck to rocket down one of the destroyer’s exposed railguns, traveling unopposed to explode deep within the ship.

Arkady allowed herself a smug smile as the Ork ship exploded, its magazines detonating and containment fields collapsing. Her father was still dead, but at least she was alive to become Grand Princess. If anyone knew she was still alive... “Engineering, get that conning tower operation on the double!”

Solomon, Spoot System

Grand Admiral van Cleef was about to light up an afternoon cigar when an aide crashed into his office. “My lord, urgent message from the Vityaz! Their under attack or were or destroyed or some-”

“Calm down damn it. What happened?” By now van Cleef was out of his office and hurriedly following the aide down a corridor, towards the Command Center. As they walked, the aide continued to jibber. “Something about an Ork attack, a raider sneaking up on them during an inspection. Station destroyed, the Prince presumed dead-“
The two men entered the Command Center, which was in a similar state of chaos. The duty officers were inundated with requests for information, while at the same time desperately trying to raise the Vityaz on longcomm. In the midst of it, van Cleef spied an unassuming figure with a rodent-like face. “Dren! What the hell is going on?” he shouted over the din.

Chancellor Dren, captain of the Prince’s bodyguard and leader of FS Forces, turned slowly. “Isn’t it obvious? The Prince is dead! Blasted into subatomic particles by some Ork’s zzap gun.” Weaving his way through the crowd, he came face to face with van Cleef. Well, face to chest bone: the Admiral was a good head taller at eight feet. “It’s a real mess, I’m afraid.”

His naval counterpart scowled. “Damn right it is. How did some greenskin bucket-o-bolts get close enough to fire, much less destroy a station? And what of the Princess? Any word?”

Dren shrugged. “Communication was lost half-way through the message, though we can safely assume she is dead as well.” His eyes locked with van Cleef’s, as if daring him to object. “I must inform Dmitri. He is the leader of Skeelzania now.” The Chancellor brushed past van Cleef, leaving the admiral to deal with the crisis. Acknowledging there wasn’t anything he could do, he simply ordered that he be informed of any developments and returned to his quarters.

*** *** *** *** ***

“The colors…” Prince Dmitri II took another swig of oily liquid and collapsed back on the cushion. Around him, colors danced and walls melted as the drug took its effect; Dmitri took it in through his black-on-black eyes, the sign of a landanix addiction. He was particularly amused by the purple triangle playing the bongos until he realized it was someone at the door. “Enter.”

The door burst open, allowing Dren and two guards access to the room. The FS leader hid a scowl: he had seen this scene many times before and had become good at hiding his emotions. “My lord, I bring grievous news. Your esteemed father and sister have been killed at the hands of the Orks.”

“Oh, that’s too bad…when did the Orks get here?”

A stifled sigh. “They are not here, my lord. Vladimir and Arkady were on the border for inspections when the Orks attacked. There seems to be no survivors.” Dren jerked his head at the two guards, who immediately went and picked up Dmitri, stuffing him into an official uniform. “You’ll need to accept the crown immediately, before chaos ensues. Here,” a small case was produced, and two half-circles pressed into Dmitri’s eyes. “There, just some contacts. Also, here’s a wire, we’ll help you in your acceptance speech. Come, there is no time to lose.”

Dmitri, his eyes now hidden behind the false lens, smiled weakly. “Oh, but their both dead. We have all the time in the world.”

*** *** *** *** ***

Karl van Cleef settled into a seat near the back of the room, giving him a good view. The Ziad Council Hall was already filling up, though it looked like it wouldn’t pass 50% capacity. Many of the lords and ladies were out on their family estates, and couldn’t make it on such short notice. Karl wondered why Dren was so anxious to get the coronation going.

Like a good soldier, van Cleef rose with the rest of the audience when Dmitri entered the hall. The man swayed a little, as if unused to his height. But he was 28, not some droog just out of puberty. Acknowledging the audience with a nod, Dmitri began his speech as van Cleef settled back into his chair. “Lords and Ladies of the Ziad, I thank you for attending on such short notice. However, the situation is grim. My father and sister, Vladimir and Arkady Skeelzot, have fallen at the hands of Ork raiders on the frontier. As sole surviving heir of the Skeelzot Family, it is my duty to accept the crown of Grand Prince of Skeelzania.” Dmitri spoke with an unnatural urgency in his voice, much faster than usual. His hands were also shaking, but that was to be expected of someone who had lost his family.

As van Cleef dwelled on this an aide appeared at his side. “Sir, your needed in the CC. Something urgent has come up.”

Karl growled. “What do you mean, urgent? Has Master Whack returned from the dead and is now leading a host of elves and xenos through the streets of the city? I have a coronation to attend to.”

The aide shifted his weight. “Sir, a message has arrived from the Vityaz, we think. Its garbled, but it seems the Princess is alive.” That made him sit straight up. “By the Spoot, why didn’t you tell me you twit?” Hefting himself out of the chair, van Cleef dashed off to the Command Center. On stage, Dren watched the old admiral go. What was he up? Activating the communit hidden in his right ear, Dren ordered several guards to follow van Cleef.

Within minutes van Cleef had read the message and made a decision. Using his considerable powers as a Grand Admiral, he ordered a Typhon grand cruiser, two Nidhoggs and their escorts out of space dock and to prep for jump. Less than 2 hours after the message was received, van Cleef was boarding a Navy Shuttle to take him up to the flagship. “Sir!” Karl paused, then turned to look at the two men rushing across the tarmac. The black tunics with red trim identified them as FS guardsmen. “Sir, Chancellor Dren has requested a meeting with you immediately.”

“I have more important matters to attend to. We’ve received a distress signal from the Princess’s ship, we believe she’s alive.” He turned back to the shuttle and was about to step in when a hand clasped his left arm. A strange look had come over guardsman’s face. “Sir, the Chancellor insists-”

With a loud crack van Cleef’s fist slammed into the man’s face, sending him sprawling. The second guard stood agape, then reached for his pistol. Suddenly he too jerked back as six rounds slammed into him, fired from a Naval Guard within the shuttle. The first man, his jaw broken and minus several teeth, took one look at his partner, then ran for it. Van Cleef watched him run back towards the Palace, then finally entered the shuttle. “Pilot, take us up.” As the shuttle lifted off into the air, several more men charged onto the tarmac: armored men. Minigun rounds began pinging off the sides of the shuttle as the pilot boosted her into orbit.

Sir Crimmond, Knight of the FS and commander of the SKZFS-MO8 defense monitor jerked awake at the sound. Incoming message…he leapt to his feet. “My lord!”

Chancellor Dren glared at the man. “Knight, you are hereby ordered to intercept the following targets.” Ship designations flashed across the vidscreen and Crimmond’s eyes widened. “My lord, that is the Waakzaamheid! And the Dosadi…”

A fist slammed down off screen, and Dren was rudely shoved out of the way. Dmitri’s face filled the screen, his eyes strangely dark. “Do NOT question your orders, Knight! Engage targets at once!”

Crimmond stammered out a “yes, sir” seconds before the screen flickered off. Had his leaders gone mad? No matter: “Crew to battle stations! All turrets, target approaching vessels.”

At the same time van Cleef stood on the bridge of the Waakzaamheid, a slight tremor going through his body. Those eyes… Dren had made the mistake of transmitting on a standard military frequency, forgetting that van Cleef could access it just as easily as he could. The whole brief conversation had been played on the vidscreen infront of the Admiral. Landanix. Van Cleef had seen it enough during his forays into gnome space. A disgusting drug, harvested from bloated larvae the Bandalok Masters often kept in their own homes for easy access. Those black-on-black eyes were indisputable proof that Dmitri was addicted to the substance, and Karl had a fairly good idea of who was the supplier. “Helm, take us to jump-distance. Nav, prepare to jump to the Princess’s last known coordinates.”

As the small fleet passed the defense monitor, Crimmond’s lip trembled a little. “All turrets, fi-fire!” Heavy plasma turrets swung towards the battleships, launching a barrage at them as they passed.

Aboard the Waakzaamheid van Cleef felt his ship shake, and the alarms confirmed that they were under attack. “Return fire! Dren’s gone mad.” Reacting instantly, the entire starboard broadside of the grand cruiser opened up, tearing into the unfortunate monitor. Within seconds the ship was obliterated, several molten, glowing orbs floating in space the only things identifying its last position. At that moment a satisfactory distance from the planet was reached and the ship’s hyperdrives activated. Accompanied by its small fleet, the Waakzaamheid tore off to the Frontier.

Back on the planet, Chancellor Dren watched the ships leave with surprising calm. He didn’t for a moment believe Arkady was alive, his Ork kaptain had been too good for that. Dmitri was the sole heir to the Skeelzanian throne, and Dren controlled Dmitri. A few rogue battleships were of no consequence. He would wait before dispatching a trailing fleet, there was nothing van Cleef could do on the Frontier.

*** *** *** *** ****

After several days of warp travel, van Cleef arrived on the Frontier where he found Arkady completing repairs on her vessel. A hurried conference followed, where the Grand Admiral unveiled his suspicions. They didn’t altogether surprise the young woman. She always knew Dmitri was a spoiled child, and fond of dabbling in drugs. But to become so foolishly addicted, especially to a drug made by gnomes… She couldn’t leave him in charge of Skeelzania. Six days after the death of her father, she made her declaration:

“People of Skeelzania, I come before you as your rightful Princess and Protector. Six days ago my father, Vladimir Skeelzot I, was killed in a surprise attack on the Frontier. My younger brother Dmitri, addicted and under the influence of Chancellor Dren, seized the throne without even inquiring into my safety. With him falling under the control of an addictive substance, I am forced, as your Ruler, to pass a death sentence on Dmitri Skeelzot II. And not only is he a degenerate addict, he has also conspired with our sworn enemies, the Gnomes of Bandalok, who in return for this drug he has promised influence and power. I call on you, good peoples of Skeelzania, to rise up against the Usurper Dmitri! Those of you who were allies of my father, I call upon you as well to assist us in ousting the most unfit-to-rule Dmitri.”

The camera flicked off, and Arkady sank into her seat. She didn’t know how many would respond, but one thing was for certain: she had just ignited Skeelzania’s first civil war.

*** *** *** *** ***

Dren was having such a wonderful dream, something to do with him strangling an elf maiden, when a loud knocking awoke him. “Sir, the Navy’s revolting!”

“Yes, they are aren’t they.” As his rolled over to go back to sleep, Dren’s eyes flashed open. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“The Navy sir! Their declaring for Arkady, Bolton’s breaking from space-dock as we speak.”

That got him up. Dren leapt out of bed, flung open his door, and darted off to the Command Center. The Fleet Tactical Command Screen confirmed what the orderly had said: Admiral Bolton was breaking out of space-dock and it looked like his entire command was going with him. 15 Nidhoggs, by the Spoot- Another report flashed in, this time from The Den. Arkady had swept in with her miserable fleet and seized the space-docks there, and sporadic fighting was reported on Mahon as loyalist and insurgent forces battled it out.

Before Dren could come up with a coherent sentence that encapsulated his rage, yet another report arrived. Full-scale warfare had erupted on Exante, the world annexed from Coredia only five years before. Though the planet lacked any significant docks, there was still a sizeable military depot there. Crumpling the report in his hands, Dren watched as one planet after another was consumed in violence. The Den, Quixote, Kogoruhm, Exante, even Tantalus damn it! Even the Prison System was fractioning! “Alert the 1st Guard Fleet, prepare them for immediate offensive action! They are to proceed to The Den and crush this rebellion!”

OOC: Alright, this is an open RP but I withhold the right to ignore anyone (obviously). However, I hope I don’t need to do that. In short the situation is this: Skeelzania’s leader is dead, and his children (Dmitri and Arkady) are going to be fighting for the throne. There is also going to a few pro-Democracy factions cropping up, but they are minor participants and I doubt they’ll affect the course of the war (unless someone gives them a black-hole-in-a-box or something). That being said, jump in and support whichever side you want. Just remember, I’ll be steering the war so it’s a victory for Arkady (however narrow it turns out, and just maybe she’ll lose).

From the depths of space, a message comes to Skeelzania:

Greetings, from the Rebel Alliance. Know this. We offer our
support to Arkady as Dimitri is a foolish addict who deserves to be punished.
Unfortunately, we cannot give you any aid.

OOC: Tagness!

Official Solaraisi reply:

As the Skeelzanian Navy helped us in the Fedral War, so shall we help them. Considering the fact our only benefactors at that time declared for Arkady, a small contingent of scoutships and an Emalgha frigate will be sent in as support roles. (OOC: I know I am very direct, but my leaders have a childlike sense of diplomacy, and just tend to say what they mean)
Also, 3 transports containing 2700 assorted engineers, medics, and a few crack troops each, will be sent to support Arkady in what roles they can fill.

Linkage:

Frigate x1: http://s6.invisionfree.com/The_CoS/index.php?showtopic=23
(Note: The Emalgha also contains its fighters within the fighter bay)

Scoutship x12: http://s6.invisionfree.com/The_CoS/index.php?showtopic=2

The transports are also on the same page as the frigate.

The engineers and the like have been equipped minimally, and will require tools which may be used on Skeelzanian ships. The troops are equipped with standard assault rifles, and 255 rounds of ammo each. We hope that our support can win Arkady the war. (Not to mention the fact that Solarais is already dealing with the TFU insane leader, we don't need another unpredictable force anywhere near us)

On the Planet Of New Shivia, the Emperor sat on his throne outside in the Imperial Forest. Around him the People worked, cut down trees to make the clearing bigger, and other things of the sort. He looked back behind him to see the Stargate that had been set up since Gaia had shown them how. He smiled, the moon of Barica had made the best discovery in the Imperiums history, and the entire nation had use it to better their lives. The most usful was the metal they had, witch reparied all damage to it slowly. It was then a fit hunter came and told him about the Skeelzanian wars. The Emperor told him to take the gate to the armed moon of Terra, and to mobilize the Teutonic Knight Space Marine Chapter to get ready for war. The Emperor sighed, no other race knew unity as the Shivians, witch could be invconvinient at times.

The Empire of Xanter,even though it is in a war with the Fedral Union,shall send 5 Assault Frigates and 500 fighters to fight for Arkady.We hope our support will help change the course of the war.

Harmonia Mortus is deeply grieved that a formerly great nation has fallen into civil war and in an effort to provide relief from this unfourtunate turn of events Harmonia Mortus has dispatched five Ships of the Line and a Galleon to oversee. The eigth Legion (Capitalia) has been dispatched as well in hopes of containing the incident.

The Solaraisi fleet neared ever closer to the conflict. They had just left the Rift, and, miraculously, not a single ship had been majorly damaged. Repairs would take a mere 3 hours, and then, the small fleet would enter the combat, albeit on Arkady's side.

At the same time, only 500 000 kilometres away, the Forh ship left the Rift. It sensed the other Solaraisi ships, and disabled all onboard systems which used the slightest glimpse of power. It settled down, behind an asteroid, waiting for the Jiha ships to leave..

Planet Mahon, The Den

The massive Typhon Grand Cruiser hung in space above the planet, its guns occasionally dealing out death to the surface below. Hundreds of men worked the big guns, providing crucial fire support to the troops below. On the planet itself, thousands of ground troopers had been battling for nearly a week, bitterly split between the two Factions.

Princess Arkady watched the bombardment on the bridge vidscreen, seemingly oblivious to the activity around her. To her right van Cleef finished conferring with the comms officer, giving the man a slap on the back before approaching his commander. "My lady, General Tylate informs us that the enemy is capitulating. A FS brigade continue to fight, but regular Army units are surrendering across the planet." The old admiral straightened somewhat, as with pride. "Congradulations on your first victory, my lady. Mahon is ours."

Finally an emotion played on Arkady's face. A smile seemed to tug at her lips, but her face remained grim. "Congradulations will be in order when I have taken Solomon, my good Admiral. Until then we shall continue the war." Suddenly the bridge lights went red, klaxons beginning to blare throughout the ship. "Status?'

An orderly scrambled up from the control pit, clutching a report in his hand. Snapping to attention, he began to hand it to van Cleef, then paused as he debated who should get the report. Karl ended the debate by snatching the readout: "Ships jumping in at the system edge, look Skeelzanian. Not using our codes however, its probably an FS fleet."

The Princess nodded. "How many?"

"Its one of the Guard Fleets. A Nidhogg, two carriers, 19 destroyers, escorts. Forty Draco Kais though, all probably carrying suits." He returned the report to the orderly, dismissing him. "Were about even force-wise; if Bolton was to show up we'd trounce them. No telling when that'll be though. Shall I give the order to attack."

A slight pause. "Yes, attack at once. Do whatever you deem necessary to drive off the enemy."

*** *** *** *** ***

The FS fleet tore down on the insurgents, mobile suit and fighter wings leading the charge. Suits and fighters loyal to Arkady rushed out to meet them, and soon the gulf between the two fleets was filled with dog-fighting craft. Unfortunately, neither side had changed their insignia or overall paint scheme, resulting in high friendly-fire.

Plowing through the battling small-craft, the Waakzaamheid and escorting Nidhoggs slammed into the Dmitrites. As the four heavy capital ships unleashed broadsides at one another, numerous smaller vessels were caught in the crossfire and incinerated or sent hurtling into the void.

OOC: Numbers
Arkady's Fleet:
1 Typhon, the Waakzaamheid
2 Nidhoggs
4 Phobos
10 Draco Kais
20 SKZMS-19 Grollens
21 Fighters

FS 1st Guard Fleet
15 Teutonic Frigates
40 Draco Kai Frigates
15 Phobos Destroyers
4 Deimos Destroyers
1 Nidhogg
2 Legion Carriers
25 SKZMS-19 Grollens
15 SKZMS-09 Achilles
326 Fighters

For those sending ships, you can just jump in or, if you would rather I control them, give me express permission to do so.

To Princess Arkady
From Protector Eric Strength
Commonwealth of the WIck

The Commonwealth does not forget those who have helped us in the past. Thirty years ago you supported my nation in its time of need, with offers to provide safe haven for our refugees. We will not make good on our debt to your government.

It is not as much as I would want to send but its all I can afford to send, The 3rd Expeditionary Group the "Soaring Eagles" has been sent to aid in your struggle.

Several days prior. Somewhere in Skeelzania space

There were four Riskade-class subShips, vessels that skirted the boundary between normSpace and tranSpace, invisible to all known scanners. The WSGS Riskade watched the transmissions. It 'surfaced'.

>Code = Priority One
>Src = Riskade
>Trg = OCC
>
>Report. Skleez CV. Rec Arkady. Fwrd MSG.
>
>//Terminate

The subShip dived a second later, leaving a tiny tachyon burst in its wake.

*********************

"Ser Victoria," the corpulent admiral bobbed his head in greeting and respect.

"Admiral Renjo. How many standby ships do we have? Vick asked on trideo. Protege of the High King Alicia li'Wye, she was the defacto commander of Weyr's defenses against the Sith while Alicia was away.

"Er..." the admiral thought for a moment. "...the Fourth Cavalry, ser."

"Admiral, can we deploy into Skeelzania?"

"Yes, ser. May I ask why?"

"We are honoring a commitment." Vick replied.

************************
Current Time

"Picking up tranDilation."

"Coordinates locked in."

"Entering normSpace in three....two...one..."

<Black turned to white, white turned to black and.....>

It was not an impressive sight as the Ship of the Line Ridellflared into normSpace at the edge of the system, flanked by five Marchese battlecruisers, and twenty New Paradigm light cruisers. Having alerted everyone around to its presense, the Fourth Cavalry engaged shields, active scanners illuminating every vessel around.

"Princess Arkady, this is the WSGS Ridell of the Fourth Cavalry, who the frig do we engage?" the signal shot out on all bands, while the fleet continued to move towards Planet Mahon. Commodore Shun wished he knew who was friend and who was foe. Surprise was one of the best Weyrean strategies, and it was something they lacked in this engagement.

In a blinding flash of white light the Soaring Eagles translated from the alpha band of Hyper space roughly 4 million km from the forces opposed to
Princess Arkady....

The Bridge of the Achilles was cast in the green light of battle alert, Honzollerings “Stand against the Night” just finished playing, Commodore Alexi Global commanded the Eagles, his flotilla wasn’t made up of the most modern ships in the Navy, but they knew their stuff, and he intended to show the Commonwealth's enemies this very fact. The 8 battleships of his command form a single line of battle, with 4 heavy cruisers both above and below this line, and 4 destroyers in front and behind it acting as screening units.

"Sir we are within 2 million KM of the enemies fleet." a young ensign reported.

"Very well, Fleet orders! All units are free to engage enemy units, Fire at Will!" Global ordered.

And with that the fleet fired in anger the battle ships targeted the smaller vessels by division throwing 90 missiles at each ship, a mix between laser head and nuclear missiles. The screening units fired their smaller missiles at the enemies escort ships and mobile suits.

OOC: as who to shoot im working on the assumption that we recived IFF codes before this ....

OOC: A hyperfusion missile is equal in power to a full broadside from an SSD. Each salvo (6 guns) from a New Paradigm cruiser is equal in power to the main battery of an ISD. Each salvo from a Marchese cruiser (8 guns) is equal in power to three broadsides from the main battery of an ISD. Each vessel is not firing its two rear-facing guns. The count does not include the several hundred light guns and the parasite complement on an ISD that Weyrean vessels don't have. This means, effectively, that a 300-meter New Paradigm has the net power of one half or even one third of an ISD. A hyperfusion missile can be shot down with light anti-fighter guns, or by fighter-parasite pilots with very fast reflexes.

Is it just me, or is everyone using 'translation' all of a sudden? I mean...Translation in Weyr's case is a very specific mode of travel...you can't track or follow a vessel through tranSpace, which is neither subsace nor hyperspace, and it does take quite a bit of research to translate properly and without massive time dilation.

"Ah, WIckians," Commodore Shun chuckled. "All craft, missiles hot," he commanded. "Formation beta"

Two salvos, of forty hyperfusion missiles each, went hyper towards the FS fleet. Data from the missiles guided the cannon rounds that followed. Pivoting, the Weyrean craft formed with bows facing the enemy head on. They could fire only two thirds of their main guns, but the result was a much smaller target for counterfire. Rear screws (engines) flared on. The ships accelerated, forward weapons blazing.

CB Transmission to Princess Arkady:
HMS Bel-Shamharoth has been dispatched with six other heavy ships, on arrival they will assist in what way they can. Keeper Charnel sends his compliments, and requests any information that you wish to make avalible about your system. We regret to say that our ships mapping/scouting capabilites are rather limited.

The Fleet:
Just out of weapons range of the enemy fleets seven rather strange looking ships manifested themselves in a thaumic surge. The lightning, fireballs and paper streamers werent strictly required, but they made it look much more impressive.
The ships were...strange, especialy on a modern battlefield in space. The six ships-of-the-line each had three masts bearing the Harmonian Seal of a horned devil. The Galleon had four masts, and quite a few more sails. Even in their (sort of) obsolescence, the ships were impressive. Wooden hulls that had formerly sailed on waves of the sea were now encased in a magical fielding keeping them from blowing outward in an attempt to fill the void.
On deck figures swarmed whirling Thaumic Cannons into place, loading the ships more...conventional guns.
Now new ships, more 'modern' in appearance came into view, about the size of a normal fighter.

TO: Chancellor Dren
FROM: High-Priest Lam

Chancellor Dren, oh most esteemed leader and protector of the Skeelzanian principality, the startling reports of civil and military unrest that have been tickling my ears for the past weeks seem to be increasingly freqent. A rebellion is never a good thing, especially when it involves a people of such forceful power. Perhaps the 7th and 12th Battle Fleets added to the defence of Skeelzania would remedy the situation.

OOC: The war got off to a rather hasty start, so some ships on different sides are using the same IFF codes and frequencies. Its a mess basically, even the old LoS identification method is no good since both sides use the same flag. Eventually this will get sorted out, but theres going to be a fair amount of FF first.

IC:

The sudden emergence of no less than three foreign fleets caught van Cleef by surprise, though he retained enough sense to tell them who to shoot at. Grabbing a intership communit, he ordered his corvettes to beacon the enemy. The surviving Dracos leapt into action, darting amongst the enemy ships, firing high-powered beacons which would raise a ship's signature twenty fold. "All friendly vessels, target the beaconed shisps!"

As this went on the Waakzaamheid crashed through the enemy destroyer screen, scattering the smaller vessels with railgun shots. Pulling alongside, she blasted the FS battlecruiser at point-blank range, turning much of her gun deck into slag within minutes.

With their flagship rapidly turning into scrapmetal, the FS captains found themselves without a leader. The two Legion carriers began to flee as enemy closed in, but were overtaken by Weyrean and Wickian missles. One of the strike carriers disentegrated and numerous missiles impacted against the central hull, its point-defense overloaded. The second lost an engine pod before e-jumping out.

The fighters and mobile suit pilots, now without any hope of escape, became fatalistic. A FS Achilles suit deftly manuevered through a hail of PD fire only to slam into the exposed tower-bridge of a Draco Kai, destroying itself but crippling the ship in the process. Other pilots conducted daring close-in attacks, hoping to slip under the enemy PD and unload their ship-killing missiles.

However, numbers were telling. FS corvettes swarmed over the Arkadian ships, using their speed to get behind the vulnerable rear. As the new arrivals approached, the Guards began targeting them with their railguns, at the same time blasting the Arkadians with short-range SABOT missiles. For their part, the FS Destroyers hung back, preferring to battle the insurgent destroyers and battlecruisers than the foreigners.

Losses:
FS: 1 Nidhogg crippled, still fighting; 2 Legion carriers (1 escaping); 8 Draco Kai corvettes; 6 Teutonic Frigates; 2 Phobos destroyers; 8 Grollen MSs; 5 Achilles MSs; 133 Zig Fighters

Arkady: Damage to the Waakzaamheid; 4 Draco Kais lost; 3 Grollens; 17 Fighters

Response to the Bandalok High-Priest:
Your support for the rightful heir of Skeelzania is most appreciated. We stand ready to accept your ships at Solomon.

OOC: Did High-Priest Achilles finally kick the bucket?

SkeelzaniaHowever, numbers were telling. FS corvettes swarmed over the Arkadian ships, using their speed to get behind the vulnerable rear. As the new arrivals approached, the Guards began targeting them with their railguns, at the same time blasting the Arkadians with short-range SABOT missiles. For their part, the FS Destroyers hung back, preferring to battle the insurgent destroyers and battlecruisers than the foreigners.

The Weyreans had no problems with staying back. Still, they had to back up their 'allies'. A second series of twin missile salvos lanced towards FS vessels.

Vortex fields caught railgun sabots, slingshot them in spirals around Weyrean cruisers. Armor groaned. Turrets blew off. Subetheric slugs continued to lance towards FS vessels, fired from guns looking much like those of ancient Terran battleships.

OOC: Best way to kill a Weyrean ship: broadside its flank. Vortex shields are completely useless in such a scenario.

OOC: If by 'kicked the bucket' you mean murdered in his sleep, then yes. His name was too long.

IC:
Planet Solomon, Spoot system
Out meandering past Gideon Station, a random tachyon particle takes an abrupt right turn as a gigantic hole in space opens before it. Rolling in eerie blue light, the sight is quickly obscured by the two full Battle Fleets sent at the suggestion of High-Priest Lam.

Using an antiquitated radio device for the Skeelzanian's sake, Fleet-Master Sqen sent out a transmission requesting a status report from the nearby Station.

OOC:
Theres six T-Guns on each Ship of the Line, plus ten on the galleon. The Thaumic Cannon is basicaly a powerful laser, and has some minor effects on electronics, sort of like an ion cannon.

IC:
The Harmonian battleships moved with suprising quickness, lining up on the flank of the battle and preparing a volley.
Each ship fired its full broadside of Thaum Guns and conventional cannons, sending beams of white light and shells crammed with enough magical energy to destroy a house through space at the beaconed FS ships.
On the deck the Galleons captain stood with his leg on the rail, a Goblin equiped with a fan was making his cloak and hair flow dramaticaly. Behind him on the gun deck crewmembers stood in the traces of the big T-Guns, firing again and again, drawing crazed patters in space and on the shields of the FS ships.
The Daggerships sped towards their targets, firing their miniature T-Guns at the enemy vessels, two or three fired missiles bearing loads similar to the shells...

OOC: Oh yeah, I forgot pillows were the number 1 cause of death in Bandalok. His name wasn't very gnomish anyway.

IC:

The FS station master gruffly ordered the gnomes to one of the outlying docks; they couldn't trust some of their men not to take potshots. As the living ships passed through the Solomon Dockyards, they might of noticed the large number of vacant vessels. After Admiral Bolton's breakout (taking a good third of the Battlecruiser Fleet with him), Chancellor Dren had ordered all naval personnel grounded until their loyalty was demonstrated. Now the FS Naval Command was struggling to find men to crew the empty warships.

Chancellor Dren watched the red-and-orange ships dock, surpressing a scowl as he did so. He had no objection to using xenos, but they were still disgusting. Turning from the vidscreen to a young page, he said, "Power up one of the Teutonics. Get an emissary to the Uberpire, and give him plenty of weapons. Tell him to carry out 'Plan O'. He'll know what your talking about." The teenager saluted and rushed off, allowing Dren to return to his thoughts. After their distatrous defeat at Gantris IV, the Orks had remained scattered and broken. The largest enclave -that Dren knew about anyway- remained on the Skeelzanian-Arenumbergian frontier, led by Brunk Fleshcleaver. There were always a few kaptains out there looking to make a buck...

OOC: I'm suprised no one really made a comment on those rickety sailboats Harmonia has. Dungeon Keeper eh?

OOC: I'm suprised no one really made a comment on those rickety sailboats Harmonia has. Dungeon Keeper eh?

OOC: I'm working on it. I just wanted some other responses first.

IC:

Sir Hoch dragged himself out from beneath a girder, coughing up a few teeth. The bridge was filled with smoke, and the main vidscreen was flickering on and off. Red warning lights let up half the consoles, but it looked like the insurgent battleship had passed. Staggering to his feet, the Guardsman stared at the vidscreen. Sailing ships? What the Spoot...? Grabbing a communit from a pile of charcoal that used to be the Gunnery Captain, he barked orders to the remaining gun decks. "What the bloody hell are you waiting for? Target those ships and fire!"

Several hundred meters forward, the FS gun crews cheered as they ran a shell home. They were somewhat isolated from the rest of the ship, and didn't know their starboard-side brothers had been vaporized. All they knew was that it was their turn to shoot something. The Nidhogg fired a rolling broadside, its numerous plasma turrets going off in sequence. As a final touch, the ship's four ion cannons streaked out to the nearest galleon.

From the Observation deck of his Dreadnaught, Master Sqen gazed down at the dry metropolis of Solomon. "Perhaps", he thought, "We will one day reclaim that desert."

Glistening wetly like one big ball of flesh, the combined fleets pulled into orbit and waited for action.

OOC: Harmonian ships are pretty good, provided their mages and goblins don't self-destruct.......anyway, don't expect Weyr to deploy anything more into this thread, since Weyr prolly won't have a fleet after the Empire Stikes Back (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=365276&page=16&pp=15) thread is done, or after one or two more RL days......

The WIckian fleet was content to stand off and pour broadside after broadside at the FS fleet, There fire would be concentrated on 2 or 3 of the enemy ships overwhelming its defenses untill it would be destroyed before moving on to another.

OOC: Hardly rickety. The shield is actually a bit better than most other nations, the hull is a bit weak though, but it has giant super-death lasers of doom on it :P
Yeah, my nation is a mix of Dungeon Keeper, Magic: The Gathering and Discworld :)
Just in case you dont know, Skeelzania, there arent any electronics to disable, everything is run off magical energy.

IC:
"BLAST!" The Shamharoths Captain threw the ships wheel to port, trying to dodge the barrage. The first few plasma streams streaked past or skimmed off the ships shield, the remaining bolts impacted, buckling the ships starboard rear defences, but not breaking through.
Finnaly the last few bolts struck, causing a breif hole in the ships defence. Air and a few unfourtunate Goblins streamed out, screaming as the lack of preassure, air and warmth did some unpleasant things to their anatomy. One of the Thaum Cannons was disabled when its operator was pinned to it by a massive splinter from the main mast.
The Ion beams did little damage, a few less fortunate crew members collapsed on the deck, their nervous systems temporarily overloaded by the ion burst and the ships Crystal Ball detectors went wild, but quickly refocused.
"What are you fools waiting for! ANSWER THEM!" The captain bounded over the rail to the nearest speaking tube, "Mages! Reinforce the shield, and open the mana conduits! Full power to the forward guns, lets show 'em that magic can happen!"
The ships two foremost guns on the starboard side unleashed blue-white fury on the Skeelzanian ships, reality itself bent around the beams and a passing chunk of debrie was turned into a large chicken which was quickly holed by a passing magical shell.
The ships-of-the-line followed suite, opening up with all avalible guns. One had caught a plasma bolt at a bad time, turning its forward fourth into charred timber and throwing its forward crystals off, putting the ship into a long, slow turn. Crew-beings scuttled over the the burnt area while mages filled buckets with water.
The Daggerships had closed with the FS forces now, and began to attack crippled ships, occasionaly one of the Goblinoid pilots would spin the little ship out, crashing into the mass of fighters, capitol ships and space-chunks.

OOC: This could be.. intercepted by Arkady, so she knows whats going on, *hint hint* but i want it to get to the government aswell

>>Encoded to Skeelzanian Government<<
>Official Communqiue from the Politburo<

"Our nations have long been at odds with one another, our cold war has existed for many a century, but the time for this to end has come, now, your nation is being teared apart by a civil war, and foreigners intervene on the side of the rebels, Arenumberg is ready to stand by you, we support the rightful government, we ourselves have witnessed the horrors of a civil war, the moment you, if you wish too, accept out help, our fleets can be at Solomon and assisting your fleets within the day.

-Signed and Authenticated by the High Commissars-

OOC:
*cough*

OOC: Right where was I...

IC:

The FS Nidhogg and the Harmonians continued to trade broadsides, though the Guardsman's firepower was diminished somewhat when the targeting rig turned into a very surprised chicken.

Meanwhile, the remaining Guard ships exploded under the enemy bombardment, or rammed both friend and foe. As the last Phobos burned itself out of existance, the remaining mobile suit pilots launched a suicidal charge against the Waakzaamheid. Steel giants battled on the gun decks, only to be blown off by point-blank defensive fire.

Sir Hoch watched with growing dispair as his fleet evaporated, soon leaving his ship the only remaining Guard vessel. Reluctantly he gave the order to retreat, dreading what awaited him back at Solomon. Luckily for him, Dren never got the chance to wrap his hands around the Guardsman's neck. As the crippled battlecruiser slowly came about, space exploded as a new vessel exited hyperspace. The Dosadi was a Naval Nidhogg, specifically one of the fifteen that had followed Admiral Bolton out of the Spoot System.

Coming out of hyperspace at battlespeed, her crew was unable to avoid a collision. Fortunately the Dosadi hadn't suffered the massive structural damage of its FS equivilent: her bow glancing off of the enemy's, the Navy ship rammed the Guardsman's bridge headon, tearing away the superstructure and venting a good 400 meters of deck to space. The fire from her engines further scorched the unfortunate battlecruiser as the Dosadi blazed past.

Arkady watched with mild amusement as the decapitated warship entered jump-space: apparently its captain had put in the coordinates before being rammed. Shouting over the cheers of the bridge crew, she said, "Admiral, alert our new allies that they cease fire. And try to contact that new vessel, lets find out where he's from."

*** *** *** *** ***

Dren paced the control room on Gideon station, mulling over the Arenumbergian offer. He frankly didn't trust the elves or specters or whatever the hell they were now, and would prefer to keep them at arms length. Hell, he might not even need their help if Hoch could crush the rebellion-

Re-emerging from hyperspace, the all-but-destroyed Nidhogg tore into the Spoot System, rocketing past the picket ships on the fringe. With no one at the helm, the ship was helpless as it headed in-system. Dren gapped at the sight, realizing that Hoch had failed. Slamming his fist down on a computer, he fired off a response to the Arenumbergians:

"Your offer is accepted. Send your ships to Solomon, we will give them appropriate orders from there."

Almost as an after-thought, he ordered tugs to be sent out after the runaway battlecruiser. Maybe there were some survivors- more alarms sounded, signalling the entrance of yet more ships. Moments later the Spoot system was graced with perhaps the ugliest ships ever constructed by a space-faring power: little more than scrap metal, the Ork kroozers and dessies seemed more like someone's idea of a joke than deadly warships. Still, the greenskins had terrorized the frontier traders for years, and even managed to mount an invasion of the Fedral Union at one point. But now their glory days were behind them, the Orks etching out a tough existance as raiders and mercenaries. Just what Dren needed. "Contact the lead Ork warship, tell him to hold poistion by Azuk II. We'll get him a target soon enough. And alert those damn gnomes, tell them to hold position. Its Arkady's move now."

OOC: The FS Fleet in the Den (Mahon) has been defeated, with about 25 ships of various types escapeing. After final battle losses, I'll post Arkady's next target. Its probably going to be Solomon, where a ground action will be fought.

The comms deck was frantic as the crew scrambled to relay messages, the holed Ship of the Line had been docked to another and the damaged steering array was currently being replaced, the remaining Daggership were being recovered and everybody was screaming about something.
The fleets admiral was bending over a crystal ball while a mage was zeroing in on the Skeelzanian channels.
"...repeat, this is HMS Bel-Shamharoth to current commanding Skeelzanian officer. Do we pursue? Does your fleet require assistance? Our hardware will most likely be incompatable, but if medical assistance is needed we would be happy to help."

OOC:
Have to go for today, the 1931 Dracula is on, dont want to miss it :)

Black turned to white, white turned to black, and the universe folded for a moment that took an eternity.

"Seeder, good to have you!" the Ridell's CO sent moments later. The massive craft was smaller than the Ridell, though not by much. It was a Seeder ship, the Cavalry's repair and resupply and forward base.

"Speak for yourself. You look like hell, Ridell. Need some help?" the Seeder's Co chuckled.

"Nah, we're fine. Just got the main scanners knocked off. What kept ya?"

"Oh, this and that..."

"Oh, shut up fior a moment. We got the Arkadians on the comm."

"Hey patch me in?

"Alright, Arkadian craft, what now?" the Ridell sent, as the Fifth Cavalry fleet activated its spacial distortion screws.

Space twisted, condensing behind the craft to push them towards the Arkadian vessels. The reDrive was the lastest in Weyrean engineering, and the Fifth cavalry was testing it.

Oo-os and Ah-hs erupted in the Sqen-Siffon's communication chamber as a phototransmission membrane replayed the arrival of various foreign ships. The excitement could still be heard in the background as a suboid radioed the nearest Skeelzanian dock for confirmation on a transfer of several cargo-crates filled with comm-villips.

By now the Waakzaamheid and Dosadi had pulled alongside, with van Cleef already talking with the battlecruiser's captain. Since the conference would take awhile to wrap up, she decided to respond the multitude of requests from her new allies.

"Friends of Skeelzania, welcome. I could only have hoped your response would be so swift. I congradulate you all on this first victory over the Usurpers, though I'm sure it will not be the last. Now to get on to what your all waiting for: the next target.

Dmitri controls Solomon, the political capital of Skeelzania. As long as he remains within the Citadel there, he will be able to argue that he is the legitimate government of the Principality. Obivously, I do not intend to leave him unmolested.

My Grand Admiral informs me that powerful elements of the Skeelzanian Navy have broken away from Dren and Dmitri's grasp, and are in hiding somewhere near Solomon. The first order of business will be to contact these elements, the eventual goal being to link up and attack Solomon. I have no idea of how many ships Dren controls there, or of the loyalties of the remaining Skeelzanian Fleet. However, I intend to defeat them.

Once space-superiority has been achieved, we will begin drop-operations against Solomon itself. Nine full divisions have declared for my cause, and only await the order to go. Dren will have no more than three FS divisions in the city, but it will still be a difficult struggle. I am aware few of you brought ground troops in significant numbers; I only ask that you help us defeat the Usurpers in space. I will take care of the ground."

*** *** *** *** ***

Back at Solomon, an angry port authority officer asked the Bandalok suboid just what in the Spoot a comm-villip was.

After a marathon of misunderstood or inappropriate idioms and phrases, the thick skulled Skeelzanian finally caught the purpose of the comm-villip.

Villip Communicators (comm-villip)
A Villip resembles a small green ball, layered with leathery patches of various shapes (like a steamed Artichoke). One will occationally shift colors and shape or even let off high pitched squeals if it is overstimulated by constant use and/or other overstimulated villips. They work by "opening up" and displaying a 3-dimensional image of a person's face as well as conveying sound. Using a from of telepathy (more closely related to the "ansible string connection thinger" from Ender's Game) to establish a connection with another villip, two people can instantly communicate over very long distances without any time lag. Generally, villips are "dedicated", meaning that they can only communicate with another specific villip. However, there are those that can communicate with all villips.

"Yes Ma'am, of course, the fact they even accepted still puzzles the Admirality" An Aide said, speaking off the record

"Yes, im sure something changed their minds, The fleets are ready as i ordered, i trust?"

"Yes Ma'am, The fleet merely awaits the order to jump, at least this will be an effective test of the new jump systems"

"Yes, Give the order, jump, immeadiatly"

The Glistening Surfaces of a Hundred new ships, many different sizes, Cruisers, Frigates, Star Destroyers, even one lone Super Star Destroyer, Driving a wedge inbetween the others, they hung for a millisecond, each one gave out its brilliant flash of light, and were gone.

Space Above Solomon...

The space around the exit point hung for a few milliseconds this time, before a brilliant flash of light emitted from each vessel reverted them back to realspace, the jump had suceeded

Grand Admiral Kyzstk Stood on the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer Kharvek, Gazing down at the desert metropolis of Solomon, of course, his only defining features on a hardly corporeal body was his eyes, they seemed to tell you age sex and many other things you would normally pick up from appearance, of course, he was 659, and Male.

"This is the Grand Admiral to all vessels of the fleet, Stay alert, no-doubt any rebel spies or any of their decent sensors would of detected us arriving here, they may try to hit Solomon now, whilst its still at its Weakest" He Spoke into a comm unit, transmitting it to each individual vessel.

"The only time i thought i'd be here would to be bombard the planet, not help the Skeelz" he thought to himself

"Ensign, send a communique to Solomon, tell them, if they havnt noticed, we have arrived"

"Yes sir!"

On Jara Prime,in the Gand Chamber of the Imperial Courtrooms...

Newly crowned King Caesar Augustus looked over a thick sheaf of papers.Internal troubles,external troubles,taxes,riots,complaints,and...a Skeelzanian cili war?1?!

Summoning his minister of defense,he prepared his angry face and was ready when the man came in.

Isaac Burseg was greeted with a gust of air when he came in.
"WHAT IS THIS?!WHAT SKEELZAINIAN CIVIL WAR?!?!SEND IN 10 VERGITON'S TO SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT!NOW!"

"But...Lord,the government is that bastard,Dmitri.The rebels are commanded by Arkady.Are you sure you want to support Dmitri?"
Caesar mulled that over for a few moments.Then,in a calmer tone,he said,"Send in 5 Vergiton's,an Aviloi,and 1 of our Assault Super Squadrons.(OOC:1000 fighters,15 frigates,3 destroyers)

"If that isn't enough,then we'll send in more.Now go," he said,waving Isaac away,who bowed,and left the room.
Caesar turned to the report on the civil war again...

OOC:
An Aviloi (http://andromedaonline.net/images/ships/Thonisian/15_front.jpg)
An Vergiton (http://andromedaonline.net/images/ships/Thonisian/07_front.jpg)

"Alright, tell the mages to begin preparing for a long distance planeshift as soon as the Dante is repaired. And tell them that if they dont hurry up with that damn crystal Bel-Shamharoth himself will manifest inside their heads. I hear he does that occasionaly. God with an odd sense of humour."

"Bel-Shamharoth acknowledges, we will leave as soon as damages to one of our ships have been repaired, ETR is twenty minutes."

"Whatever you say. Just give us the coordinates before you go, will ya?" the Ridell's CO sent back. "Hey, Seeder, you got the parasite temps?"

"No, duh, got a full paraBay already?" the Seeder's CO responded,

"Well, make some more. These guys seem to like their parsites. Autocannon maybe?"

"Whatever...."

The miniscule pinnacle zipped away from the Dosadi, soon landing in the Waakzaamheid's landing bay. Van Cleef was a traditonal Skeelzanian with a large distrust of foreigners and xenos, and felt more comfortabale carrying out a conversation face-to-face with so many ears around.

Stepping out of the shuttle, he found Arkady waiting for him. Saluting sharply, he recapped the conversation: "Bolton forcibly broke out of Solomon soon after my departure. He took 15 Nidhoggs and about 50 escorts of various classes with him, and he's now camping out in Kogoruhm on Kesselring Station. His agents still in the capital tell him that Dren's having trouble finding officers for the remaining ships, so we can expect to secure space superiority with little difficulty."

Arkady remained silent, waiting for the admiral to finish. "That's well and good, but do we have a plan to take Solomon?"

"I've coordinated a strike with Bolton. We will attack on the galactic southwest of the system, and he'll strike from the east. At this time we'll have a straight-shot at Solomon, with Bolton having to cut through the Azuk defenses before he can engage."

The Princess nodded. "If we can get marines onto Gideon Station , we can cripple the FS space defense. I don't want to blow Skeelzania's shipbuilding industry to the Void and back; the more intact we can take it, the better."

*** *** *** *** ***

A few hours later most of the damage to the Arkadian vessels was repaired. The surviving destroyers were reporting all systems go, and Arkady's own flagship only retained a few minor wounds. The coordinates to Solomon were finally transmitted, the fleet aligned itself, and the rebel fleet leapt into hyperspace.

*** *** *** *** ***

A longshoreman opened the crates with a prybar, ignoring the rather-obvious latch. A FS sergeant rudely pushed the man out of the way, reaching into the crate with a gauntleted-fist. "What the hell is this?" He pulled out what appeared to be some sort of artichoke; thanks to Solomon's highly radioactive environment, he had never seen one of those either. "Get those oily midgets on the radio, ask them what the hell their trying to pull."

*** *** *** *** ***

Gideon Station acknowledged the Arenumberg fleet, sending out a tug to direct them to empty berths. Like those delegated to the Bandalok fleet, these were generally older and of poor quality. Dren didn't particularly care if the Arenumbergians objected, he didn't want them to close to him.

*** *** *** *** ***

A platter of steamed brahmin brains, a Skeelzanian delicacy, laid forgotten on the table. Overhead, angry fingers jabbed through the air, equally angry voices rising and falling. Every once in awhile a glass would be knocked to the floor as one captain or another over-gesticulated himself.

Vice Admiral Gar watched his colleagues argue with eachother, growing more irritated by the minute. Finally he simply smashed his fist down on the table, causing most of the silverware to jump. "Enough! The time to talk is over." The captains immediately fell silent, something years in the Navy had taught them. "Dren has either gone mad or is no longer in control of his faculties. As we speak, the Xeno ships are gathering overhead, at the very invitation of the Chancellor! I do not know how invovled Dmitri is in these dealings, but it is obvious Dren has to go."

The man reclined in his seat, causing it to creak slightly. "He has invited not only the Orks, but also the Arenumbergians and the gnomes for Spoot's sake to Solomon. This is obivously Arkady's next target, theres no where else she can go. I propose that we, as Protectors of Skeelzania, side with her in the struggle against Dren, and wipe these degenerates from our stars."

This immediately sparked a new arguement. One junior captain, brashly jumping to his feet shouted, "you speak treason, Gar! It was Arkady who started this war, for her own selfish gains!"

"Arkady is the older child and true heir to the Skeelzanian throne!" shouted another, older captain. "She may be using xenos in her own forces, but at least her's are mostly human. Dmitri has allied himself with the greenskinz and gnomes, something no sane Skeelzanian would do. I concur with Admiral Gar, Dren at the very least must be removed. If Dmitri must be replaced as well, so be it. Arkady at least will uphold the traditions of Skeelzania."

The other officers remained silent, some glaring at Gar, others simply staring into their plates. Clearing his throat, Gar stood. "Then it is decided. We will join Arkady in her war, but not in the same manner as Bolton. We will go to Dren, offering our services to his cause. But when the time comes, he will discover where our true loyalties lie."

The Seeder had spent its time manufacturing replacement parts for damaged sections of other Weyrean ships. Other, smaller, sections of the ungainly vessel were pumping out anti-fighter turrets, stowing them in its spacious hull.

A few hours later most of the damage to the Arkadian vessels was repaired. The surviving destroyers were reporting all systems go, and Arkady's own flagship only retained a few minor wounds. The coordinates to Solomon were finally transmitted, the fleet aligned itself, and the rebel fleet leapt into hyperspace.

"All craft, prepare for translation..."

"...Drives synched..."

"Translating in three...two...one..."

And the universe inverted itself for a brief moment.

Perhaps the Weyrean fleet would come before the other craft, perhaps it would come after. Translation was a temperamental thing.

"I," He sighed, "Am tired of waiting." After his evening Landraix dose, Fleet-Master Sqen had finally gotten control of his senses. "Inform Skeelzanian command that we will begin patrolling the area." Sqen casually snatched a mottled fur robe from an outstretched hand. "A fourth of the fleet." Barely covering his nudity, Squen waddled off the observation deck with his entourage in hot pursuit.

***

A pair of suboid twins rushed out the maw of a slightly depressed drop pod and over to the opened crate of comm-villips. Dressed in matching orange jumpsuits, the duo confronted the FS seargant and the longshoreman - who seemed to be holding his prybar in a menacing manner.

"For communifications!"
"Communifications!" The other reapeated. They both looked up and smiled obliviously.

***

A total of 1/4 of the combined Bandalok fleet began to move from orbit.

"Berth.. Right, were not flying hunk'a'junk Skeelzanian hardware here, dismiss their offer, politely of course, Ensign." Kyzstk said

"Yes sir, message away" The Ensign Replied

Grand Admiral Kyzstk glanced around, something wasnt right, but still, he was in the Skeelzanian Home system, afterall, that wasnt right, but he needed to be cautious, being a telepath always made you paranoid.

"Tactical, keep a tab on every single vessel present, not of Arenumbergian origin, when it starts getting dirty, i want to know whos deciding they want to leave, and the like" Kyzstk said, rather quickly

"Yes Sir, something wrong?"

"No.. Order all fighters into Escort of the Picket ships, we dont know when they'll come, but we sure are going to be ready for them, scan Gideon Station while your at it, lets get some intelligence while were here, but do be careful, i dont want them screaming at us for scanning their precious station" He Said, seating himself more comfortably, and gazing out of the window once more.

Now all they had to do was wait, And hope the Bandalok ships decided not to eat each other in the meantime, biological ships, always interesting.

It was a good thing Skeelzanian tugs usually operated without vidscreens: it was doubtful the Arenumbergians would take its captain flipping them off very well. Spinning about on its axis, the squat vessel powered back to Azuk II and Sikorsky Station.

Onboard Gideon Station, Dren was too far into his bottle to consider giving Master Sqen a similar gesture. The magnitude of the loss at Mahon had finally been determined, causing Dren to seek comfort in his vodka. Nearly 50% of the FS Fleet had been obliterated, and he still had no way of staffing the naval vessels at Solomon with competent officers. Instead his head sank into his arms, eyes staring at the velvet desk cover.

A page enters his office, thought better of it, then turned to go. Coming face-to-face with a grizzled Sergeant, he made another about-face and stepped into the office. “My Lord Chancellor, I have urgent news for you!” A groan from the desk was taken as a sign to continue. “Vice Admiral Gar, honor to his name, has presented himself and a great many like-minded Naval officers, wishing to offer their humble service to the Prince.”

Dren looked up with rimmed eyes. “And where were these oh-so-honorable gentlemen when I first called up the Navy?”

“They claim they were all on holiday, my lord. Many have just arrived from their family estates on the steppe.”

“Very well.” The Chancellor lurched backward, nearly over-tipping his chair. “Assign them the heaviest ships, their already crewed. Damn their fickle training policies; barely teach a crewman how to man his own station, much less the rest of the vessel. Yes, what is it?”

The dock sergeant had grown tired of waiting, and had tossed the young page into the corridor. “Lord Chancellor, our diminutive friends,” gesturing to the two midgets smiling in the corridor behind him, “have given us a good number of these. Say they’re for communications.” The man handed Dren one of the Villips, which he studied half-heartedly. Turning to the gnomes he said, “Before I thank your Master, tell us how these work. Mind you, any trick will result in your complete and utter destruction.”

*** *** *** *** ***

Gar settled into the command chair, trying to make himself comfortable. The old Skeelzots had been built well over 150 years ago, and while their weapons had been considerably upgraded creature comforts had not. Still, such a powerful command was not something to dismiss casually.

His plan had worked beyond expectations. Apparently Dren had a navy with no officers, since most had disappeared once the Crisis began. When Gar showed up with nearly 80 captains and junior officers, all ready to swear loyalty to Dmitri, the Chancellor had handed them the Navy on a silver platter. Now nearly every Skeelzanian capital ship had a captain who would declare for Arkady once the timing was right; at least, they said they would.

The time to see who would betray whom arrived much sooner than expected. Alarms screamed as three ships, one identified as Van Cleef’s Waakzaamheid, burst onto the system edge from hyperspace. The FS-Navy ships already patrolling immediately turned to engage, but before they could get within firing distance a much larger force emerged to the southeast. With calmness bordering on indifference, Gar ordered that the Chancellor be notified.

*** *** *** *** ***

One of the suboids was about to open his mouth when every alarm on Gideon went crazy. “Here, you find out what it does” said Dren, tossing the green orb to the surprised sergeant. As the Chancellor rushed- or staggered- down the hallway, the old soldier glared down at the suboids.
Dren skidded through a doorway into the command center, causing more than a few men to mentally raise their eyebrows. He was about to ask what had happened when his eyes lit upon the main tactical screen. Bolton. The renegade Admiral had arrived back in Solomon, his entire battle fleet in tow. Dren almost didn’t notice Arkady and Van Cleef to the southwest. “What are you waiting for!? Signal the Arenumbergians and gnomes, tell them to engage that fleet!”

OOC:
Here’s the force breakdown as near as I can figure it. Bolton possess the following ships:
15 Nidhoggs
1 Typhons
45 Golgothas
3 Teutonics
30 Draco Kais
24 Phobos
4 Deimos

Arkady's Fleet:
1 Typhon, the Waakzaamheid
2 Nidhoggs
4 Phobos
6 Draco Kais
8 SKZMS-19 Grollens

Remaining ships (some will go rebel):
57 Cerberus class Corvettes
87 Golgotha class Gunboats
29 Teutonic class Frigates
79 Draco Kai class Corvettes
30 Ladons class Corvettes
39 Phobos class Destroyers
11 Deimos class Destroyers
30 Nidhogg class Battlecruisers
1 Fafnir class Battlecruiser
6 Navarro class Assualt Dreadnaughts
1 Mogul class Carrier
12 Legion class Carriers
1 Typhon class Grand Cruisers
3 Skeelzot class Battleships

Aboard the Spruiellian scout cruiser Glenharrow:
"Well looks like the show is about to begin. Status on cloak."

"Well within paramaters Admiral. Energy reserves good for 3 days 3 hours before we must disengage silent running."

"Very good. By all indications this'll be all over by then."

"Are we going to engage sir?"

"CIC indicates we couldn't materially affect the outcome if openly involved unless we commit a war attrocity. We're just too small a force and too lightly armed, and I'm not about to drop our entire loadout of Mark IV gravitics on the planet. I don't think either side would like our reducing their capital planet to asteroids do you commander?"

"No sir, probably not. It just seems like an excellent party to miss out on is all sir."

"No worries commander. If carrier task force Gallowglass arrives on time we'll consider offering our services. I will say that the FS forces will have to pay quite a premium before our contracting officer will even consider working for him. Sets a bad precident working for usurpers after all. "

"Understood sir"

"More troubling however is the reports were getting from the other scout contingent. If I didn't know better I swear they're high on something. Wooden sailing ships in space indeed!"

"Admiral"

" Yes leftenant"

"Sensor's section reports a mass movement of enemy forces. Looks like a patrol sweep, and it appears they've chosen to come right at us."

"Any indication we've been detected."

"No sir, looks like just bad luck on their choice of direction. Latest Intel suggests it's the species known as the Gnomes. It looks like they have a bit more capable sensor suites than the Skeelzies sir."

"No sense taking chances then. Put the Echanach drive in standby and move us out of their projected heading. Take us above the ecliptic."

"Aye Aye sir. Should we disable the minefield sir?"

"No let's just see what happens. Looks like we'll get to start the fireworks afterall."

Just a few moments after the invading forces were detected, a wide alert went out over the villip network. Every green ball within the Spoot system, including the one held by a very suprised sargeant, opened up to reveal, with a greenish tint, the face of Fleet-Master Sqen. Simultaneously, and with exact jaw movement, the disembodied heads mimicked his emotionless words. "Intentio totus. Intentio totus. All ships, prepare for battle. Rebel forces have entered the system and will attempt to retake the capitol of Solomon. Defend your allies, destroy your enemies, and remember: In the end, only faith will survive."

****

One fourth of the fleet was already set up in a thin defensive pattern. The rest began to move away from orbit and mingle with Dren's forces.

OOC: The rebels do seem to be a bit outnumbered....at the moment.
Numbers (by my count):
(SKZ rebels) Bolton
15 Nidhoggs
1 Typhons
45 Golgothas
3 Teutonics
30 Draco Kais
24 Phobos
4 Deimos

(SKZ rebels) Arkady
1 Typhon, the Waakzaamheid
2 Nidhoggs
4 Phobos
6 Draco Kais
8 SKZMS-19 Grollens

Weyr
WSGS Riskade
4 Riskade-class subShips

The WIck
3rd Expeditionary Group "Soaring Eagles"
8 battleships
4 heavy cruisers
4 destroyers

Harmonia Mortus
HMS Bel-Shamharoth
six other heavy ships



-----

Skeelzanians
57 Cerberus class Corvettes
87 Golgotha class Gunboats
29 Teutonic class Frigates
79 Draco Kai class Corvettes
30 Ladons class Corvettes
39 Phobos class Destroyers
11 Deimos class Destroyers
30 Nidhogg class Battlecruisers
1 Fafnir class Battlecruiser
6 Navarro class Assualt Dreadnaughts
1 Mogul class Carrier
12 Legion class Carriers
1 Typhon class Grand Cruisers
3 Skeelzot class Battleships

Jaratia
1000 fighters
15 frigates
3 destroyers

Arenumberg
Super Star Destroyer Kharvek
100 ships

Bandalok
4 Siffon dreadnaughts (800 light fighters), the Sqen-Siffon
60 Barak cruisers (6000 heavy fighters)
140 Lesh destroyers
40 Czip destroyers
20 Reirrak transports

OOC: Correction......
Fourth Cavalry Group
1 subShip (Riskade)
1 Ship-of-the-Line (Ridell)
1 seedShip (Seeder)
5 Marchese class Battle Cruisers
20 New Paradigm class Light Cruisers

"Seeder, you..are a dumbass...."

"Awww....c'mon, you can't expect me to..."

"Just....get your ass moving. Double back along the 'Line and reSurge..."

The Fourth Cavalry burst into normSpace on the edge of the system, on the southwest, practically plowing into the Arkadian fleet. Fusactors flared online, drives fired in quick succession. A bubble of warped space-time flowed around each Weyrean craft.

"Weapons hot, ready missiles," the CO of the Ridell commanded. twenty Light Cruisers flowed ahead of the six heavy craft, spreading into a wall formation.

OOC:
I could bring in a few more ships, if anybody things it might make things more interesting :P

IC:
The Ship of the Line finally breaks off its connection, yawing out into space for a short time, then the new crystals sync with the drive and the ship stabilizes. The front end is still black, but the hole is gone and it looks stable now. One of the ray cannons has been replaced using spares and parts scavenged from wreckage.
On the deck one of the Goblin crew spits on the main manacharger, creating a small cloud of steam.
"Dats good, 'oy! Da biggunz workin' now!"
He makes the mistake of leaning confidently on the gun.
NEVER attempt to lean on a charged Thaum Cannon.

"All ships! All Ships! Prepare for battle, hold your position, no-need to turn ourselves into Cannon Fodder, let the Bandalok and Skeelzanians Attack, then plug the holes in their lines, when they appear, Under No Circumstances are shisp to advance beyond the Skeelzanian Loyalist and Bandalok Forces, just keep their line intact" The message blaired into every captain and admirals ear, they listened, it was always a good thing to be behind the fight for a while at least.

Meanwhile, to the rear of The Arenumbergian Fleet, The Kharvek Finished its long turn to show its Broadside, it had been doing it for 5 Minutes, and it had finally secured a Firing solution, a quick one though, so it was likely at least one or two Skeelzanian or Bandalok ships would get blown away, unless they received the message telling them to get out of the way of the Solution, around the Kharvek, ships filtered out to precise co-ordinates, and 12 Lone Missile Cruisers opened their slots, space began to fill with missiles, and then, the Kharvek fired, if friends did not move, they would be hit just as a foe would.

OOC: The Kharvek has supreme range from its main batteries, its downside the long turn, heh, and missiles are fairly limitless, given the distance. Now people, die! lol.

OOC: One fleet Bandalok forgot to mention was the Ork fleet commanded by Grand Cleava' Brunk. Its numbers are 1 'Eavy Kroozer, 9 Kroozers, 35 Marauders, 21 Reavers with approximately 400 fightercraft. Their fleet is situated 'south' of Azuk II, which is basically on the other side of the sun from Solomon right now. This puts it between Arkady's and Bolton's fleets. The remaining FS ships are also stationed here. These include:
24 Teutonic class Frigates
48 Draco Kai class Corvettes
15 Core class Corvettes
23 Phobos class Destroyers
6 Deimos class Destroyers
1 Nidhogg class Battlecruiser

The crippled Nidhogg is also docked here, but is unable to fight. The navy ships (which Banalok mentioned in the last post as the "Remaining Ships") are all docked in and around Solomon.

IC:

Brunk took one last bite of meat before throwing the leg off into a corner. Around him, krewmen waited anxiously for the order to go. The Skeelzanians had already told them too, but no one moved without the Boss saying so. Giving his somewhat-paunch belly a pat, he gave a tremendous belch before speaking. "Yooz herd da hooman. Weze go and attak der enemies, den weze gets lotsa zapppas and shootas from da Skeelzees, den weze attak dem! Full speed ahead, fire when yooz can!"

With that Brunk punched the red button situated on his throne, throwing the ship into overdrive. The massive Ork battleship lurched forward, tearing towards Arkady's miniscule fleet. Other ships in the armada soon followed, everyone wanting to get a peice of the action.

*** *** *** *** ***

"Hmm. Missiles." Admiral Bolton watched the cloud of ordance come slowly towards him, streaming out from the Arenumbergian cruisers. A perfect opportunity to test his improvised shield system. "Direct all shields to prow, expand them as far out as they can go. No sense in letting the missiles come to us." Within the Typhon-class Ongeslagen, shield generators hummed and clicked as they shifted gears, moving the near-solid wall of gas out away from the cruiser to the space directly infront of it.

An old Corpsacian design, hard shields worked by projecting a field of dense particles a few meters away from the ship, detonating ordance and dispersing energy weapons before they hit the ship itself. While powering away from Solomon, it had occured to Bolton that if the shield could be thrown up as a wall infront of a fleet, it could possibly destroy more ordance.

As the shimmering wall of gas moved infront of the rebel fleet, the first wave of missiles slammed into it. Explosions sent ripples through the shield-wall, but it held- for now. The Kharvek's Solution fared somewhat better: punching straight through the shield-wall, it scorched its way along a Nidhogg, destroying several weapons batteries and missile launchers.

The Missile Cruisers carried on their barrage, Skeelzanians had finally learned the shield wall technique, The Missile Cruisers alternated between Anti-Hull and Shield missiles, Whilst the 8 Star Destroyers uploaded their fire solutions, and began their Barrage in unison with the Kharvek, Now the ever dangerous possibility of Friendly fire was much larger.

"Keep the Barrage up, we can probably take a few down, then the Loyalists, Bandalok and .. Orkish.. great .. Fleets can deal out the rest of the damage, Divert all available power to Main Batteries!" Kyztsk Ordered.

Gotta love psychotic Weyreans with too much firepower.

"Dibs on the orks!" the Commodore Shun Li of the Ridell flashed to allied vessels.

"You're insane..." someone responded.

"Stag formation," Shun commanded.

The twenty odd Weyrean craft redlined their drives, but somehow stayed in one place. SpaceTime flowed around their hulls, towards their bows. Drives groaned. "Forward direction," he flashed urgently, as the first of the Arenumberg missiles closed in. Space time twisted, formed a near-solid wall in front of the weyrean craft. The first waves slammed into it, pushed the Weyrean craft backwards by backlash. The reDrives could control the density of normSpace around the craft. Using them to move and to shield a craft was not a good idea, however.

OOC:
Just for clarification, whose on whose side?
Just the name will do. Im with Arkady...

IC:
"All ships, ready for overlay! Prepare for overlay!"
A few minutes later space around the Harmonian forces shimmered, and six ships along with a few cubic meters of outside space shifted across the vast spaces of...space.
The transition took a brief time, the ships whizzed past the area that had occupied flew past them. The transition was almost instantanious for those not on the shift, but due to a strange twist of this alternate dimension around them they were now going a good deal slower than a stationary object, and as such time was going faster for the outside world.
"Alright, this looks like it might be a big scuffle ahead, I want the guns charged, everything loaded and the remaining fighters ready to scramble the moment we leave overlay. Questions? Good. Get comm to request a few other ships from home. Smoke 'em if youve got 'em, and if you dont have 'em, well, dont smoke 'em."

On emergence a message was transmitted by similar means, requesting reinforcements from Harmonia.
There was a good bit of wrangling, but finnaly Charnel simply fried his military advisor and sent a few more ships. Two extra Ships of the Line, eight War Caravels and additional fighters. The real prize was the extra Galleon, the oversized model.

OOC:
Stats for new ships:
The War Carvels are sort of like corvettes.
They each have two Thaum Cannons (light ones), and ten side cannons. Fast and manuverable (for capital ships)
The Galleon is similar to the Bel-Shamharoth, but mounts three extra TCs, and has an extra deck, mounting twenty additional convetional guns.

"Andra 1, this is Andra 4."
"Go ahead Andra 4."
"I'm seeing some debris ahead, seems to be meteorite field. Permission to clear some of it away?"
"Granted, fire away Andra 4."
Swooping in an akward arc, a Noriv fighter releases a swath of plasma bolts into the Spruiellian mine field. Within a few moments, the trigger happy pilot and several nearby wings were incinerated.

Alarm-monkeys onboard the neaby cruiser went wild as the incident unfolded. The ship-master's face contorted with rage, "Send a message to the Skeelzanians: Is there, by any chance, a minefield in the vicinity that you neglected to mention?!" The communication's suboid relayed the message and all vessels hencefoth avoided the area.

****

The rest of the patrolling fleet began its own barrage of missiles as Admiral Bolton's fleet came into range. Though horribly outdated, the ordinance was surely sturdy enough to at least occupy the Rebel's denfenses.

Fleet-master Sqen observed the situation from the midst of the massive block of Skeelzanian navy and his own forces. The black void was lit up with spectacular beams of light and speeding clusters of self propelled warheads. "Barbarians at the gates..." The two rebel fleets approached with frightening speed and though nothing but the background noise of the ship could be heard, Sqen couldn't help but feel just a bit disconcerted as the voices of a thousand painted warriors released one mighty warcry before the inevitable clash of flesh and steel commenced.

OOC:
40 Noriv heavy fighters were lost in the resulting explosion. 40 more were at least superficially damaged. The cruiser and two Lesh destroyers were also hit by the shockwave.
Sides:
Arkady - Bolton/Van Cleef's fleet, Weyr, WIck, Harmonia Mortus
Dimitri/Dren - SKZ navy, SKZ FS, Jaratia, Arenumberg, Bandalok, Orks
I'm keeping a txt file detailing the ship numbers and their corresponding loyalties.

Dren stood spellbound in the Command Center, watching the battle unfold live on the main vidscreen. "Vodka, now" He said to a young page. Moments later the teenager reappeared, holding a bottle and shotglass. Dren had just downed his first glass when the gnomish message came in.

"Is there, by any chance, a minefield in the vicinity that you neglected to mention?!"

He blinked twice before answer. "None that I'm aware of." Downing another shot, his gaze fell upon the Solomon-Fleet. "Somebody get Gar on the line, ask him why the hell he hasn't deployed!"

*** *** *** *** ***

"Steady-" Van Cleef watched the Orkish fleet tear down on himself and the Weyreans, waiting for just the right moment to attack. "Steady...Starboard broadside, fire!" The Waakzaamheid's massive broadside tore through space, slicing through the first wave of Ork strikecraft and into the capital ships. Scores of fighters exploded or simply disappeared, and 4 dessies lost all directional control, richocheting through the Greenskin fleet. Still the xenos continued their charge. Surprisingly, the Weyreans seemed to be a more attractive target somehow: Brunk's 'Eavy Kroozer zipped past Arkady's small fleet and smashed into the Weyrean ranks, gunz and zappahs blazing widly. More ships exploded, torn apart by Weyrean fire or the occasional Arenumberg missile. Another force of dessies could be seen baring down on the Harmonians, their kaptains obviously intending to ram the wooden vessels. "Unlucky bastards" Mumbled Van Cleef. His thoughts were distrubed as another wave of missiles reached them. "Railguns, target enemy cruisers, aim for the weapon banks!"

*** *** *** *** ***

"Alright, you heard the Chancellor" Said Gar softly. "Take us out of port." Slowly the Skeelzanian ships inched out of their berths, thundering towards the Arenumberg line-of-battle. Gar watched somewhat apprehensively as the Dmitri Skeelzot pulled alongside his own vessel, the Ianos. He knew the Baad was to stern, and captained by one of his comrades, but he wasn't sure about the Dmitri. Too late to wonder now.

The Skeelzanian fleet edged closer to the battle line, where the Arenumberg and FS ships were already blazing away at the fast-approaching Arkadians. Totally absorbed, distracted, vulnerable. Gripping the comm unit in his hand, Gar made the decision that would seal not only his fate, but that of Skeelzania as a whole. "Sons of Skeelzania this is your commander. As we enter in to maw of the beast, remember that there is twenty silver coins waiting for you at the end. Do your duty, and do it well." The bridge crew was giving him some funny looks, but most were in on the scheme. "In the name of Princess Arkady, rightful heir of the Skeelzanian Throne, I proclaim this ship for her cause! Now, strike down the xeno-collaborators!"

The weapons officer knew what he had to do now. Taking overall command of the targeting controls, he targeted the Dmitri and opened fire. The Skeelzot torn into its unsuspecting brother, blasting away its shield in one cataclysmic blow. The old battleship lurched to port as Gar's weapons torn into it, its captain not knowing what was going on. At the same time the Ianos' let loose with all torpedo tubes, sending scores of warheads tearing towards the Kharvek.

As Gar made his allegience clear, many other vessels followed suit, suddenly attacking the Loyalist ships in their fleet. Soon the entire Naval force was consumed in fighting, becoming one moving mass of fire as it continued into the Arenumbergian battleline. Roughly two-thirds had declared for Arkady, with the rest either staying loyal or dieing before they could make up their minds.

OOC: If your targetting my cruisers their long range ships ? i dont know if you can hit them.. but if you can ill post damage after.

IC:

The Repeated Ripple of shields and the subsequent three or four console explosions diverted the crews attention to the Loya.. well Rebel.. oh now this was confusing, .. fleet, but they had been foolish, They had attempted to throw a hell of a lot of firepower at the Kharvek but it was not some small ship to be trifled with, They were still advancing towards a peferectly operational, and superior battlefleet, one with its other broadside facing them.

"Divert All Emergency reserve power to the shields, Power up the Main batteries facing these turncoats, blow them from the sky, get the picket ships into the proper formation, and turn the missile cruisers around! Get me some frigate support aswell damnit!" The Grand Admiral Shouted, half in rage and half in shock.

The slow turn of ships infront of the Star Destroyers began, their weapons facing the turncoats, the only ships not to turn of course, the Star Destroyers, their broadsides into the main battle stopped, and then their batteries opened again, firing straight into the approaching skeelzanian fleet, but, one star destroyer had taken upon itself to include Gideon station in its Targets...

OOC: Technically I could hit something on the other side of the galaxy with my railguns, it would just take a very long time. Skeelzanian sensors are lousy, but they can still target something in-system. I'll get a real post up later.

"Time to make our appearance, show the bastards what a wooden ship can do, 'eh? Two Caravels planeshift to the rear of the rebel lines," OOC: Assuming both sides call each other the rebels "Pump the TC's to full, and dig up a few of those special rounds, I want to see what they do. The rest of the ships put in a conventional jump twenty kilometers behind our allies lines, send a comm to tell them we're coming and where we're going to be." The Admiral closed the speaking tube and leered at the dots in the distance, a particularly furious attack was just visible, most likely somebody had fired off a nuke...or whatever it was they used.
They had had to power down one of the forward Thaum Cannons in order to scrape one of those damn stupid Goblins off the manifold, damn things never listened and now the guns beautiful brass shell had a rather ugly black spot on it. Oh well. Goblins were expendable.
The new ships had arrived just in time of the planeshift into action and these caravels would be put to good use. There was some risk, but what was war without risk?

Most of the fleet managed to appear just behind the allies fleet, were they breifly paused their actions and arranged forces. Soon they would join the fray up ahead.
The two caravels materialized just behind the 'rebel' fleet, between two Arenumberg ships, opening up with an all-guns fullisade. Each of the ships launched eight rather oddly shaped projectiles, plus the beams from their Thaum Cannons. Each shell had a glowing knob on the top and when it impacted on a shield or hull it burst into flames, hurling magically enhanced fire out into space.
The Harmonian ships were readying their T-Cannons for another salvo when they suddenly seemed to collapse like matchstick houses, each plank and board came free of its mounts, the Thaum guns broke into their component pieces and so did the crew.
For a moment the ships hung in space, all the pieces provided an excellent view into the construction of a sailing vessel, then they suddenly hurled themselves together, crunching themselves to bits and vanished in a flash and shockwave carried through space on the oxygen cloud now floating in the 'rebel' lines.

OOC: I don't see how our (arenumberg and I) side could be called 'rebels' seeing as how Dimitri was crowned as the legitimate ruler.

OOC:
Silence, you rebel scum ^_^

Yeah, but Arkady says SHE is the rightful ruler. Dmitri is just some renegade who got there first.

In response to railguns:

5 Missile Cruisers bore the brunt of the railguns as they hit their rear, 2 were drifting, but could still fire, whilst one exploded in a flash of exploding munitions, The other 2 had one half of their missile banks sheared off or melted together.

"Steady-" Van Cleef watched the Orkish fleet tear down on himself and the Weyreans, waiting for just the right moment to attack. "Steady...Starboard broadside, fire!" The Waakzaamheid's massive broadside tore through space, slicing through the first wave of Ork strikecraft and into the capital ships. Scores of fighters exploded or simply disappeared, and 4 dessies lost all directional control, richocheting through the Greenskin fleet. Still the xenos continued their charge.

"Wait for it.." Shun muttered. FIRE! At a hundred thousand kilometers, shields flickered, and every foward gun and missile tube opened up in bursts of azure flame. "Disperse," commanded Shun; reDrives kicked into normal operation scheme.

Brunk's 'Eavy Kroozer zipped past Arkady's small fleet and smashed into the Weyrean ranks, gunz and zappahs blazing widly. More ships exploded, torn apart by Weyrean fire or the occasional Arenumberg missile.

"Broadside," the Ridell pivoted with amazing agility, for a two-plus-kilometer craft. Railgun shot dented its heavy plate. Energy beams splayed across shields. A Weyrean cruiser exploded, then another. The ship-of-the-line it brought every gun in its arsenal against the ork flagship. The fight degenerated into a myriad of ship-to-ship duels.

Vital fluids and viscous goo exploded from the wall, showering the entire command chamber with the sick smelling substance. The rest of the ship lurched with pain as the insurgent defenders opened fire. Master Sqen climbed to his feet. "What happened! Status report!" Suboids scurried about while a comm-villip answered the fleet-master's question.
"The Skeelzanians! They've betrayed us! Arenumberg vessels are under attack as well!"
"Return fire! Send the patrol to engage the the others! And get me a connection to Chancellor Dren!" Attempting to wipe some of the thick goo off Sqen's robe, a scrawny assistant was sent flying by an angry backhand.

Like from a bat cave, Ksilitum fighters swarmed out from the launch bays of the four Siffon dreadnaughts. Norivs exploded from the sides of their parent cruisers in giant clouds. Lesh destroyers began to weave in and out of the melee, releasing barrages of torpedos and plasma globs with total abandon. Czip destroyers beelined toward the larger capitol ships.

The patrol ships, isolated from the larger battle, regrouped and made way to engage Bolton's fleet.

OOC: 12 Lesh destroyers and 2 Barak cruisers were fatally wounded in the initial surprise. 60 Noriv fighters were incapacitated before launch. Damage to the Sqen-Siffon and numerous others.

OOC: make that another 200 Noriv fighters, as being on the two downed cruisers.

OOC
Skeez-you're ESUS right?
IC secret:
The Al-Imvad government will (secretly)support all major sides of the conflict, to ensure either a long, costly war or a short, ovrely destructive one.

TAG

OOC: If you really want to get technical, Dmitri is the 'legitimate' ruler of Skeelzania since he's occupying the political capital. He's also a male, like every other Skeelzanian ruler so far. Arkady might be the older and more competent of the two, but she's got two strikes against her. So for RP purposes, all pro-Dmitri forces will be refered to as "Loyalists" while pro-Arkady are "Arkadian", "rebel", "insurgent", etc.

IC:

Twenty Nidhogg battlecruisers, commanded by Arkadian captains, burst out of the general melee between the Arenumbergian fleet and Gideon station. Some streaming flames from hull punctures along their hulls, the heavy battlecruisers brushed aside the first wave of Bandalok fighters, slamming into the Arenumberg flank. And yes, I am in the ESUS.

The lead battlecruiser caught a full broadside from the Kharvek, instantly turning its prow into molten slag. With almost suicidal bravado, the wounded vessel slammed full-on into the SSD, pumping several railgun rounds into the tower as it did so. Other ships, blazing past on full throttle, simply fired at any ship within range, going through the Arenumbergians like a scythe.

As the Loyalist ships reeled from the surprise attack, retreating into the dockyards and supply depots, the Arkadian fleet turned more and more of its attention to the Xeno-Fleets. With the Ianos and Dmitri trading broadsides with one another, it fell to the Baad Skeelzot to lead the charge. Setting her new antimatter engines to full power, the behometh ship blazed through the hail of gunfire now directed at the rebels. Corvettes and frigates tumbled off into space, engulfed in flames, but the heavier ships continued to come up behind the first wave of Nidhoggs.

*** *** *** *** ***

As the captial ships continued to trade punchs with the closer Arenumberg fleet, it fell to the mobile suit and fighter forces to launch the strike against the Gnomes.

Lieutenant Zhalgor slowly watched the Samerkand's rear door swing open, revealing a space crisscrossed with plasma fire and missile streaks. Infront of him, impossibily small compared to the 30-foot Achilles mobile suit he now piloted, stood a deckman, wildly waving two light batons. His rear-vidscreen showed his four lancemates stepping into position, awaiting the go-ahead. A voice crackled into his headset. "Marco Wing you are clear for launch. Good hunting."

"Roger Polo. Marco Wing commencing launch." The deckman kneeled, pointing both patons out towards the hatch and the battlefield beyond. Below his suit's feet, the magsled hummed to life, catapulting the steel giant out the rear of the ship. Zhalgor instantly gunned both of his main thrusters, getting the craft a safe distance away from his mothership. No sense getting killed if that thing blew. As he peeled away towards the gnomish fleet, three more suits exited behind him. But as the fifth and final wingman flew down the catapult, a string of blaster bolts impacted up the length of the Draco Kai corvette, blasting through the thin armor plating. Explosions rocked the ship's interior, tossing the unfortunate suit off its sled and into the side of the hanger. Several dozen tons of rocket fuel ignited in a gigantic fireball, engulfing not on the suit but the entire hanger deck.

Zhalgor made no comment, continuing onwards toward his objective. As the four suits weaved their way through the melee towards the first target, a Barak cruiser, fire from both sides darted around them, occasionally picking off a suit from another wing. To his starboard, Zhalgor glimpsed a flight of Zig fighters, cannons blazing, dive into a swarm of Ksilatum fighters. Explosions momentarily hid the dogfight, but when they dissapaited only broken wreckage and carapace remained. The two groups had annihilated eachother.

Flicking his eyes back to his forward-vidscreen, the Skeelzanian jerked back as a massive Noriv loomed infront of him. Tumbling away from a burst of plasma fire, Zhalgor unloaded six rounds from his Gauss rifle into the creature's flank. Globules of blood and gore drifted away, then splattered against the Achilles as Zhalgor gunned his thrusters again. Can't be distracted.

The Barak was now only a few hundred meters away, well within range of their gauss rifles. 75mm uranium spikes tore into the cruiser, hopefully playing hell on the fragile organics within. As Marco Wing went into the final assault dive, a cloud of plasma fire rose to intercept them. Marco Three tumbled away in a blazing fireball, impacting hard against the cruiser's prow. Marco Four lost a leg to a Noriv, then was destroyed entirely as a flight of them fell upon him. Only Zhalgor and Marco Two reached the cruiser, getting in under the enemy guns to attack the vulnerable docking ports. Firmly planting his boots on the ship's hull, Zhalgor grabbed a handful of what looked like arteries- refueling cables maybe- with his right hand. His left he drew back behind him, for this was the shield arm: mounting a L-shaped shield that provided minimal protection from enemy fire, its real purpose was to plant mines. Three spike-shaped warheads rested on the shield's bottom, and it was these that Zhalgor drove through the connecting membrane and into the ship itself.

The magnetic rings holding the warheads on the shield deactivated, leaving the deadly cones firmly embedded in the ship. Zhalgor blasted away from the cruiser, slamming head-on with a wing of Noriv fighters. Blazing away at the monsters, he didn't even get to see the three 8-kiloton warheads detonate. He certainly felt the shockwave however: it caught him from behind and sent him and the other fighters tumbling into space.

*** *** *** *** ***

The Ork battleship glowed under the Weyrean barrage, but somehow its krew still managed to fight. Gunning the engines for everything they were worth, the Meks sent the warship hurtling towards its Weyrean counterpart. Brunk watched gleefully, waiting for his ram to tear into the enemy's side.

Exploding Weyrean and Ork ships filled the area, kaptains first trying to ram and then pull alongside their opponents. Boarding torpedoes streaked through space, hopefully impacting on their designated target. Missiles barely got out of the silo before detonating, occasionally destroying both launcher and victim. It was just the kind of fight Orks loved: chaotic, desperate, and incredibly deadly.

*** *** *** *** ***

Bolton's fleet finally got through the Arenumbergian missile barrage, which had lessened somewhat with the sudden changing of sides near Gideon. Although two Nidhoggs remained behind, ignited atmosphere shrounding them in flames, Bolton had succeeded in getting most of his fleet to the enemy. The Ongeslagen itself led the charge, shrugging off enemy attacks to dive straight for the Sqen-Siffon. A full 700 meters larger and considerably heavier armed, Bolton had complete confidance in the outcome.

OOC: A little segment I forgot in the last post.

IC:

Dren had gotten through about half the bottle when Sqen tried to make contact. "My lord, the gnome Master is requesting verificiation of the situation!" Cried a page. A fancy way of asking "what the hell is going on?"

The Chancellor stared contemplatively at his glass, eyes focusing and unfocusing for a minute before answering. "Tell him we are betrayed. Target all rebel craft, destroy them." The man swayed a bit, grabbing ahold of a console to steady himself. "Contact the Azuk Squadron, tell them to get over here, defend the capital. Launch station fighters-"

*** *** *** *** ***

Alarms bathed the corridor in pulsating redlight as some of the last FS fighter pilots rushed to their craft. More than 60% of the FS fighter strength had been lossed at Mahon, and now they were the last line of defense in space against enemy strikecraft. However, they never got to be that line of defense.

As they approached the final doorway into the main hanger, six men stepped out from the sides. In their hands they craddled mSARs, the miniturized version of the Skeelzanian Assault Rifles. Along with the Flak Cannon they were a favorite of SKZ marines, well suited to tight spaces. The six men demonstrated just how effective they were as they sprayed the group of pilots with bullets, tearing through jumpsuits and rupturing organs. Men fell groaning to the ground as more and more marines rushed forward, mowing down any who opposed them.

Back in the Command Center, word of the massacre reached Dren's ear. "Where'd those guys come from, we haven't been boarded have we?"

A quick scan of the station's security cameras revealed the source of the marines. "Sir, thats the emblem of the 58th Marine Platoon; those are Dmitri Skeelzot men. The officers must of convinced them to side with the insur-" A blast somewhere deep in the station shook the room, throwing Dren to the ground. Apparently the station's own FS marines had begun to fight back. "Where are they now?" Asked Dren.

"Fighting reported on three decks. The main hanger is completely overrun, and they're making their way towards the auxiliary hangers. I can't tell how many there are sir, but at least a few hundred."

OOC: I'm wondering where Dimitri is hiding in all this. Is he on Solomon? Or on Gideon station? Or some ship?
And is the Ongeslagen a Carrier Typhon or a Grand Cruiser Typhon?

The Kamikaze attack of the ship plowed a crude gash along the pristine side of the Kharvek whilst the Tower, containing the primary bridge and 2 of the shield Generators, began to break apart and ignite in flame, the Primary bridge itself was still intact, protected by its reinforced bulkheads. The Shield generators merely exploded, but their were more, hidden inside the superstructure, although ,the shields were seriously dented, as the Picket Ships and the rest of the fleet finally managed to get into the combat, it all began, as far as targets were concerned, Everything in space was to be destroyed.

Broadside met Skeelzanian shields and armour, exploding and smashing, while counterstrike met shield and hull, the Kharvek, although with a smashed ship stuck in her side, and missing a few of her primary batteries, continued to fire broadsides into lead vessels, knock out blows her main objective, 2 of the ISD's broke off from the battle, against all orders, continuing to pound Gideon Station with broadside, even letting off a few Torpedoes into other Orbital Facilities.

In the battle, fighters finally met the enemy fleet, and bombers prepared their payloads.

Now battle had truly been joined.

OOC: You know....when High King Alphonse named his secretary his heir, bypassing three male grandkids (who were idiots), Weyreans scratched their heads, called her High King ________, and went on with their lives. Why can't everyone have Weyrean sensibility? Every person in Weyr who did something stupid like attack the Sith with an undersized fleet was at least half-human...anyway.....I'm getting to like the reDrive.....Look, ma: no engine ports! Of course, the shields are absolute cr4p on the side that you're moving away from....gotta respect gravity and all....but the agility is sweet...

"Fire missile,"

"Ser?"

"Do it!"

The Ridell did something no Weyrean had ever done -- it fired a broadside of hyperfusion missiles at point-blank range. Safeties off, a dozen missiles screamed at the incoming ork Kroozer, each as powerful as a Super Star Destroyer's broadside.

Something twisted on the edge of the system. The seedShip came out of tranSpace. In thirty seconds, it dumped its entire payload of auto-gunships. Torpedoes surged towards the nearest enemy IFF, to drill into ship hulls before detonating.

Blasphemous mechanized imitations. The pilot zeored in on his target. Your time has come. He fired off a stream of plasma, missed completely, and ended up in an uncontrollable spin with his docking arms flying off in the opposite direction. Spinning, spinning. With each rotation, he saw the rebel Suit moving closer and closer to the Barak. Rolling, twisting. Can't stabilize. The next thing he saw was a blinding explosion. The cruiser snapped like a twig, two stubby and leaking ends began a slow spiral off into the void. Slowing. The shockwave hit, sending the unlucky pilot cavorting off in a new direction.

****

Two Czip destroyers sped though the battle. Occasionally throwing out plasma bolts at enemy fighter wings. Pulling themselves at full speed toward an immobile Narvarro dreadnaught, the pair spun and twisted to avoid defensive fire. CL beams glanced off the heavy frontal armoring or made sweeping scars across unprotected areas. Railgun slugs impacted the hard shell and created dents and long cracks. The destroyers separated, one moving toward the bow of the dreadnaught, the other at stern. Ten seconds apart, the destroyers slammed through any sheilding that might have been active. Using its four great claws a Czip grabbed hold of the dreadnaught's port [nacelle/pontoon/thing] and dug multiple boarding tubes into the hull. Fex flooded into the metal corridors and maintenence shafts.

OOC:
Losses: 1 Barak crusier, 5 Lesh destroyers, 50 Noriv fighters, 20 Ksilatum fighters.

OOC: I don't know why I keep those Navarros around, their horribily undergunned. Maybe I'll make a new version after this RP. Anyway, the Ongeslagen, Waakzaamheid, and Typhon are all Grand Cruisers. The Command Carrier class also known as the Typhon is not present, as that is a defunct design that doesn't 'exist' anymore (I should really change its name to Tiamat and relaunch those as well).

Dmitri is in Skeelzot City on Solomon right now, he'll factor more into the ground battle. Real post will come up soon..

OOC: Ah but Weyr you see the problem is that Dmitri is the idiot here (and younger to boot).

IC:

The 'Eavy Kroozer exploded like a ripe melon, each missile turning into a small sun in quick succession. To make matters even worse, the antimatter reactors (one of the few still in Ork hands) lost all power to the containment fields. Several pounds of the stuff instantly came in contact with real matter, resulting in a second explosion that drove the remanants of the 'Eavy Kroozer into the side of the Weyrean battleship at tremendous speeds.

*** *** *** *** ***

"No no no NO!" Yelled Gar as the Kharvek began firing into the shipyards and orbital installations. "Don't let them destroy the docks or we'll be helpless after this mess is over! Full speed ahead, helm take us into a roll underneath that bastard!"

Pulling away from the flaming hulk that was the Dmitri Skeelzot, the Ianos' engines gave all they were worth as the battleship charged the Kharvek. With almost impossible slowness the beast began to turn onto its port side, at the same time diving beneath the Arenumberg vessel. This gave the undamaged broadside full access to the SSD's keel, which it then proceeded to smash with one rolling broadside after another. The helmsman had his hands full, juggling the thrust of the rear and prow nozzles so as to keep the Ianos beneath its adversary.

As the rebel and Arenumberg fleets continued to decimate eachother, the FS and Navy loyalists managed to rally themselves. Their leader, Sir Holst of the Cavalier Rank, was about to order a charge into the rebel flank when the Arenumbergians let loose against Gideon Station. This gave him pause. With their preponderance of battlecruisers, Holst had serious doubts about overcoming the rebel fleet, and as far as he knew Gideon Station was firmly in FS hands. Ah to hell with it. "All ships, engage both rebel and Arenumberg craft, it looks like we've been backstabbed again."

Bursting out from behind dockyards and smoldering wreckage, Holst's ship Agammenon led the charge of the 9 remaining loyalist Nidhoggs. Swiping aside a screen of rebel destroyers, the Agammenon pulled in behind the Kharvek, letting loose with a full volley of torpedoes as she did so. Pulling above the disentegrating battleship, she fired a broadside into the top of the Baad Skeelzot, which was trying to get a good shot in at the Kharvek. Railgun slugs slammed into the ventral turrets, destroying weapons systems and denting armor. But out of nowhere another ship emerged, a rebel Nidhogg. Either not seeing the Agammenon or counting on it, the battlecruiser T-boned the unforutnate ship near the forward railgun turret, knocking it off course. As Holst struggled to remaing upright while his ship went through a barrelroll, he ordered the other broadside to fire into the Kharvek.

*** *** *** *** ***

The gyros finally managed to stabilize the tumbling Achilles, but Zhalgor was still glad he hadn't eaten solid food in the last 24 hours. Before he could even get his bearings however, a stream of plasma fire zipped past him: a damn Noriv was on his tail. Twisting his suit around and flying away backwards, Zhalgor fired another 8 rounds at the creature before ducking beneath a burning Phobos destoyer. Quickly snapping a new clip into place, he shot out from beneath the ship on his back, blazing away at the giant fighter. Plasma shots streaked around him, one connecting with his punch-shield. The armor blew apart, leaving Zhalgor with only the handgrip. Another blast damaged his right leg, but not seriously enough to affect control.

*** *** *** *** ***

The 125 marines of the Navarro lept into action, trying vainly to keep the swarming fex pinned around their entry points. Flak and 8mm rounds took a terrible toll on the chicken-like creatures, but there seemed to be no end to them. It was on one of these 6'x8' battlefields that the Marine commander was struck with a suicidal idea. "Somebody get me a torpedo!"

Several minutes later a gang of crewmen lugged the short-range warhead up from the magazine. Skeelzanian torpedoes were in effect just large tubes, stuffed with explosives and a high-burn, short-range engine. This particular model housed a small quantity of Spootonium in a sphere of high explosives. "By the Spoot, you just had to dig up the oldest model you could find, didn't you?" The marine snapped at the crewmen, who merely shrugged. "Damned fission types haven't been issued in 100 years...oh well. Slide this under it..."

The crewmen gazed wearily at the device the marine had improvised. The torpedo was now mounted on a type of wheeled sled, pointing directly down the corridor where the Fex were emeging from. "Alright, everyone back!" Everyone scrambled behind a bulkhead, except the captain. He could see another wave of Fex screaming towards him, scything claws razor sharp... "Come and get it you filthy xenos!" He armed the torpedo, got behind it, and gave it a good shove. The wheeled bomb flew down the corridor, bouncing along the deck plating. Catching on the arm-blade of a dead fex, the sled came to an abrupt halt, but not the bomb. The torpedo flew into the air, knocking one Fex over and smashing into the legs of another one. Before the creature's could even scream, the nuclear warhead detonated. The fifty megaton explosion blew the engine nacelle apart, sending the Czip hurtling away from the Navarro.

The 'Eavy Kroozer exploded like a ripe melon, each missile turning into a small sun in quick succession. To make matters even worse, the antimatter reactors (one of the few still in Ork hands) lost all power to the containment fields. Several pounds of the stuff instantly came in contact with real matter, resulting in a second explosion that drove the remanants of the 'Eavy Kroozer into the side of the Weyrean battleship at tremendous speeds.

There was a reason no sane commander had every fired hyperfusion missiles at point-blank range. The resulting explosion shoved the Ridell sideways. The reDrive ripped through two hulls, taking half the cryo plant with it. The starboard flank of the Ridell caved in beneath the 'Eavy Cruiser's impact. A trio of New Paradigms were thrown into orkish craft.

"Real smart," the seedShip sent.

"Shut up," Shun retorted. The Ridell's remaining, still quite impressive armament turned on the nearest dressie. Through its tight, dark, airless, gravityless network of passageways sped hundreds upon hundreds of marines in the latest power armor, REASON gatlings ready to mow down surviving orks. Other craft, ork boarding missiles latched on, reencated the same scene.

OOC: Does it not occur to you the underbelly has a shield generator there? lol..

IC:

The Underbelly.. keel.. whatever you may call it, took the impact after impact, but the shields couldnt hold against the onslaught for long, and with the Loyalists attacking them, this was getting out of hand.

"Do you have the rebel IFF code frequencies?" Kyztsk Asked one of his officers.

"Yes Sir, why do you ask?" She Replied

"Start using them, were switching sides, accompany a small message detailing FS ships attacking us for no reason, transmit a small message to the loyalists telling them to have fun while they die, New rebel ships come from station, station must be destroyed, yet they think were not helping you.. By the Evolution their insane.. Tell the Bandalok not to engage us, and we will do likewise, or their homeworld wont be around for long, Oh, Tactical, may i have access to the Keel Tractor beams?"

"Yes Sir, transmitting and modifying IFF" One officer said, whilst the ensign at tactical shifted to the side.

On the Underbelly, the tractor beams hummed to life, they locked onto two of the nearest ships, generally the ones deciding to fire broadsides into the strained shield, the tractors locked their prey down, sucking the energy from them and using it to power the beam itself, the two ships then began to edge towards each-other, faster, and faster, then the tractor systems brought them together in a smash of metal and blood.

Meanwhile, the fleet began to turn round to the FS lines, ignoring rebels that hadnt got the message yet, and although strained as the fleet was, fired.

Losses:
1 Frigate, a Cruiser, 12 fighters, 6 bombers.

OOC: Before I post about the Baad, I want to know if this is the Shadow class Star Destroyer or something different.

IC:

Gar winced as the Baad crunched into the bottom of the SSD, but took pride in the fact that the guns continued to fire at point-blank range. By now the vidscreen was constantly illuminated in explosions, making space look more light than dark. Mobile suits and Norivs tangled amongst the fleets, Zig fighters concentrating on the lighter Ksilatums. He even noticed one Achilles kneeling ontop of a Noriv, pinning it to the top of the Ianos, slamming its punch-shield over and over into the central bulge. He was admiring Bolton's charge into the Bandalok Fleet when Kyztsk's message came in. "Sir, the Arenumbergians are switching to friendly IFFs!" said a young comms officer.

"To hell with the elves!" shouted Gar. "Continue to fire into them, don't let any of the xenos escape!" The bridge crew let out a hurrah! as they transmitted the new orders to the fleet.

OOC: Its a normal old Executor, lol, and im not elvish anymore, remember! if i wanted to i could pop his little brain and crush all your ickle people in their suits, remember :P lol.

OOC: You could try, though most marines have shifted to the Templar armor by now. And your fancy little mind-tricks don't work on Skeelzanians themselves, though I leave it up to you to screw with whatever devices we have.

OOC: "Devices" ? better TG me about those, anyway, post about stuff now you know, lol.

OOC: What I meant is this: You can't mindcontrol Skeelzanians, but you can effect physical objects as long as its reasonable. Case in point, you wouldn't of been able to make Pvt. Truk's brain catch on fire, but you could (and did) crush his armor.

IC:

The Baad Skeelzot slammed into the bottom of the SSD, all 2 and a quarter trillion tons of it. Bulkheads crunched and supports strained, but the ship managed to hold together. Its main cannons too close to fire safely, it fell to the two broadside railgun turrets to continue to fight. With only a few dozen meters seperating the guns from the bottom of the Kharvek, the Baad's captain shuddered to think about what was happening to any men on the receiving end.

Ordering full power to the engines, the giant ship lurched forward, straining against the tractor beams.

The Ship lurched and crunched, from the gaping hole caused by the collision, liquid and debris mixed together splurting out into the darkness of space, The dead, part of that liquid.

The Kharvek Strained with her tractors against the ship hideously scaring her underside, but the power was being sucked from it, that ship wouldnt be much of a trouble after it was smashed against a loyalist.

The fleet, now fighting on two fronts, continued to fire everything it had.

But losses were beginning to show

Losses this round:
27 Fighters
11 Bombers
3 Picket Ships
2 Frigates
1 Destroyer
3 Cruisers
1 Carrier