NationStates Jolt Archive

((OOC thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=493400). If you're interested, sign up there.))
I know everything. It’s a big brag, but it’s true. I may not know it all now, but I will later, in one way or another. That’s what I like about being a Drow. Humans try to learn everything, so they record it in books and computers. We’ve got an extra six hundred years to learn everything, and this whole new world wields more scientific knowledge than we could have even dreamed of. Of course, it was because of us that humans actually made it to Centauri. In human terms, it was my brother-in-law and his team who released the real theories of intergalactic travel to the humans. He made a mint and, naturally, so did I.
Of course we don’t judge ourselves based on humans. We base humans on ourselves, and every time that happens, it seems, humans just seem shit out of luck. I pity them. Equality is great for the common man, but when it comes down to it, it’s the ‘lesser’ that has the true power. That’s how it is with Drow. The females pick out a suitable mate, and usually he’s an idiot so he can’t think for himself. But Matron Mothers who want real power go for the smart ones, much like myself. Matron Mothers always say it’s their daughters and their sisters who are their closest advisors, but in every example I’ve ever seen, it’s their lover who has the real brains. The Females have such a huge ego you can’t rely on them. They are blind by their power and their ambition. The men are always the ones who see past advantage and see into the future. We do the cooking, cleaning, and as far as I know, it’s the male slaves who clean the kids’ ass, not their Wean mother. So I guess you could compare us to human females. Heh. Brothers are doin’ it for themselves.
In all seriousness, I like being the backseat driver and the lesser gender. I can speak my mind without looking like an idiot, because according to most females, I am an idiot. Alyae doesn’t see it that way. She never expected to become the next leader of her people in just a few gunshot blasts. It was I who killed her mother, her father, and her two sisters. Which is probably another reason she decided to accept my plan.
Like in most human societies, Drow females take lovers for power or just having someone to have sex with when they’re bored (No complaints there) or whip when they’re angry (Again, no complaints). But with Alyae, she knew how intelligent I was. She knew that I was her ticket to true and immediate power. And I saw the same through her. So it was only natural that I came up with my scheme.
That, and the fact I’ve had a crush on her since I was six.
There. I admit it. Even if it is to a computer. I’ve been admiring a daughter of a Matron of a rival house since I was six. I was always trying to find someway to get Melith, my House, and Arkenep, hers, to get close enough that I could get close to her. And after being with her for two hundred years, it’s more than a crush, even if she’s an ambitious bitch. In Drow society it’s considered a weakness and a foolish thing to fall in love, but a way to collect power by making it with the opposite gender. But, hey, am I complaining? I’m with the love of my life, even if she doesn’t know it, and look where it’s gotten me. I’m the admiral of the most powerful fleet from Earth. Well, of the second-most powerful fleet. I’m the admiral of the Shar fleet, whereas my sister, and the woman who would have half of Alyae’s power if it weren’t for my writing our constitution. T'rissual would have been the Matron Mother of Melith, even if she couldn’t make Queen. She was still influential over my mother, Vasryn, the Queen, and was able to secure a hardy military position a few centuries ago. I wanted Lloth Fleet, the biggest of the fleets, but she, being a female, got it instead. I understood, of course. To the common folk, it was better to have a proven female military leader leading our biggest fleet instead of a male who has proven himself even more. I didn’t care. It was still a win for the Drow men.

I never expected an attack. This would be used against me every day of my life from this day foreword. We were the Drow, the biggest fleet in Sol! To me, they were nothing but terrified terrorists at first. But as the fight went on, I realized that the humans were gradually getting bigger and better armed. We couldn’t stay the biggest in the human colonies much longer. Eventually, and we all knew this, the humans would pry our grip off of their worlds.
The bigger nations hadn’t taken to the stars yet. Granted, the first colonies were made by them, but they were simply too huge and they had to focus their resources on running their nations, not making space fleets and space empires. The Drow, however, are more industrious than humans, and the Gray Dwarves are even more so. We were able to create huge fleets and take to the stars. Ten years ago, almost every Earth colony was governed by a Drow in one way or another, whether behind the scenes, playing on the human governor’s ambitions or openly, ruling over a collection of humans, Drow, and Dueregar. But our grip was loosening, and the Council refused to admit this. The colonies were shrugging off their nonhuman or corrupt leaders and placing their own on the big chair. Some of them were becoming militant, fighting Drow holdings and resources. The other admirals said that they wouldn’t win the war. But I knew better. They wouldn’t win the battles, but they had more to throw at us than we could fight back with. They wouldn’t win the battles, but they would win the war, and every intelligent commander could see that.

Tells you something about my fellow admirals, doesn’t it?

“Have the corvettes make a firing line. They’re going to throw more at us, and we’re going to be ready,” I told the other ships. The corvettes did as told and created a wall of deadly laser-shooting ships, piloted by the best Drow and Dueregar that Sch’Naggio had given the Drow empire, “And the rest of the ships keep your sensors at maximum. Get EVERYTHING you can. I don’t want bombs attached to my ships.”
I was right. The first fight was just humans catapulting themselves against our might. They had taken a lot of good women and men with them in the initial shots. Larger ships appeared out of various forms of faster-than-light means of travel. I recognized mo less than a dozen human factions donating ships to this cause. This was bad. They were starting to work together.
“Wait until they get closer or fire on us.”
I recalled a quote from the American Revolution, where an American officer, not wanting to waste ammunition, told his men to hold their fire until “You see the whites of their eyes.”
It wasn’t until I opened my own when I realized I said it out loud and it was being sent out as an order.
“I didn’t mean it!” I told my officers. They cancelled the order. The big ships were about as big as our own. I recognized a few capital ships of the various human factions. They were the biggest and were as large as my capital ship, whose name translates into “Mage-Crusher”, but even our smaller ships were better armed than the human fleets’.
“Fire! Now!” I screamed. White beams of light raced to the human ships, ripping apart chunks of armor and pieces of ships. Some of the weaker ones exploded into fireballs. I ordered the corvettes to break, which allowed the bigger ships to fire their main guns. Giant Gauss rifles and mile-long missiles flew towards the human fleet, causing massive damage to the other ships, and destroying the smaller ones. The Drow were met with the firing of the human ship main guns. While the more maneuverable ships dodged the volley, the other, bigger ships weren’t as fortunate. Chunks were taken off the main ships. My ship shook violently.
“Armor holding, but there’s a hull breach on 15-foreword. Moderate casualties in the immediate area. Crews are on the job already.
“All ships return fire.”
Volleys were being exchanged as both fleets began to move around and shoot at each other. The fight got close and I ordered the fighters launched. The humans launched their own fighters, but it was in vain as the superior Drow fighters ripped through the humans, taking small casualties. It was up to our fighters here. But suddenly, bright beams of light exploded out of the ships, slicing and dicing our fighters. The humans were testing out a new anti-fighter laser!
“Concentrate fire on the ships with the new laser!” I ordered. My little sister was among those pilots. If he died, the Matron Queen would never forgive me.
Four of the five ships that used the laser were now floating derelicts in space, lifeless and cold, but the fifth was still active, but not enough to fight. Seeing this, the human fleet concentrated fire on the biggest ship of all: The Mage-Crusher. The volley was too much for the ship to handle, and I knew it. I saved the lives of its two thousand crew and ordered to abandon ship before the engines blew. I, being the Admiral and captain of the ship, was allowed to leave first, accompanied by the highest-ranking officers, save for my Number One and third-in-command. We met on the next biggest ship, the Spider Web. My Vice-Admiral ordered to continue firing and the fighters to escort the bombers to finish off the humans. Many of the enemy ships turned tail. I ordered the ships to move away from the Mage Crusher as it exploded. I felt as if someone had stabbed me in the heart. I just lost one of our capital ships, and possibly my career and my life. The fight was over, and we had won, at the cost of our finished capital ship, two cruisers, and twenty Corvettes. The fighter casualties were enormous at a hundred seventy-five. That was more fighters than we could spare. To my relief, my sister made it back alive. I recommended her to be promoted to a higher rank and sent to a safer and more entertaining job: Ship hygiene. Having slaves working under you like that was one of the best jobs you could have, not to mention the paths it led to. It gave you good experience ordering others around and teaches you how to be clean. She was thrilled to be out of those cramped fighters, as was I.

I sent my report back to the Matron Queen. I told her exactly what happened: the surprise terrorist-style attack, the coalition, the loss of the Mage Crusher, not to mention the huge amount of casualties we inflicted on the enemy. She was thrilled to learn we had destroyed two enemy Capital ships, but I reminded her of the long-term consequences of this. The loss of the Mage Crusher would be used as propaganda material for the humans and we would lose many more Drow governors or Drow-controlled governors. She agreed. The humans would only build forces and attack again. So we started planning. We knew we couldn’t stay as an empire much longer. Our grip would dissipate, so we had to be prepared and gradually lessen our grip before it killed us.

I had no idea greater powers than we were making plans of their own.

The human warfleets limped home, battered, bruised, but emboldened. They had taken out the flagship of the Drow hordes. THAT was something they could be proud of, something they could point future generations to and say "We did that." Fleet Admiral Conrad Nelson allowed himself a moment of respite from strategy, his mind clear for the first time in ages. Today the bars would be filled with men and women young and old. Whether celebrating or trying to clear one's mind of a fallen comrade's face, and probably a combination of the two. As he allowed his eyes to shut he slipped into the first peaceful sleep he'd had in months.

((OOC: short I know, but I got caught up in something. I need bed))

"They've clumped, T'rissual. They've become more dangerous than we can cope with. They destroyed the Mage-Crusher and they've deployed a new laser. We're going to lose this war, T'rissual, if we keep it up. The only way we could possibly win is to destroy Earth and Mars, and we don't have the technology for that, not to mention what the other races might do to us for such Xenocide," I tried to reason with her, "If we keep up this war, we'll lose. The most thing we can hope for from the Council are Guidelines of War, and both of us know that our commanders would break that the moment it proved convenient. If you attack that outpost, they will become Martyrs, and the war will only get tougher. We've been fighting for the last twenty years, T'rissual. If we haven't broken them by now, we never will."
We had been found out that the Humans had formed a formal military coalition against us, led by one Fleet Admiral Conrad Nelson. I knew Nelson, he was a good man, and a good commander. We had fought side-by-side in numerous Colony rebellions when they threatened their human governors, and we had complied in exchange for favors. Over the years, I had thought of him as a human friend. I never expected him to take up arms against the Drow so easily. But he was a good leader, and I respected teh humans for picking him. Our intel showed, however, he had been taking some risks as of late. He was propagating the news of the Mage-Buster's downfall, but his own fleet had been spread thin from the fight. We had taken out or captured several of their Capital Ships, and the Admiral was hiding his fleet near Alpha Centauri. An obscure place to hide a fleet, so close to Earth and our own forces, but it was proving effective, as our only intel on this matter was a captured human Captain. All other resources had come up short, and human ships had been spotted in Alpha Centauri. T'rissual had finally confirmed this, and was planning an attack. I knew that the Humans would defeat her, as most of the other Human fleets were just a short jump away. She would quickly be out manuvered by the smaller human ships that they had been using more and more often, to use for Space guerrilla tactics. Conrad's fleet would take heavy damage, but T'rissual would still be overrun.
"This is a battle, not the war. We know this is where they're most concentrated. They're probably thinking of siezing our assets in Sol with it! We can't let them get away with this!"
"The best we can do is move our assets from Sol. They're too close, T'rissual. They've been hiding under our noses, and reinforcements will be on you quicker than you can kill the Admiral. You won't stand a chance, Lloth Fleet will be decimated. We must make peace with the humans!"
"Do I have to remind you of your position, male?"
This really got to me. She hadn't used the word male like an insult to me in over a century.
"FINE!" I screamed, "Get yourself fucking killed you wael bitch!"
The whoel room stared at me. T'rissual's face turned angry like I hade never seen. I had just called one of the most powerful Nobles, respected commanders, and a High Priestess a range of colorful names. Not one of the best things I could do for my personal safety. She was also my sister, but as Jhaelaste had replaced our mother thirty years ago, this bond meant little.
"S-sir? What should we do?" a nervous male officer asked after I stopped breathing at a pace that suggested I would kill the next thing that made a sound.
"Track Lloth Fleet. If she goes out with teh attack, warp to Alpha Centauri and we'll help her in the battle. They can face one fleet, but they can't face both. Send the Matron Queen my reccomendation that we pull out of Sol."
"Sir, our capital is on Sol! The cities will be abandoned!" he protested.
"Then I'll carve the Drow Race a new city myself!" I shouted. I stormed out of the bridge to my quarters, where my current lover was waiting. I was still madly in love with Alyae, but I still needed my pleasures, and this one was attractive enough to take. Normally having my own personal whore would be unheard of from a male, but I was repected enough that she was willing. She tried to console me, but it only caused me to vent my anger out on her. I told her to leave as I restrained myself from striking her after I told her repeatedly to stop.

I laid on my bed for some time. I felt guilty. I was having an affair on the woman I loved, even though she wouldn't care, I had suffered the greatest loss in the war, and I just told my sister, a female far more powerful than I, to go fuck herself in front of my entire bridge crew. I was pissed off and needed some time alone.
"Uh...Captain?"
"WHAT?!"
The officer flinched.
"T'rissual has jumped her fleet to Alpha Centauri and the Matron Queen is on the Vids."
"Patch her through to my quarters."
Matron Queen Jhaelaste wasn't young and it showed, but she was still fair. A few wrinkles showed on her face, but she was still beautiful by human standards.
"Hatchavin, I have been informed of a series of insults that you directed at T'rissual. This is not a minor offense, you know, and won't look good so close to your defeat."
Hardly a defeat, just a bitter victory, I thought.
"She's moving in on the enemy fleet's gatehring position. I advised her not to, but she refused to listen. She'll pound on them in the first few minutes, but reinforcements will arrive and my 'defeat' will look like the winning battle of the war. It's entirely possible she's falling into a trap. If they win, then there's no way we can even peacefully end the war. The Humans will keep coming and we'll be reduced to just enough to start a colony. I was just ordering my fleet to join her at Alpha Centauri."
"Even though it might be a trap?"
"Yes. I can't let her go in solo, even a small task force of ships will help turn the tide, but either way, it's going to be bumpy."
Jhaelaste thought.
"Very well, but don't jump in right after her. Wait until human reinforcements do arrive, then go in."
"Thank you, Matron Queen."
I was glad she hadn't stripped me of my rank and post.
"As for this reccomendation for us to pull out of Sol...Why?"
"The loss of teh Mage-Crusher will reach the human on Earth. They'll attack and sieze the cities, even the non-Spacefaring ones. It won't be pretty for us. I can see that this war can be our fall, but not if we stop our hold on the humans. This is one war we can afford to end and accept a lost war. But if we fight it, we'll just plain lose."
The Matron nodded.
"Their heads will inflate, no doubt, but as time goes on after this war, relations will improve again. In the meantime, though, let's try and break their will. There's still a good chance we can win this, and T'rissual is engaging a vital battle, even if she's a bit unprepared. I'll overlook your outburst for now. Just don't lose two battles in a row."
The vid severed.
"Captain to bridge. Set coordinates to one light-year from Alpha Centauri and engage."

Ever wonder why your mother always told you "Don't play with matches!"? Here's a good analogy why.

The human fleet glistened in the glow of Centauri A and B, using the gravity of the stellar bodies to stay perfectly stationary. A small clump of capital ships seemed to form the middle of an unordered block formation, flanked by several large asteroids that seemed to inexplicably be where they shouldn't. The Admiral was on deck of the deceptively small battleship Hermes, drinking his morning coffee out of a thermos for once. The Hermes was one of the faster ships of the Human fleets, and certainly the fastest human battle ship. It's sleek profile shone like the crown jewel of the in-system ships as it floated silently. Waiting for it's prey.

The Drow ships entered the edge of the system, and many smaller ships threw themselves against the massive fleet, damaging a cruiser or two but having the collective effect of bugs on a windshield. The Capital ships stayed motionless, drives idling as they drew the Elven fleet in past the asteroids. From the bridge of the Hermes, the Admiral commanded. "Position 1." The capital ships fired on the lead Drow vessels with all their might and seemed to scatter, infact forming a net of death. "Position two, fire!" Without warning roughly 1800 missiles streaked off the asteroids and raced toward the rear of the Drow positions, Leaving the Elves facing a wall of nuclear ordinance advancing at high speed.

((OOC: Had to think up my tactics, the asteroids are out of missles now, and have no other armarments that your forces can detect. I plan to use them later though, what for is a secret.))

I watched as a huge flurry of missiles sped towards T'rissual's fleet. I was right, they had fallen into a trap. Two cruisers had been damaged in the initial fight, but not badly. T'rissual was not a fool, however, and launched her fighters to take out the missiles. But then I remembered by own fighters be sliced and diced in my previous battle. T'rissual did not know about the Human Cutting Laser. I could have told her, but I had orders not to betray my presence and only get involved if things went badly for T'rissual or reinforcements arrived. I imagined T'rissual's face as some of her elite fighter pilots were destroyed by the Human cutting laser. One of the Drow ships burst into flames and exploded, but the Drow ships pressed on, firing their Impact lasers and MAC cannons at the weaker human fleet. Knowing the Admiral, he had something up his sleeve, and I had a feeling it somehow involved using those asteroids. I watched as the Drow fleet moved apart. It looked like they were scattering. Some looked like they were retreating! But I knew what T'rissual was doing. She was using a similar tactic to what the Admiral had used, and idling their ships, hidden behind planets, moons, or among asteroids and waiting for the humans to either pursue or feel like they had scred off the Big Bad Drow. I smiled. The Admiral would probably have scouts look about and then realize teh tactic. By then, though, T'rissual would spring her trap, nailing the humans from every angle in the system. Both were brilliant minds. I only wished taht this was a Holo game and not the real thing. It would have been fun to see T'rissual frustrated as she lost one of her cruisers and then the smirk as she prepared for a cunning trap.
"Messgae from Earth," one of my officers told me, "It's just a text message. It says, 'You were right. the Humans have attacked the cities. We defended them, but we're preparing for an escape. They can have that wastebasket of a planet. Don't worry, Melee Fleet has us covered.' It's from the Matron Queen."
I nodded. I knew the effects this would have on the war. It wouldn't hurt our moral, it would be spun as a thing of pride. Why should Drow share a homeworld with these filthy humans? But the humans would take it differently. Those cowardly Drow ran away at the first signs of invasion! It would be a boost for both sides, but also a stepping stone for peace. Both of our heads would inflate, but then they would cool down. I turned back to the battle.

The Admiral tightened his grip on the arm of the chair. They were... retreating? That didn't make sense... Unless they were trying to lure the humans into a similar trap. "Get us in a tight formation and tell our ships to stand..." The sensors officer interrupted. "Sir, our left flank is breaking for the Drow positions. Their weapons are firing." Nelson's face turned a bright red with rage. He pressed a series of buttons on his command chair to bring up the culprit.

"Commodore Pierson! Return to formation at once! This is insubordination!" The Admiral's eyes seemed to shine with fury as he fixed on the projection of the overzealous officer. "Conrad! They're running! We've beaten them you old fool! Are you going to just let them get away?" The younger officer continued on his course unabated. The sensors officers spoke up again. "Sir portions of the right flank are making to follow him." The Admiral now had a very prominent vein popping out of his forehead. "You bloody idiot! They're turning our tactics against us! Turn..." The commodore switched off his comlink. "Call our reinforcements in, and fire across the bow of anything larger then a corvette the breaks from the right flank." "Sir?" "You heard me" "Yes sir, reinforcement ETA 15 minutes." The Admiral slumped back in his chair, he wasn't sure if they could hold out that long.

Her green eyes flashed over the next data packet sent in by the Scout Frigate Diamond Eyes. The entire Expeditionary Force had been shadowing the human forces for twelve hours now, and found their lack of technology amazing.

It was once said amongst sea-based ships that rats actually colonized the world, and humans were just along for the ride.

If so, humanity was this galaxy's mammalian pest.

Diamond Eyes and her executive officer, High Commander Efrite Nestolin, was shadowing the human fleet's of 'Fleet Admiral Conrad Nelson' discreetly, using only passive sensors and full cloak and all ECM systems online. Their technology base was low enough that the human's would only detect the Diamond Eyes if they physically touched her.

Of course, Efrite was no moron, and didn't have Full Cloak on for the sake of the human's. There might be other enemies out there looking for the Expeditionary Force.

Rena Tendolin looked over the report one more time, and laughed when she got to the 'Fleet Admiral Nelson' part. A Fleet Admiral? Hah! This was barely a Task Force, much less a fleet. But she took the threat seriously. She was limited in her ability for reinforcement, and if enough firepower could be thrown at her, the weapons could even swamp the defenses of the vaunted Empryian Navy.

The Ancient Enemy was well known for those tactics. Many an Andolith (Elven) and human life had been lost to learn and relearn that lesson.

But these Drow, which had two fleets now in system, were what interested her the most. Could they be Rebels? The Fallen? Their remarkable similarities to the Andolith was shocking, though the Drow's height and color was definately different. If they truly were descendants of the Fallen, she would have to report back immediatly to her superiors. The Scout Frigates A Million Eyes to Victory and the Eyes of the Void were dispatched to watch the two new fleets and help determine what course of action to take.

Only time would tell. And for now, the small force was parked on the far side of the solar system, awaiting information from the Scouts.

A small force indeed, she considered. The Battlecruiser Pillar of Valour (the flagship), three Support Carriers, two Destroyers, four Frigates, and the Scout Cruiser Sight of the Gods with three Scout Frigates were all that (Fleet) Commodore Rena Tendolin had at her disposal for this exploration mission, not that she was complaining. Expeditionary Force IX.7.42.11.E was still a command job that allowed her to be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral. Rena's Ravens were the preferred nickname for the expeditionary force, and their black with gold paint jobs only emphasized it. They were Exploration, with 14 ships, code-numbered 42, from the 7th Task Force, of the Ninth Fleet of the Empryian Navy.

She went over the jumble, but oddly logical, command structure of the Empryian Navy. To become a Vice Admiral or Rear Admiral, you needed to serve in Battleline as a Captain of a ship, and have experience in either Strike Craft or Exploration (up to Wing Commander or Captain). For Admiral, Fleet Admiral, Admiral of the Fleets, Lord Admiral of the Fleets, or the vaunted position of Warmaster, a person had to serve in Battleline as a Commodore, as a Strike Craft Pilot as a CAG (Commander of the Air Group), and as a Captain in the Exploratory forces. A person was identified by his prowess in different styles of Naval Warfare by the abreviation before his rank. A Captain who had served only in Battleline, Strike Craft, or Exploration was just a Captain. However, a Captain who had served in any two of the three branches (as an officer) was a High Captain (thereby giving him seniority to just a Captain), and a person who had served in all three branches (as an officer) was a Fleet Captain.

And there she was: Fleet Commodore of the Empryian Navy. A Human Fleet Commodore at that. It takes easily two hundred years to even possibly acheive the rank of Fleet Captain, and even with anti-aging medicines, the average human in the Empryian Federation only lived to 500. But, the Civil War had made veterans of all of them, and quickly depleted the ranks of competent officers.

She couldn't get the horror out of her mind. It plagued them all, and so they talked openly about it in Coven meetings, a place where rank was left at the door and warriors could be amongst warriors. The 25 year Civil War had seen the utter annihilation of 13% of the Empryian Federation's habitable planets, with another 26% ruined in some major ecological way that would take many more years to undo. She had been there at Tarfesa Prime, when the Loyalist forces were crushed and unable to stop the Rebels from unleashing vortex torpedoes into the cores of the three planets that contained life.

Twelve Billion Empryians were killed in one cataclymisic blow, and she could do nothing about it. This was only the eighth month of the war. She would watch the destruction of nine more inhabited planets, and the near destruction of twenty-two more before the end of the war.

She violently shook her head, pushing the thoughts from her beleagured mind. Resting her head back on her pillow, (Fleet) Commodore Rena Tendolin questioned whether to make contact with them, but continued to watch them annihilate each other. She may be human, but her first loyalty was to the Federation.

Unable to come up with a decision, she sent word to the bridge to wake her in six hours.

Not that the Andolith beside her would let her sleep for half of that.

I watched and laughed as the humans fell for the trap. It was bloody obvious, and the Admiral would have never sent out the order to make a chase. Someone wasn't doing his job right. I smiled, imagining the Admiral's purple face.

My sister made short work of the Human break-offs. The ambush worked, wiping out most of those fleets. Stupid humans didn't even know how to see a trap. And to think that we learned that tactic from human Tank commanders! But then the sensors went wild. I nodded, knowing these were the human reinforcements.
"I want one of those Cutting Lasers!" I told my commanders. We made our way into the system as the human reinforcements, avoiding the places that my sister's ships had not revealed. Before the humans could even think of their targets, we were on them, pounding them with conventional and nuclear missiles. We avoided Nukes more than usual, however, to avoid screwing up their electrics, as I wanted one of those Cutting Lasers. I hailed the Admiral.
"Conrad, you know as well as I do you can't win this battle. If you wish, we will leave you with your ships, stripped of their weapons and offensive equipment, and allow you to live. Otehrwise, we will board you and you and your men will not survive, as you're simply too rebellious to keep as slaves."
T'rissual bumped in.
"What are YOU doing here? Why haven't you bbeen assasinated by your commanders yet?" she spat.
"Because unlinke you, Iearn their respect instead of tehir fear. People can overcome fear. Respect is something totally different."
"Then why are you letting these [i]iblith[/] go?"((Non-Drow, also means Shit in Drow.))
I severed the hail to the Admiral.
"Because if we kill them they will become martyrs. There will be more humans. If we let them go, they will know to fear the Drow. The Admiral and his commanders probably won;t back down, but their crews will back out of the war. The next battle they will be undermanned and they lack the resources to replenish these ships the way they were before we strip them."
"What are you even DOING here?" she said, mroe to herself. I sent her my conversation with the Matron Queen.
"I had orders."
I severed the communication with her and re-opened the channel with the Admiral.
"Do we have a deal?"

The Admiral gritted his teeth, a bad habit that often surfaced in worse situations. He could fall back on the asteroids as a show of defiance, but there was no way they would win. He couldn't send good men and women to their death. He let out a long sigh. "Fine. Give me your word that my crew will not be harmed and I will give the order to surrender. However as you saw some are rather rebellious. I can't guarantee they won't take certain liberties." Liberties was a codeword, destroy or hide what won't be blatantly obvious. Any ships that stood a real chance of escaping was given permission to try. Two of the frigates made a run for Centauri-B, planning to jump to as soon as the radiation was thick enough to give a semblance of hiding them. Nelson mentally wished them Godspeed.

Hatchavin's ship sensors saw the moving Frigates before they moved by Cantauri B, but he decided to take no notice of it, but it was obvious, since sensor readings were given to the Captain's Vid and he looked up at them as the sensors changed.
"You have my assurance. Nobody on your ships will be harmed. Prepare to disengage and remove your weapons from your ships and your fighters. I want all of your crew in the quarters as this process goes through. Inform your crew that I will have a strict count on how many Drow will be boarding you, and for every one that goes missing or is killed, we will destroy one of your ships. Hardly a balance you can afford."

"Indeed." The Admiral grimly responded. He cut the hail and opened a fleet-wide channel. "All-hands stand down. Return to your quarters and do not fight the Drow that are about to board. They will destroy one ship for every Drow that goes missing or is killed. We shall let them live this day, so we can fight them another." As he cut the transmission he watched the sensor readouts, mentally noting as each ship deactivated it's weapons.

Rena watched from the bridge of Pillar of Valour as the humans surrendered to the Drow. Through the triangulation of the three frigates shadowing the three fleets, she now had a perfect picture of the three fleets.

Even with this information, she thumbed the data-tablet beside her. Her new orders were explicit: Capture of a Drow ship and occupants. If a ship could not be captured, it was to be boarded, prisoners taken, and the ship scuttled. She was then to interrogate the prisoner(s), and use tests to see if the Drow were what the Federation feared they would be.

'Captain Gerthanithu,' she spoke to her XO, 'order the squadron to prepare for short jump to the edge of the second Drow fleet. Our prize, that medium sized ship there.'

She turned to the Andolith standing beside her, 'Commander Harif, prepare your Marines for a boarding Operation. I want that ship's data-core and as much military and cultural information as possible, and I want as many prisoners as possible. Kill whom you have to. When you're done, report back to the assault ships and scuttle the ship.'

He saluted and went down to the launch bays to ready his troops. She went over the plan in her mind, seemingly spacing out. Their assault ships would attach to the access points on the ship, while specially modified escape pods would fire from the ship and attach to the hull of the targetted ship and deploy their deadly cargo. After the marines had secured the ship, the marines would detonate two antimatter warheads. The first would be on the bridge itself, while the second would be in the engineering section.

Estimated time for successful completion was 15 minutes for complete security.

Commander Harif would see to it that it was done in 10.

The rest of the fleet would jump in around the beleagured ship, destroy those ships in the immediate vicinity, provide a CAP, and then leave. The two destroyers Veridian's Moon and Flight of Warriors would actually jump deeper into the fleet for five minutes and destroy ships in an attempt to cause more confusion and make it easier for the rest of the fleet to continue its mission. After five minutes, they would then rejoin the fleet by short jump and wait for the completion for the marine assault.

180 out of the 216 Strike Craft would fly CAP and also destroy a few extra Drow vessels. They would then short jump to the predesignated point in the solar system with the capital ships, dock in their respective bays, and then far jump to another system.

'Sir?' she shook her head to come back to reality, 'Sir?'

'Yes Captain?'

'Everyone has reported in. The fleet is ready to move.'

She smiled, 'Execute Jump.'

Expeditionary Force IX.7.42.14.E warped into its destiny.

Sighing softly, I take a sip from my cup of green tea. Thanking the ensign, I turn my attention back to the data pad with the readout on the latest diagnostic tests run on the ship. The bridge was silent except for the soft chiming of the lightwave consols. Everything was peaceful. Just another regular delivery mission.

"Commodore! Mid-range sensors have detected energy signatures consistent with those of energy based weapons."

Scratch that, I guess it's not another regular delivery mission. Now-oh how rude of me not to introduce myself. I do apologize. I am Gregory Mackwell of the Aztiluth Defense Force and captain of the ADF's experimental battleship Solon .

"Dirna, use the Solon's Leiria system to get more detail," I called out to my tactical officer.

There was a few moments of silence as she accessed the ship's powerful sensors, the chiming sounds sounding in unison as her fingers danced quickly across the consol.

"Sir, it appears that a human fleet was engaging another fleet, though I'm unsure of the other fleet's origins. Pulling information from the ADF's database," she said, "Let's see... According to the database, the enemy ships appear to be of Drow origin."

"And the condition of the human fleet?" I inquired.

"One moment," she responded, "It seems that the human fleet has been defeated and is being boarded by the Drow. Orders, sir?"

Leaning into my chair, I sighed as I thought on the issue. Curse my penchant for complaining about these delivery missions.

Turning to my communications officer, I said, "Send the admiral of the human fleet an encrypted message."

After a few seconds, the officer looked up from his consol and waited for me to speak.

"Greetings admiral, I am Commodore Mackwell of the ADF's 1st fleet's 3rd escort detachment. My fleet was on a delivery run to Earth when our sensors picked up your combat with the Drow fleet. I am aware of your fleet's predicament and wish to know if you desire for my fleet to intervene. Regardless of your decision, please send an encrypted reply once you have decided. Thank you."

"Message sent, sir," said the comm officer.

Nodding, I reclined in my chair, waiting for the admiral's reply.

The Encrypted message was picked up not by teh huamns, but the techs aboard the ships. The message decrypted was relayed to me, who was making sure that everything was going to plan. The ships were being stripped, and quickly. Most of the surviving ships were nearly finished, with the highly effecient Sverfneblin Gnome slave engineers moving quickly to finish the jobs. They were nervous in an enviroment like this, and wanted The job done quickly so they could return to the communal pens and their jobs where they spent many of their hours and days. I understood, as their Cleric keepers were very cruel to them. As I looked at the message, I hailed the Admiral.
"You will refuse their offer and tell them not to become involved in our affairs again. Sell to you as they wish, but they are not to involve themselves in this war."
But once agains the sensors went wild as one of T'rissual's ships were boarded. They waited until all the identified boarding craft had latched on, and them the ship self-destructed. T'rissual hailed me.
"Faeries!" she spat. My face grew hot. I ordered to have the weapons moved from the human ships quickly and leave the jobs that would take too long to finish and sever all the wiring in them to render them useless. I then sent a message to my ships on encrypted Drow channels to destroy half of the Human ships as soon as our techs were out and let the rest go and spare the Admiral. Faeries were Surface Elves, so hated by our kind, as they had waged an unprecedented war against us, their own kin, and forced us into the Underdark, where there were fearsome monsters to deal with every day and we went into a state of constant civil war. Only Lloth gave us a meaning for exsistance. We so hated the Faeries and I wanted several of their heads to present to the Matron Mother. Killing Faeries would be a serious Moral Boost.

Several smaller Faery ships jumped in, which we started to attack as soon as we realized they were there, but we underestimated them. These Faeries had better technology, and I watched in horror as several of my ships were crippled or destroyed.
"Sir, the techs are in."
"Blow them!"
Most of the Drow ships were too concentrated on our most hated enemy to fire on the humans, and we only crippled a few of them, instead of destroying half of them. This was breaking the agreement, but this was just a human trick. The humans were puppets of the Faeries all along! I sent a voice message to the Admiral.
"You backstabbing ibliths! You've been just lap-dogs for the Faeries for centuries! We should purge you for this, you miserable weaklings!"
I allowed the humans to leave and turned my attention back to the battle. I saw T'rissual's capital ship be boarded! I knew that T'rissual would not blow her own ship, as Drow Capital Ships had a self-destruct bomb in them so powerful it was designed to take out entire fleets when blown. She knew we couldn't afford to risk any more ships. I just hoped that her Marines could handle the obviously technollogically superior Faery warriors.

The Admiral watched in horror as half the men and women under his command were killed. He opened a channel to the cave dwelling mongrels that had killed his defenseless men and women. "You gave me your word you bastard! Does honor mean nothing to your kind? Those men will be avenged! Damn you accursed Drow!" He cut the channel and turned to the weapons tech. "Are those asteroids still intact?" "Yes Sir." "Then send them in at the three highest concentrations of enemy ships. And hail the Commodore, tell him he has my eternal thanks for offering his help, and to any help he could render would be appreciated." "Yes sir!"
The Admiral sends his eternal gratitude, and says anything you can do
would be appreciated.

The Admiral watched with a kind of dark satisfaction as the three large asteroids that had already served him so well launched toward the Drow fleets. One was ripped apart by Elven fire but the other two sailed in. Exploding and sending shards up to 20 meters long into enemy armor. With that last act of defiance, the human fleet escaped to lick their wounds.

((I only damaged them, we weren't able to kill any of the ships.))
This was too much, and I knew it. I watched as my own fleet was severely damaged by the human's asteroid trap. I sent a message to the remaining ships, ordering them to abandon the fight. I had lost only because the dammed Elves came in to defend their human pets. I was perfectly willing to allow them to go free, but the Surface Elves...This was unacceptable. What ships could leave warped out of the system and headed to our closest secure planet. This was a disaster. I only hoped that T'rissual could escape the clutches of our evil kin.

I ran a check, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. We had lost a fourth of the two fleets, but none of them were carrying any of the captured Human weapons, which meant we now had the Cutting Laser. But we lost T'rissual and several good ships in the fight, and it would be some time before we recovered from losing a fouth of our ships from our two biggest and best-armed fleets. I would be executed for incompetence for sure.

But after a week of R and R, I was hailed to what the Queen was using as Royal Chambers. She had a big smile on her face.
"Hatchavin, you have done us proud. You have purged the real threat of this war. The treacherous humans have been puppets of the Elves all along. We have been on the verge of a breakthrough for this war, and we're closing in on making it a reality!"
I looked at her, confused.
"A battle station like no other! Capable of carrying an entire fleet within it and able to warp from system to system! No human ship or terrorist can penetrate it!"
A vid blipped up in front of her as the battle station popped up. Its main body was rectangular and it had numerous bays on both sides. It enough weapons to face off two human fleets and possibly a Faery fleet. I sighed and clsoed my eyes.
"We can't win the war with this thing. We can't win the war at all, unless we find a way to destroy Earth and Mars. It's impossible. I've seen the Faeries. They've probably captured or killed T'rissual and her crew by now, and who knows what tortures they're facing at the hands of the evil Faeries. We need to put a stop to this. Let teh humans have their own domain and let them kill each other. We must stop and grow. We must defeat teh Faeries, not the humans, but we don't have the technology to do it with. Not now. But in two hundred years, we can defeat the Faery threat."
"NO!" she hissed, "We will break the humans, and that will break the Faeries! I want Admiral Conrad Nelson, dead or alive!"
"And so do I!" I told her, "But he is old by human standards and will die within the next twenty or thirty years. By then our technology will surpass the humans! We CANNOT win this war! Not now!"
The Matron stared at me with discontent.
"Get out."
I stormed out of the Royal Chambers. I found Alyae, my patron for the last two centuries. She knew everything that had happened in the last month, including the arguement with the Queen.
"She is making a foolish mistake waging war on them both," she agreed, "But the common Drow and the Council will remove her if she refuses to go towar with the Surface Elves," she told me. I nodded.
"Then let's forget the Council," I told her. She looked at me, confused.
"Let Jhaelaste and the Council fight their own damn war. We can preserve the Houses and find a suitable planet. The Duregar care little for our own grudges. If we convince their King that we can;t win the war, they won't fight it."
Alyae considered my words.
"They would pursue."
"With us leading them?" I reminded her. I was the most respected Admiral in the Drow Empire, and Alyae was the heir to the throne. They wouldn't pursue the issue, and we'd probably wind up with more breakers if we left successfully. She nodded.
"Fine. The current Matron Mothers won't make a fitting Council, so I'll convince the younger female Nobles and their male siblings."
I nodded. We were about to take some major risks, but we knew that if successful, we would preserve the Drow.

-T'rissual Melith, Admiral of Lloth Fleet-
It was their last transmission. "Lloth damn the Faeries! The Drow will not fall!"
And then I watched them take out the Faeries with them. Not exactly a great trade, but I understood. Better to take them out instead of suffering the Faery tortures. I watched as several of my ships exploded, as well as some of Hatchavin's, and then gawked at the human treachury, taking advantage of our distraction with the Surface Elves. I knew I couldn't risk taking out the other ships, and so I didn't give the order. Then my own capital Ship, the Handmaiden was boarded by the ruthless Faeries. I took up a weapon to lead the fighting against them myself, and the Faeries captured teh bridge while fighting erupted in the lower decks. We were able to hold off our evil cousins since the loss of the Bridge. The Faeries were determined and kept fighting, refusing to retreat and simply blow up our ship, as we predicted they would do. They haven't yet. The fighting lasted a while.
Two weeks.
Our Marines were experienced and well-armed, but the Faeries had seen much more battle than we, and were better armed, but we knew the ship better, we had better positions, and plenty of ammo. But our forces were dwindling, and every day more and more Drow fell victim to the Faery marines. Out of the twenty decks of the Handmaiden, we held six. I was ordering a push into Deck Seven, where the main bomb was. We wouldn't make this fight worth the Faeries' time and resources.

Deck Seven was heavily gaurded, as the Faeries had realized what was down there a few days ago. They could disarm it, but they would take a few more days to do it. I smiled as I saw the expression of teh Faery gaurd in teh first stages of teh fight as he realized that he was being attacked. Before his head exploded, anyways. He looked better without it.

We found a panel and were able to sever the lights, which made this easier on us. The Faeries from our world could see in the dark, but not as good as we, and we presumed these could, too. But now we had our greatest ally on our side: Darkness.

Taking a sip from my cooling tea, I patiently waited for the admiral's response when suddenly, the comm officer called out.

"Sir! It seems that our message was delivered but someone else managed to tap into and decrypt our message."

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I muttered, "Well, there's nothing we can do now."

I was about to relax again when my tactical officer spoke up.

"Commodore, it appears that another fleet has just appeared and is engaging the drow ships. They appear to be from the Empryian Navy."

Raising an eyebrow, I waited patiently as she quickly analyzed the data that was streaming in from our scans.

"Sir! Our short range sensors are detecting a decrease in lifesign aboard the human warships."

Looking expectantly at my comm officer, I was about to ask him again about the reply when he informed that we had just received a green light from the human admiral.

Grinning, I stood from my seat and called out to my comm officer, "Open a channel to all ADF ships."

"Channel open, sir," responded the officer.

"Ship captains, this is Commodore Mackwell speaking. Our ships are about to enter a combat zone in which human, drow, and Empryian fleets are currently present. Our purpose is not to engage the Empryians unless we are first attacked. Our duty is to protect and assist the human ships in falling back. If necessary, evacuate the human survivors to your ship. Implement defensive plan Apris."

Swallowing a gulp of tea, I waited for the captains' acknowledgements, which soon filtered in after a few seconds. Taking a seat, I gave the order for the fleet to drop out of gravitic warp. In a few seconds, the fleet dropped out of gravitic warp with a burst of white light, reappearing near the human fleet.

Out of the 75 ships in the fleet, 10 of them were massive transport freighters and 25 were large medical ships. As expected the freighters and medical ships drew near the human ships and launched several shuttles to dock with them and check on the humans. The rest of the ships were primarily heavily armed and armored frigates along with several highly manuverable corvettes, and of course there was one battleship, the Solon, which was heading the fleet.

Why is the flagship heading the fleet you might ask. The answer is rather simple. While the medical ships possess heavy armor and electromagnetic shielding, the Solon (http://vally8.free.fr/jeux/starocean3/04.jpg), being a battleship, was far better armed and protected.

Battleships, in general, were constructed from carbonic neotide, which has extremely high light beam absorption characteristics, thus allowing the ship to possess far greater stealth abilities than those of other ADF ships. But besides the stealth ability of the battleships, most also included every possible armament available to them, ranging from armor crushing Luciel missiles to powerful disruption cannons. Combining these weapons with the battleships' ability to fire from all cannons simultaneously, battleships are able to provide overwhelming firepower that goes beyond what one would ordinarily believe possible. Yet what made the Solon different from other warships weren't these weapons, no, it was the dual creation cannons and our two onboard space-time displacement shields. Dangerous as using creation energy was, the fact remained that it allowed for some extremely powerful weaponry. Fortunately, my ship's shields were capable of taking quite a beating before failing. Should they fail...well...it wouldn't matter much if anything pierced our heavy armor and hit the creation engine. The ensuing explosion would take everything within one to two kilometer out with the ship, hence the installation of our new shields.

With the Solon at the head, the combat portion of the fleet flew in with weapons blazing, missiles and lasers swarming toward the drow ships. Watching as a portion of the drow fleet withdrew, I gave orders for the Solon to swing around and take a position near the admiral's flagship. Within a minute, my ship neared the flagship, our creation cannons still ready to fire at moments notice. Instructing my comm officer to open a channel, I cleared my throat before speaking.

"Greetings Admiral, this is Commodore Mackwell. I do apologize for my tardiness. Currently, my combat ships are now engaging any remaining drow ships. My medical and transport ships have sent in some landing parties to evacuate people who are in need of medical aid or whose ships are too badly damaged. I suggest we depart immediately, but I would like your word on this matter first."

((OOC: Sorry for the long-post. The Lords of Writing just empowered me and I had to do it))

Fire flew down the corridor as Colonel Harif regrouped on his final position of Marines. He fired a few rounds from his A-12B-APHE Assault Rifle, a redesign and better make of the original A-12-(Anti-Personnel, High Explosive) railgun that fired 7.62 millimeter slugs at high velocities. Small explosions rippled down the hallway, pock marking the hull. A few rounds entered two drow and detonated from the inside, covering the insides of their suits with blood and gore.

The Andolith Marines weren't worried about puncturing the hull, because the Marines wore fully sealed Tactical Combat suits that were designed to work anywhere, including Zero-G, Zero-Atmosphere environments. They were based off designs for a suit for shipyard workers. The suit was self-pressurized, and would close punctures in the suit frame using a gelatinous substance. It was originally designed that way to protect workers from accidents, but when a shipyard was attacked and successfully defended by workers in the power-armored suits, they were immediately converted for military use.

He ducked and covered as more fire from the Drow flew down the corridor. One Drow actually managed to run at him with his sword drawn.

Fool. You would think that after two weeks they'd learn not to engage us in close combat. Every Drow that hadn't learned the lesson up till then hadn't lived long enough to learn it.

Using his suits enhanced agility and strength, Harif sidestepped the drow's well-placed punch. Harif quickly grabbed the back of the drow's head with his left hand, and smashed in the drow's face with his right.

Harif was covered in blood and gore as his fist exploded the cave dweller's head.

The three remaining Drow fled, seeing the sight of their comrade die in such a fashion was even too much for such battle-hardened warriors. Harif smiled, and was still amazed at his suit's capability. When they were first introduced, they were bulky and cumbersome. Now, years later, the designs were sleek and beautiful and capable of greater feats than ever thought possible. The suits recycled air indefinitely, and could even recycle urine and feces if necessary though for only a limited time. They also enhanced a wearers strength and agility by five times, and his senses were heightened, to give him perfect vision in the dark, hearing that could block out background noises, smell that could detect even trace amounts of pheromones days old.

'This is Victory Actual to all units. Begin departure. Time to head home boys! You have ten minutes before this thing goes critical. Last one onboard either buys the farm or buys the drinks.' The Marines around him sniggered and began to fallback the two corridors to the awaiting Fendor-class Assault Transport.

The departure of the Drow fleets opened a window of opportunity that wasn't there before. So, the Empryians had used it to understand the combat tactics and see for themselves the weaponry of the Drow forces. So, for two weeks they'd played this game of Cat & Mouse, poking and prodding, and slowly making their way deeper into the ship. And now they'd had enough, and it was time to depart.

Harif moved down the two corridors and stood outside the transport's entry door. The pilot radioed back, 'Sir, all other transports are away and all wounded and dead have been evacuated as per your orders. We await your command to go.'

Harif gave one last look down the empty Drow Corridor, watched the lights flicker and go out, and stepped inside the transport.

'Guess I'm buying the drinks, eh guys?'

The Marines laughed as the transport closed up and pulled away.

*****

Commodore Tendolin watched as Colonel Harif's transport pulled away from the stricken Drow ship. As the transport moved to away, explosions started on the Drow ship. The Colonel must've set the device for detonation by trigger also. The two small antimatter devices erupted from within the warship, splitting the ship in three pieces. Fire from the Destroyer Veridian's Moon destroyed the three remaining parts, leaving only debris and dead Drow bodies.

It was a stunning victory. A total of 500 Marines had entered the Drow ship, with the loss of 70 dead and 82 wounded. Sixteen out of 180 Strike Craft were lost to enemy fire, while another ten were crippled. Out of the Capital Ships, most of their ablative armor shrugged off the fire and received minor hull damage. Only the Veridian's Moon and Flight of Warriors received any real damage. Veridian's Moon was all right, with only a few hull breaches and no critical system's damage but Flight of Warriors had received a pounding. Within two weeks time and the arrival of a supply ship she would be up to 97% combat ready, but would need to return to dry-dock for a 100%.

But for Rena, nothing would be perfect unless every one of her warriors came home. But she would revel in this. The Drow were definitely beaten back, and now she had 60 Prisoners to interrogate, interspersed throughout her fleet so they wouldn't represent a security threat. Five or Six on any one ship wouldn't cause too much of a problem. Sixty would.

Preliminary interrogation had resulted in little information gleamed but curses and spits. She would give the Drow a chance to work peacefully with her, but then would begin drug inducements, psychic screenings, and even torture of all kinds if necessary. She hadn't gone that far yet, except with one very unruly prisoner.

Right before the disembarkment, a Drow woman had foolishly leaded a final charge against the Empryian lines. Captain Renault, recognizing that she was a Drow of some importance, grabbed the Drow woman and knocked her unconscious with one fell swoop.

She had returned to the ship, while most of the prisoners were still held together, and made a great ruckus. She had been completely unruly and disobedient all the time. Attempts, very generous attempts, were made to placate her, but she would have none of it. At one time she even screamed, 'I'm T'rissual Melith! And you will obey me!'

Rena then decided to make an example of her after her own failed attempt to try to reason with her. After finding out she was an 'Admiral' (Rena laughed at the size of her pathetic fleet. She didn't even act like an admiral, just a common thug) Rena had personally gone to see her. T'rissual had attacked her, and Rena quickly put her down with a punch to the solar plexus.

It was an Ensign Bosch, a man from Intelligence, who came up with the perfect punishment.

*****

They setup the Drow in an emptied cargo bay and kept them caged in by force fields. Outside, they strapped T'rissual into the reclining chair with black visors over her eyes so she couldn't see. She was setup in perfect view of the rest of the Drow especially since the Empryians kept the light dim for the Drow, a courtesy they had extended to them ever since their arrival on the ship.

Ensign Bosch then came forward with a syringe and an interesting set of goggles. He turned to look at the Drow and held up the syringe, 'This is a drug we give to some warriors about to enter combat. It increases the senses by tenfold: touch, smell, hearing, tasting and... sight.' He pressed the syringe into her arm and put the serum into her. He then held up the strange looking goggles. 'And this he said...' he trailed off, pointed the insides of the goggles toward the Drow and turned it on for a split second

They all screamed in utter pain. This was torture beyond their wildest imaginations. Even the humans and elves had to turn away. T'rissual screamed, "What are you doing to my crew!" unable to see behind the pitch-black visors.

When the screaming stopped Bosch continued, 'She was given the chance to be cooperative. You saw her and her behavior. She fought ever step of the way, and we will break her. We will extend to each of you the same courtesy we extended to her. Do not make us do this to you.'

With a nod, eight marines stepped forward and removed the black visor. She was feeling kind of flighty with these enhanced sensations. She could feel the imperfections in the chair, could taste the recycled air of the cargo bay, hear the shallow breaths of her crew, and see with perfect clarity the grooves on the ceiling four meters away. With enough time, she could've counted each one. The Empryians weren't lying when they said this was a sense-enhancing drug.

Then, four of the marines grabbed her and held her down even tighter than the straps. Four of the other marines grabbed odd hook shaped items, put the blunt hooks under her eyelids and pulled her eyes open. She couldn't blink and even the attempt to close her eyes hurt. What kind of torture is this?? She thought.

Ensign Bosch came over, sighed, and placed the goggles over her eyes, strapping them on tight. Extra unbreakable straps were placed over her body, and the marines moved away.

Some of the Drow crewmembers shed tears for their Admiral, feeling sorry for her in ways they never thought possible. Even the Empryians thought his was cruel, in that she wouldn't die from this torture. Nor would the serum in her body allow her to fall unconscious.

Bosch spoke softly, but the room was quiet enough for all to hear, "Lords of the Heavens, Guardians of all Elves, Protectors of all Humans, and Defenders of the Empryian Federation hear my prayer, for this day I have sinned the most terrible of sins.' And with that, he turned on the goggles.

She screamed the most terrible of screams, and they filled every corner of the cargo bay, and could even be heard throughout parts of the deck and decks above and below. Her screams never stopped until she became a quivering wreck, most likely her mind unable to take anymore and her sanity shattered. To her credit, she had lasted fifteen minutes.

It was the cruelest of tortures to use against a Drow. In a fit of inspiration, the ensign had taken two high-powered flashlights used in the complete blackness of space for ship repair and fitted them over a pair of goggles. These were very high-powered lights, the likes of which even humans and normal Elves could not even look into, much less stare into for long periods of time. It was like staring into the sun.

The Drow captives were obviously shaken. They had no resolve left, not even shreds and tatters of it. They rejoiced in the low light of the cargo bay and hugged themselves as if clothing themselves in the darkness. They didn't even have to kill her to make her suffer so. They would surrender.

Ensign Bosch turned off the goggles and shivered. The screams of the Drow woman still echoed in his mind. He was new to warfare, having barely graduating Academy and entering the Intelligence Bureau. The last major military engagements ended 75 years ago with the end of the Civil War and the death of the False-Claimant. All of the remaining rebellious planets had also been quelled and brought back into the fold over the last 75 years.

Still shivering, he unclasped the restraints himself, picked up her tremoring body and left the cargo bay. The marines, also disturbed, left without taking the prisoners back to their cells, not that the prisoners were in any position to escape even if the force field dropped.

Bosch carried the Drow woman's body back to her cell. Gently, he placed her upon the bed, her eyes staring blankly. He was grateful that at least she had stopped shaking. After closing the armored door to her cell, closing the eye slit, and turning on the force field, he ordered the guard to turn off the lights in her room. The guard protested, and before he knew it he was on the cold floor. Bosch repeated his order, and the guard agreed.

As he turned to leave, the loudspeakers on the ceiling chimed, 'Lieutenant Bosch, please report to the Commodore's Cabin. Lieutenant Bosch to the Commodore's Cabin.'

Still shivering, he slowly made his way to the Commodore's Quarters.

*****

Rena read the report in her hand for the fifth time about how Commodore Mackwell was continuing to help Nelson's forces. She had neither sent word or acknowledged the presence of either fleet except that her small shuttle ships picked up stranded survivors and deposited them on human ships without as much as a word. The Empryians, otherwise, had kept to themselves. The arrival of the Commodore was a Godsend, as it mostly freed the Empryians from their time-honoured tradition of helping the sick, weak, or otherwise needy.

Pouring out the human whiskey from the bottle, she downed another shot of the stuff. She put the glass down as the bell for her door chimed.

'Enter'

Bosch entered the room, his face stricken and sullen. He entered, stepped a few feet from the desk and saluted, 'Reporting as ordered.'

She waved him off, 'Have a seat, Lieutenant.' He nodded and sat down in one of the three black leather chairs in her state room.

Rena opened one of her desk drawers and tossed two rank pins onto the desk. 'Congratulations on a job well done. I've noted it in my log that you've made Second Lieutenant.'

She got up and walked over to the wooden cabinet above a small dresser. Picking out another shot glass, she walked back to the desk and poured it. Sitting on the desk, she handed it to him, 'Drink.'

He shook his head, 'No thank you ma'am.'

'That wasn't a question.'

Meekly, he took the glass and downed in. Without asking, he took the bottle from her desk, poured another round and drank it. It was then he realized that the bottle was already a sixth empty. He looked up at her, surprised and astonished, 'Ma'am?'

She looked down at him and put on a heavy smile, 'I never order anyone to do anything that I wouldn't.' She got up and walked back to the chair behind her desk, 'I watched the whole thing, Emil. The whole bloody thing. I wasn't about to order you to do something like that without me at least watching.'

Bosch poured himself another glass and drank it. She started rifling through her desk, 'I'm taking you off rotation for a couple of days. Get some rest, clear your mind up. I'm taking the marines that were with you there also off rotation. I suggest you show up the coven meeting tonight. Get this off your chest.'

Emil Bosch shook his head and made his voice as strong and firm as he could, 'That won't be necessary ma'am. I'm ready to go back out there ASAP.'

She glared at him, 'To hell you are. I'm barely able to go back out there, and I only saw it through a video camera,' She softened and looked at him, 'I'll give you a few assignments to do. But take it easy Lieutenant. Read a book, watch some movies, make a move on Ensign Velonn.'

That snapped Emil out of his silence, and his eyes widened in shock. Rena chuckled, 'Do you think I don't know what goes on with my own staff, Emil? Even if you weren't on my staff it would still be pretty obvious,' she laughed again, 'you go all goo-goo eyed every time you see her.'

His expression softened and he laughed lightly. 'You're off for four days Lieutenant, and I'll give you stuff to analyze but no field duty. Have no worries, I'll finish this.' She placed her hand on the laser pistol on her desk.

'I'll do it' he said suddenly, understanding what she meant.

'No Lieutenant, there's no need. You're job is finished here.'

He looked her in the eyes and replied, "No ma'am, there is a need. It was my idea, my hand on the switch.' His voice hardened, 'It's my duty.'

Staring back at him, she only nodded and handed the gun to him. 'Very well, but I'm coming Lieutenant.'

*****

After consulting with the Drow, they had tried to determine how best to bury her. Unfortunately, any Drow burial detail involved some invocation of Lloth, which was not going to happen aboard an Empryian ship. In the end, T'rissual Melith was launched into space with full military honors in the Empryian way.

The choir sang their solemn requiem alongside the Drow that hummed their own tune. Finally the song ended, and the body was launched into space towards some distant star where it would rejoin the universe and the circle of Life and Death.

For 10,000 years, the coffin of T'rissual Melith passed through space, surviving longer than any of those written of in this account

*****

Second Lieutenant Emil Bosch entered the pitch black room, where he sank down against a wall and closed his eyes. He sat there for a while, with only the darkness and the steady breathing to keep him company.

*****

From the bridge, (Fleet) Commodore Rena Tendolin surveyed the scene of her squadron. Repairs were underway and the Empryians were sitting at anchor on the far side of the elliptical. From the information acquired from her captives, they had ascertained the location of the Drow homeworld. Reinforcements were on route to her, and six ships had already arrived. There was one pressing matter that needed attending to. The information also specified a unique Admiral amongst them who could possibly be reasoned with. An Admiral Hatchavin. Her orders were to find this Admiral and see if a negotiated settlement could be reached. If not, she was then ordered to destroy him and his forces and return to the Drow homeworld and participate in the assault and conquering of the system.

With the arrival of the Raven's Night Heavy Cruiser, two Shendolin-class Assault Carriers, and the Cruisers Amaltia, Negovezer, Revenge of Par and Night Stalker the Squadron was actually beginning to look like Squadron. Twenty more ships were due to arrive in the next two days and more would arrive as she proceeded with her mission.

Two days, she thought, two days and The Fallen will tremble before our might. Hopefully they will see the light and give up their wayward ways of following the Arch-Demon Lloth and her insane practices. If not, they will have to pay for their folly in blood.

Two days, she thought, then let the hunt begin.

"Greetings Admiral, this is Commodore Mackwell. I do apologize for my tardiness. Currently, my combat ships are now engaging any remaining drow ships. My medical and transport ships have sent in some landing parties to evacuate people who are in need of medical aid or whose ships are too badly damaged. I suggest we depart immediately, but I would like your word on this matter first."
"Departing sounds like a very wise idea indeed Commodore." The Admiral replied in a rather weary tone, watching the sensor screens as the ships who had lost FTL were evacuated and left behind. They had lost a few good ships, but the Drow had lost many more. This was a victory, the Drow had defiantly been knocked back. But there was still a burning question in the Admiral's mind. "Commodore, who were those ships that jumped in and attacked the Drow?" He asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Departing sounds like a very wise idea indeed Commodore." The Admiral replied in a rather weary tone, watching the sensor screens as the ships who had lost FTL were evacuated and left behind. They had lost a few good ships, but the Drow had lost many more. This was a victory, the Drow had defiantly been knocked back. But there was still a burning question in the Admiral's mind. "Commodore, who were those ships that jumped in and attacked the Drow?" He asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Then we will depart as soon as all my crew have been secured. That should only take a minute or so. As for those ships in question, they belong to the much feared Empryian Navy," I replied.

Before I could say anything else, a soft chiming sound from one of the consols informed me that all ships and crew members were ready and standing by.

Returning my attention to the admiral, I continued, "Sir, if you're ready, my fleet will now escort your's back to Earth, seeing as how we need to unload our weapons and other shipments on Earth. But before we enter gravitic warp, it would be best if you were to position your ships near our medical ships. They'll cover both themselves and you with their shields in order to prevent any further damage to your ships. If you have any further things to say, please feel free to contact me. Mackwell out."

Cutting the channel, I waited briefly for the ships to manuver themselves before having the fleet engage their gravitic warp systems. Upon entering gravitic warp, I handed over the command of the bridge to my tactical officer and made my way to my personal quarters. Flopping myself onto my bed, I pulled a data pad off a nearby stand. Time for my report.

ADF High Command will want to know of this.

Sitting in office, Lancar Duran was taking a nap when the intercom system informed him of an incoming message.

"Put it through," ordered the supreme fleet commander, yawning as he did so.

"Good evening, sir," greeted Commodore Mackwell, smiling widely.

"What did you do now, Mackwell?" grumbled Lancar.

"Er...what makes you say that, sir?" replied the commodore.

"Just get on with it, man. I was taking a nap," responded Lancar.

"Alright, alright," said Gregory, "It seems that the humans are now fighting back against their drow 'rulers'. My ships momentarily engaged in combat as we evacuated the humans, and we're currently heading toward Earth. I know that it isn't ADF policy to get into these sort of conflicts, but surely we can help them out. I mean, when will the humans ever get another chance like this to throw off their yokes of oppression."

Sighing softly, Lancar rubbed his temples before replying, "I suppose you're right. I'll bring this up with the High Council in the next session. Should be taking place an hour from now. Even though I can't send a fleet yet, I will dispatch the Sanctus and the Ritter."

"Thank you, sir. I'll inform you of any other events should anything arise," Gregory said before closing the channel.

Mumbling something about throwing the Commodore into a creation engine, Lancar sent a message to the two battleships, informing them of their new mission.

Within ten minutes, two large battleships of the same class as the Solon pulled away from Orbital Station #11 and activated their gravitic warp engines.

This was beginning to get interesting for the ADF.