NationStates Jolt Archive

***The valleys of the Divine Kingdom 2879***


The air was cold, very cold as it always was in the DVKT, the surface being not but a sheet of ice. The huge column of the war monument eclipsed the ridges and crests, rising like a dark pillar into the night. A large crowd stood on a plateau overlooking an artificial plain of ice, a hundred square kilometers in size. The crowd wore the varied uniforms of Tannelorn and Grahfsberg silently awaiting the spectacle that was to follow. Amongst the assembled, someone spoke.


"So Piotr, is your new toy ever going to arrive, or is that idiot pilot of yours still too busy attempting to coerce some naive young girl in to something undignified" Major Kourian Clearwater snorted, his fine Elven features contorted in Disgust at the wizened scientist. " I assure you he is well on his way, Kourian, however I would not be so quick to insult him, after all he is a brave soldier and that alone should grant him at the very least your courtesy" Piotr's eyes never left the Major. 'This demonstration is a farce', Piotr thought to himself. 'Without us, the DVKT would never be able to transport an army let alone design a Fighter craft. What made them change their minds now'.


Suddenly a light could be seen high in the sky, dropping from space in a tail slap maneuver, Johann Schneiders Morgenreate MKIII cleared the tower and in the backflipping motion of transormation, landed in its main, humanoid form. Coasting on jets of superheated air, it slid up like a skater to the crowd, stopping just before them. Its sleek angular form, like an angel girded in armour of steel and ice. "Greetings friends and countrymen, it is an honour to be here today, to serve the King in my most humble way" the booming loudspeaker of the Morgenreate stated with flourish. As quickly as he moved in, the Morgenreate jumped up and fliped over once again moving in to high speed mode and zooming off around the tower, in a holding position, awaiting what was to come next.


"So the Antimatter Engine improved the power efficiency ten fold did it not, what about the weapon systems" Major Kourian Stated matter of factly. "Defence ring one through twelve anti-air systems open fire on Automatic, all crews leave the areas, Piotr, here is where we see how well your new toy fares" The major laughed, Piotr, realising what was about to happen opened his mouth to say something, as suddenly the variant cannons on the side of the tower opened fire. Streaming plasma, steel and hardened plastic in to the cold night air, aiming for the Morgenreate that was moments before, flying casually around the tower.

The Morgenreate increased speed suddenly going to near mach 12 before switching forms in a turning manever, Johann guided his craft back towards the Tower, flipping and moving about like a dancer in the air, avoiding shot after shot, with delicate precise movements, Suddenly the main body opened hundreds of tiny hatches as it unleashed a volley of missiles, to mask his true intentions. He swung to the side coming up alongside the tower and the hundreds of guns aimed at his craft. Moments before the missiles impacted they were shot down. Weaving out of the interference Johann armed the twin plasma cannons that made up the arms of the Morgenreate and opened fire, moving alongside the defense, each shot taking out a turret. As the craft moved in closer, the tips of the guns shifted, the Plasma weaponry focused in to ten meter lances of molten gas.


From the ground the spectacle was breath taking, The small craft managed to evade every shot directed towards it, the improved speed and power of the new morgenreate units was proving more then a match for the anti fighter defenses of the Sky Fortress. Or at least...this small concentration of them.
"Excellent, then it shall be a worthy show. Order your pilot to stand down, Piotr, the real spectacle is about to begin." Kourian said, with a wry smile on his lips.


As suddenly as it began, the fire stopped. Johann guided his craft down once again, in front of the spectators. "I hope that my prowess pleased you my lord" Johann said, kneeling his Morgenreate in the fashion of the Tannelorn salute.
"That it did" Major Kourian replied, Piotr only nodded, the rest of the entourage stayed quietly monitoring data from the experiments. "But as you know, this was to be a demonstration of new weapons technologies and equipment, and of course it would be wrong of DVK to not introduce its own units to the field, and put them through a proper test" Kourian was grinning now, and looking towards a slightly shifting point on the field, slowly but surely the ice in a 30 metre square area was liquifying...with no sign of heat.

Piotr's eyes followed Kourians to the point on the field, then he gasped astonished at what he was seeing. "The ground...what have you...those were put away Kourian and for good reason they could not be controlled!!!" Piotr was in a panic...remembering the Dragon program a look of horror crossed his face. "Oh, that is true, but many of the technologies gained therein are most useful to our lord, after all if you were to be unable to aid us, how would we defend ourselves from an enemy fleet, when even Sky fortress cannot be counted on?" Kourian grinned savagely at Piotr.


Suddenly a form slipped out of the water jumping straight out on to the ice, leaving huge imprints where it landed. It stood over 15 meters tall, a massive armoured figure, with the characteristic 8 slender, back mounted wings of the Dragon series. The Demp Generator crackling with electrical discharges. The very ice beneath its massive feet bucked and heaved as reality broke and reformed over and over. Piotr stood in open mouthed awe. The figure appeared to resemble a knight of Tannelorn, though much larger, and more streamlined.

****

Johann gazed at the newcomer, mouth dropping in horror at what he saw. Having tested the original Dragon series prototype, he immediately recognised the Demp generator. uh oh he thought to himself. Before he could respond the newcomer took off, fast very, very fast, straight up in to the air. As the beast moved out of visual range it seemed to beckon Johann to follow. Not wishing to be rude, Johann boosted up and switched to high speed mode in an effort to follow, massive plumes of plasma billowing behind his craft as he engaged the transat system.


Piotr was sweating now in his pressure suit, the implications of this test meant one of two things, first that somehow his counterparts in the DVKT had managed to reverse engineer the Dragon program, or simply put had masked it in a shell. He prayed for the former to be true. "So Piotr, so confident to place your guilders now?" Kourian sneered at Piotr. "If you werent so arrogant you would know that the Demp generators are highly unstable and capable of producing far more energy then would ever be required, nor safely contained!" Piotr stated. "Or perhaps the common rabble that comprises what you call an institute of science lacked the foresight to see a need to control your toys. This unit has an inhibitor, limiting the amount of power output." Kourian replied, laughing at Piotr now. "Of course you would never imagine such an idea, being low born yourself... you have no idea of the complexities of rule, be it over man, beast country or even machine." Piotr seethed at his words but stayed quiet. This was fast becoming a more tense situation then he had at first realised...


The pilot of the massive machine grinned woflishly, watching the fast approaching blip on his monitors, ignoring the continual achtung, of the warning klaxons, he watched him. too slow he thought for a moment, then quickly shifted direction, moving first from a rapid climb, then in to a dive, arms spread as if in welcome. Johann realising to late what had happened, quickly fired his maneuver verniers to evade him, not slowing to pursue he continued up, hoping to break the atmosphere, where he would surely have the advantage against the martian born DVKT pilot opposing him. He was wrong...as suddenly as it had rushed past, the monster climbed again, arms folding over legs coming together as it engaged its transat system, rocketing far past Johanns Morgenreate MKIII.
that answers that question Johann thought to himself, feeling the gravity generator in the cabin take over and the pull return, signifying that he was in free fall. He quickly shifted to primary mode and looked towards the last position of his foe. Had he been any other pilot, he might not have detected the warning chime till it was too late, as it was he barely had time to roll to the side as his enemy rushed past him, switching back to the form he witnessed slip out of the ice on the surface below. The two machines faced each other scant kilometer's apart...the DVKT machine saluted him before the tell tale power build up signified the beginning of his attack.....


Piotr scanned for a way out, Kourian had a large amount of soldiers, not just soldiers but knights of the first house of Tannelorn with him. Piotr started to see this for what it truly was...a trap. A way to rob grahfsberg of its greatest scientist and its newest model Morgenreate, but for what reason. Piotr scanned todays conversations a few times in his head, allowing his cognitive enhancements to pick out the fine details which might otherwise be lost. Kourian is usually an arrogant, buffoon, but at least he is normally respectful Piotr thought to himself. This sudden change is most unlike even him...perhaps....NO! Piotr turned around with a gasp, Kourian loomed over him. "Well now Piotr i must say it has been fun to converse with such a lowborn scum as yourself once more, but i am afraid time for games is over. My orders were to dispose of you sooner...but seeing the look on your face when I surpassed your greatest creations, was well worth it. Farewell." Piotr looked down to Kourians hands, seeing the Antique revolver...Piotr slumped in defeat, as kourian fired the pistol in to his chest. He saw Kourian laughing manically, as the world turned to black.


Through the hail of missiles and energy beams the monster advanced on Johann's morgenreate, Flying straight through the attacks, johann watched in horror as missiles fizzled out and beams bent out of shape on the field surrounding the beast. Weaving and dodging with all his skill he attempted to get away from the thing, but to no avail...it was simply too fast. Suddenly his comm system crackled to life. "Johann. its been a long time hasnt it." a familiar voice hissed over the vox. "who are....Gilean? we thought you were dead, gone with the stolen dragon..what happened? why are you flying that monstrosity." Johann replied voice frantic and full of emotion at hearing the words of his long lost friend.
"That which cant be understood often causes fear in those without the will to succeed." Gilean stated. "I do not understand!" Johann cried out. "Why dont we take this somewhere else then johann. After all it would do us no good to have others interfere in our reunion."

Suddenly Johann understood what he had meant by that comment, his sensors detected several squadrons of DVKT morgenreate ones proceeding directly towards their position. "Why not reconvene in say....the Ahtowa chasm." Johann did not need to see Gileans face to tell he was grinning, as he always did before a great battle. "Ahtowa Chasm...in Auman, what business would we have there?" Johann replied. "Old business" Gilean stated then switched off his comms. Johann watched as his beast switched forms once more and rocketed to the planet below. Johann new his old friend would be waiting for him, as he cut gravitic motors, his machine emulated his motions, arms folded across his chest, as he lets Mars gravity take hold and pull him slowly towards it....

****

Setting down gently in the hard soil of the Ahtowa chasm, Johann surveyed the area. A wide deep trench was partially obscured in a hail of sand, lending an eerie atmosphere to the area. Johann checked his sensors for any sign of Gileans craft. He was frightened, the beast he saw was a byproduct of the Dragon program.
This could mean only one thing, if it had a Demp generator, no fancy gadgets installed in his new Morgenroete would hope to give him a fighting chance. Even with anti gravity units designed to reduce wieght and pull, and an experimental mini antimatter reactor, he didnt stand a chance. The Dragons drew their energy directly from a dimension above our own pulling in vast amounts of power which they could bend and shape at their will. The laws of physics were not a burden to these Dragons, and indeed they were dragons. The creations were alive, and could act on their own. Unfortunately though they may be crewed, they had self will, and behaved like petulant 2 year olds throwing a tantrum at a store. One day they started to move on their own, without having been activated for the day. One of them had even escaped and had not been tracked down. Grudgingly, King Alberecht II allowed the Grahfsberg colonies to destroy them. However, it appeared that the failure of the dragon program was not a deterrent to Kourian Malek, the Elven head of King Alberechts court Science club. Whether it was placed in a true dragon, or manufactured frame...the Demp generator gave the ghastly machine unmatched power and speed.


Suddenly Johann's vox chattered to life. "Johann" the Gilean drawled.
"If you give up now, and turn over the machine i will spare you." he stated flatly.
Johann did not respond. "My Katzbalger will tear that delicate little thing apart before you can engage your engines. You know this...now surrender"
Johann responded. The machine used a similiar comm system to his own...which could be tracked. Johann turned the machine around quickly on its feet, then fired a salvo of missiles. They disapeared in the storm, then seconds later orange glows signified they hit something. Suddenly a shape loomed out of the gloom at Johann's morgenroete. Caught unawares Johann avoided most of the blow, a high speed shoulder tackle, but was caught in the side, his morgenroete was flung a great distance. Luckily he had enabled the gravitic drive before impact. He engaged the engines and started to circle his target, all weapons locked on to the nightmare shadow in the dust. Before he could fire, Gileans katzbalger stepped out of the storm, directly behind Johann's craft. He Grabbed on to Johann's morgenroete by the head, the crafts gravity suspensors, combined with the Demp drive made it an effortless affair for the katzbalger. "You have one more chance." Gilean said. "Why are you doing this, what is this about Gilean, have you gone mad!" Johann said his voice tinged with panic. "No, it is you and those of Grahfsberg who have gone mad. You simply have no respect for chain of command, priviledge of birth or the King himself. And you tell me i am mad?" Gilean spat out the last words. Then he laughed, a deep booming laugh tinged with madness. "Johann why do i do this? because i can, because it is what i will." Gilean paused for a long time. Johann took a chance. He engaged throttal to full power and boosted up. Gilean simply let go and came after him, faster then anything Johann had ever had to face before. Dropping power Johann allowed his morgenroete to drop slightly then lift on its own, using nothing but the antigravitc motors to dodge out of the way of the katzbalger. Gilean pursued, attempting to prove his point and get a hold of Johann's ship. Johann knew he couldnt win and that he couldnt run, so he turned on the katzbalger firing every missile left in his craft as it charged him again. So close they didnt even arm themselves, Gilean was momentarily slowed by the attack. By then Johann had floated the morgenroete on to its back before changing modes.The torso flipped up to form the nose section, the arms locked tothe sides, forearms extended like miniature wings as the legs formed two massive thrusters. Suddenly his craft sped off down the canyon, flying just above it. His craft accelerated at speeds quicker then any normal morgenroete could hope to match, but he knew it wasnt enough to outrun the katzbalger.....

***The divine Kingdom on Mars***

It was 1700 hours in the Naval trooper DVK honour guards mess hall. Soldiers lay about, bored as most often were when stationed on mars. This place lacked the excitement the near superhuman special forces/longrange patrol and security specialists were used to. Most of them hadnt even been in orbit in months and the sudden cut off of training imposed by 4th Space lord Verner Stein, was devastating to the 3rd 5th and 6th battalions of the 2nd Naval Trooper division. To simply know the rest of the men were at least doing something, was galling to the men so used to action. Most of the time Naval troopers rescued stranded ships far from any berths, tracked down smugglers and pirates and escorted shipping and lost ships to base. While not as exciting as a full blown war. It wasnt as dangerous either and the sudden change to drilling and parading being the main tests of your mettle, did not sit well with the troops. "I hear they ran out of money for us here, so they are simply ignoring us" a voice said. "Thats stupid we all know its because of that stunt Majour Barizov pulled on that Noblemans daughters." another replied. The room fell silent as Majour Barizov entered the room escorted by his two aids and his small group of first comrades. "Men something is going on. I am ordering us to move out and finish our term early. Either they lost our supplies and wont admit it, or simply dont want to pay for three more battalions." he stopped for a moment surveying the looks on the faces of his troops. "Either way we have to return to the colonies for rearm and re-equip before returning." he grinned as he always did, when he was expecting combat. The men looked excited enough of course, they expected to be allowed to leave without much fuss. And Barizov was beginning to have serious doubts.

****

It appeared to Johann that he may actually have lost Gilean. Of course Johann wasnt that stupid. Though Gilean had been allegedly slain in an accident during the dragon program, it appeared that was not the case. Suddenly his proximity sensors woke him from his reverie as they picked up an object directly above him. Having realised what was about to happen Johann reacted. As the massive Katzbalger switched effortlessly to humanoid form, a mighty feat for a craft which had more in common with the old Alpha fighters, then the modern high maneuver frame, it descended upon the helpless morgenroete. Johann reverted to high maneuver mode but not fast enough. Gileans craft plowed in to him, grabbing hold of it and pushing it towards the canyon floor. Johann struggled to escape, managing to turn around as Gilean suddenly kicked off, sending it hurtling in to the canyon floor.


In a maneuver that would be impossible for an unaugmented human to survive, Johann managed to spin his ship around, activating the massive thrusters in his feet as he put the anti grav generators to full power and beyond, he tumbled across the canyon floor, before regaining altitude. Battered, but holding together surprisingly well, Johann's craft turned on the approaching katzbalger, activating the secondary plasma weaponry in the arms of his morgenroete. Gilean came at him head on, activating the maneuver verniers, and extending the right arm of his craft, sent him gracefully twirling around behind Gilean's beast. Johann suddenly sprang at the Katzbalger, but rather then swiping with the tongues of bluish white fire. he kicked off of Gilean's ship, and turned suddenly shifting in to high speed mode. He activated the transat system and went careening off at incredible velocities across the landscape...directly away from the territory of the Vascilian League..
This time however, Gilean did not pursue, simply floating his craft up as he watched Johann's craft disapear in the distance. And he smiled.



OOC this post Predates all events of the Hand that feeds and the soon to be made modern factbook. Its an important story piece for the Tannelornian histories, and as all my threads are being moved from Mars forums, I chose to place this for reference and entertainment. Expect one post a day.

It was 1700 hours in the Naval trooper DVK honour guards mess hall. Soldiers lay about, bored as most often were when stationed on mars. This place lacked the excitement the near superhuman special forces/longrange patrol and security specialists were used to. Most of them hadnt even been in orbit in months and the sudden cut off of training imposed by 4th Space lord Verner Stein, was devastating to the 3rd 5th and 6th battalions of the 2nd Naval Trooper division. To simply know the rest of the men were at least doing something, was galling to the men so used to action. Most of the time Naval troopers rescued stranded ships far from any berths, tracked down smugglers and pirates and escorted shipping and lost ships to base. While not as exciting as a full blown war. It wasnt as dangerous either and the sudden change to drilling and parading being the main tests of your mettle, did not sit well with the troops. "I hear they ran out of money for us here, so they are simply ignoring us" a voice said. "Thats stupid we all know its because of that stunt Majour Barizov pulled on that Noblemans daughters." another replied. The room fell silent as Majour Barizov entered the room escorted by his two aids and his small group of first comrades. "Men something is going on. I am ordering us to move out and finish our term early. Either they lost our supplies and wont admit it, or simply dont want to pay for three more battalions." he stopped for a moment surveying the looks on the faces of his troops. "Either way we have to return to the colonies for rearm and re-equip before returning." he grinned as he always did, when he was expecting combat. The men looked excited enough of course, they expected to be allowed to leave without much fuss. And Barizov was beginning to have serious doubts.

****

It appeared to Johann that he may actually have lost Gilean. Of course Johann wasnt that stupid. Though Gilean had been allegedly slain in an accident during the dragon program, it appeared that was not the case. Suddenly his proximity sensors woke him from his reverie as they picked up an object directly above him. Having realised what was about to happen Johann reacted. As the massive Katzbalger switched effortlessly to humanoid form, a mighty feat for a craft which had more in common with the old Alpha fighters, then the modern high maneuver frame, it descended upon the helpless morgenroete. Johann reverted to high maneuver mode but not fast enough. Gileans craft plowed in to him, grabbing hold of it and pushing it towards the canyon floor. Johann struggled to escape, managing to turn around as Gilean suddenly kicked off, sending it hurtling in to the canyon floor.


In a maneuver that would be impossible for an unaugmented human to survive, Johann managed to spin his ship around, activating the massive thrusters in his feet as he put the anti grav generators to full power and beyond, he tumbled across the canyon floor, before regaining altitude. Battered, but holding together surprisingly well, Johann's craft turned on the approaching katzbalger, activating the secondary plasma weaponry in the arms of his morgenroete. Gilean came at him head on, activating the maneuver verniers, and extending the right arm of his craft, sent him gracefully twirling around behind Gilean's beast. Johann suddenly sprang at the Katzbalger, but rather then swiping with the tongues of bluish white fire. he kicked off of Gilean's ship, and turned suddenly shifting in to high speed mode. He activated the transat system and went careening off at incredible velocities across the landscape...directly away from the territory of the Vascilian League..
This time however, Gilean did not pursue, simply floating his craft up as he watched Johann's craft disapear in the distance. And he smiled.

***

"Forgive us my lord but we are under direct instructions from the Grahf to prevent anyone from entering these facilities till daily training excercise's are over." the tall lanky Peasant-soldier stated with a drawl. Barizov's face twitched just beside his nose, with a motion so fast the other guards barely percieved it, the Major drove in the side of the soldiers head against the bulkhead with a dull, crunchy splat. The other guards panicked and tried to raise their Rifles, but before they could even cry out for help, they had been killed by the 40 men who accompanied Major Barizov. The other 2800 men were moving along in an orderly fashion down the cavernous hallways of the vast underground complex to the ship hangars, and their awaiting Lightning class transports. Unfortunately..their actions had been anticipated. Unarmed the men of the battalions started to move towards their ships as fast as they could, after automated defenses started tearing through them. Wounded were left behind, and the dead and dying screamed in agony, not even a pancracea to ease there pain and save them. What is going on!! thought the major as he opened the door to the hangars. Inside he saw something that made his jaw drop. Row upon row of peasant soldiers accompanied by the elite knights, girded in there giant power armour barred the way to the ships, holding the thin stretch of deck plate that led from the hangar storage to the main hangar facilities. Barizov's heart felt heavy. Realising the majourity of his men were moving as fast as they could towards the hangar, most likely being pursued by an equal or greater force, he ordered the men and women with him to move in quietly. Suddenly the main doors in the centre of the hangar bay started to open. The knights raised their hands and the peasant soldiers raised their Laser rifles to their shoulders. Laser's..they are armed for fighting us, they were expecting to fight with their own? what madness is this, have brothers truly turned against one another over petty issues and vendetta's? A Rush of soldiers poured very quickly in to the main corridor, quickly closing the ground between them and the soldiers. Surprised the body of near panicked men hesitated as the Knights lowered their hands and the soldiers fired their laser rifles, cutting down dozens of naval troopers.



"Remain brave, remain resolute men!" Barizov shouted jumping off the 50 foot overhang he and his men had taken positions on as he broke in to a run towards the enemy. Unarmed his men continued to move through first one man made it incapacitating 5 of the soldiers before being hacked down by a particularly gaudily dressed knight, then another made it and another. Before long the Naval troopers had killed most of the soldiers and some of the knights. Barizov jumped over a pile of bodies, and grabbed the gaudily dressed knights arm, as his blade was about to strike one of his men. Twisting his arm effortlessly the Major seized the knights Plasma blade and rested it from his hand. Dropping the weapon, he grabbed the knights helmed head and forcibly drove him in to his knee. Without the strength and durability granted by the Pancreas Novum inside of him, he most likely would have crushed his own knee. Instead he crushed the helmet of his foe, causing him to reel back, screaming in agony pawing feebly at his crushed faceplate. He looked around, seeing that the enemy had been completely vanquished. His men had appropriated the peasants weapons as they came on in a massed, suicidal charge and had turned them upon the peasants and knights, with cries of vengeance on their lips. Calming down the remaing troopers surveyed the situation. In less then 1 minute the 3rd 5th and 6th battalions had been reduced to less then 900 men. Barizov's command had been gutted. Normally the wounded would have presented no problems, the armour and regenerative abilities they possesed would have been more then enough to return them to a reasonable fighting strength. However the Lasers had maimed and sliced the unarmoured soldiers, presenting wounds which healed far slower then normal. having 900 fighting men and 1000 invalids will not make our escape easy the major thought. But he was a Naval trooper and did not doubt that he should at least try to save all those that could be saved. He ordered his men to gather the wounded and activate their vessels. They would be attempting to leave one of the most heavily fortified regions on the planet without permission, time was a luxury they could not afford...but they must at least try. The thrum of an anti gravity repulsor being activated notified the major that the Wellgunde was ready to depart. He strode towards the vessel confidently, he turned and spoke. "Alright men that was cake, now wasnt it...and that was the hard part, we will be in port charity by nightfall, and with it kegs of the finest spirits and heaps of the finest foods." His men cheered his words, but he knew that his boast would not change the inevitable fate of his men... which was most likely to be strewn across the landscape a few kilometres away from the hangar...


*****
The men of the 3rd, 5th, and 6th batallions mounted their vessels quickly and orderly. They armed themselves, then moved back out to the hangar deck, helping the wounded board the lightning transports that would take them to safety...or to their doom. "Major, the command codes are not responding, we cannot open the Hangar doors." one of his troopers grinned as he said the words. The Major grinned back. "All men aboard your ships, we ride for Grahfsberg!" he shouted across the hall. Though he didnt need to, the nano machines in his blood could synthesise a simple Throat ear communicator. The remaining troopers boarded the ships quickly and one by one they started to lift off. The hum of power capacitors could be heard as the massive Amp 90 maser cannons mounted on the front of the craft fixed their beams on the large hangar bay doors.


The doors first seemed to change colour, then consistency as they started to melt and slough off in heaps. Soon there was an opening large enough for the ships to pass through, and one by one they darted through, leaving their mountain prison at top speed. Seconds later Anti Air defences started to fire. At first ships were getting hit, taking damage..slowing. The AA found its range and started to take the ships down..but the Grahfsberg vessels were actually getting away. We are gonna make it Major Barizov grinned..then suddenly the ship shuddered, then groaned as a massive high energy ingelstung beam fired from above. A pure lance of death struck his vessel dead on. The Major didnt even have time to realise he was dead. Still it seemed as if many of the ships may just might make it to Auman...If the Sky Fortress didnt kill them first.


*****The Eastern Rim, Grahfsberg Frontier HQ

"Captain Cruz welcome to your new posting" the Space lord smiled warmly, extending his hand in friendship. The Captain took his hand and grasped it in the traditional greeting of Tannelorn. He stared in to the eyes of the space lord, his steely blue gaze staring straight through him. "This is your vessel, the Light of Truth." He smiled at him, the captain bowed graciously. "M'lord i shall take this honour in good stead, i shall serve the eagle as if my eternal soul depended upon it." he paused for breath. "Long live the Divine Celestial Kingdom of Tannelorn, long live the king," He looked up at the Space lord. He was a large man, burly with a large moustache. A large navy officers cap adorned his head, and his high collared tunic gave him an slightly comical appearance, as if his head was too small for his body. He grinned at Cruz. "Then young Captain, you shall have your first assignment." He looked down at him and pulled his ceremonial sword out of its sheathe. He touched it to Cruz shoulders, then placed it down. "As a knight of Tannelorn" he finished and handed Cruz a data slate. Cruz looked at it for some time, then he grinned, then started to chuckle..then laugh....

****
****The Eastern Frontier****

Within several hours of morning shift change, everything was different. In a few short hours those loyal to the King of Tannelorn, Richter Albericht had finished their "purge".

At 06:12 that very morning, Overlord Grahf Jan Alberecht had announced that the Grahfsberg were seperating from the Divine Celestial kingdom. He had cited many reasons why, but none more so then the Kings newest proclamation. The king had asked his loyal subjects for the heads of those who ran Grahfsberg, the head of his own brother.. his insanity was no apparent to all within the high command of Grahfsberg..it had long been suspected but never confirmed. Until this day.

Within minutes of the Grahf's proclamation, the defenders of the Eastern reaches acted. For months now, those loyal to the king had been marshalling their forces, pooling them together here, in the Eastern frontier. The largest most lawless track of space under the control of the Grahfsberg navy. The reason was soon apparent..thousands had died already and the promise of thousands more was to come. The first ship to return home from patrol was the Furious rebuttle. She hailed Ragnar station command..and awaited confimation, as she moved in to approach position. Suddenly she was torn apart as a dozen Loengren cannons locked on and fired..she hadnt even known what hit her.



The vessel was sliced in to a dozen pieces, each of which tumbled away burning, breaking up in secondary explosions, trailing blue fire along the dusky void, impacting on support columns asteroids and ships. The Space Lord laughed softly glorious he thought to himself as he watched the first of his loyal squadrons power off in to the night. The just shall always vanquish the wickedhe started to laugh more and more now unable to contain himself any longer. Soon he would be the Space Marshall of the Tannelornian navy, and those that he served would grovel at his feet. Things would soon be as they should, never again should those of noble birth be forced to serve those of lesser breeding, never again would a peasant wear the uniform of a Space Lord..

*********

****09:34 Eastern Frontier GTSS Sector command****

The battle of Agrippa


Several ships approached through the gloom. They identified themselves, Light of Truth, Herald, Trinity, Asclepios and the Pious Avenger of wrongs. 3 Sword class cruisers and 2 shield class carriers. that in itself would not be strange if not for certain facts.

"Commodore Montgrove 5 Ships approaching sir, GTSF vessels" a rating stated matter of factly in the command suite of the Minerva. The Minerva was one ofthe aging Ikazucki class carriers in use by the GTSS, it was a fine ship in her day and still was, no matter what the Techs said to the contrary. Its massive kilometer long hull practically shone in the dusky light of the asteroid field, its white and red hull blazing as it patrolled with a stately grace around the eastern frontier command base. Still the Commodore had noticed something was strange about the approaching vessels..he ordered a several squadrons of morgenreate I's to investigate and put the rest of his flight crews on alert. Something was strange..not quite right about this whole situation. GTSF vessels never patrolled in groups larger then 3..never..too many were needed to be able to do such a thing..yet here they were.


Several garfish moved in alongside the Minerva, within several thousand kilometers. Their captains too had sensed something wrong..as did sector command. However sector command didnt have enough time to act on it..as one 8 massive lances of energy tore through the large asteroid composing the first of the support habitations and hangars. Silently and slowly it seemed, they bore straight through the large rock..suddenly it started to decompress as huge rents were torn through her. The main hangar for 3 squadrons of Garfish police cruisers had in a few short moments, been blown to pieces..as likely were the ships and crews inside of it...before they could fire again the Minerva acted, she came about and aimed her Ingelstung directly for the lead vessel. The ship turned slowly in the gloom, massive power readings eminating from her forward section as the huge cannon finally charged up.


The Ikazucki class were reknowned for a slow charge up cycle on their ingelstung cannons. However as the Ingelstung mounted on and Ikazucki was fully twice the size of that on a Sword..it was understandable. The massive ship shuddered slightly as the massive forward section seemed to split in two, then move up to rest against the command tower. A massive sea of churning energy could be seen within the vessel, suddenly everything slowed as the massive blast tore out of the front of the ship, arching directly for the lead vessel. Light of Truth. The light of Truth moved in the distance, detecting the high energy blast long before it reached her. The ship evaded the blast without much difficulty..but that had not been the point.

Suddenly the first squadrons of Morgenreate I's had come upon the attacking vessels. Hundreds of contrails lighting up the night sky with their pale blue fire..they started to dance back and forth, explosions lighting up the night sky as the fighters fought each other in a graceful dance of death. The MK I's didnt stand a chance..but more and more came pouring in from adjacent sectors..and flight bays in ravaged sector command facility itself. Despite the superiority of their ships and equipment...these...loyalists.. had bitten off far more then they could chew..already several squadrons of garfish had closed on them, biting at them with their X ray laser turrets, the only weapon they had capable of making an impact on a Capital ship. They died in the night, slowly expanding balls of gas marking their passing as they attemped to engage the Navy vessels..still not all was lost..some of them were making it..and even more remarkably..some of them were having an effect...

Light of Truth suddenly powered past the attending escorts, engaging its Urenbeck catapult for a quick bust of speed then exited the field. She had done this to come alongside the Minerva, attempting to close with the massive carrier before she could
fire her ingelstung a second time. The sleek angled form of the Light of Truth was dwarfed by the massive blocky bulk of Minerva..but she was unbowed. Along her hull the recessed Maser batteries fired again and again, long 14 second bursts along Minervas hull..Minervas PBS crews desperately attemped to block the bursts, and her own gun crews fired back..carving deep grooves in each others hulls, opening them up to space as holes were punched deep in to her side. As large as she was..as heavily armoured as she was..she was no where near as well armed As Light of Truth. This alone would have proven the end of Minerva..but the Ikazuckis had originally served as massive fleet carriers..as the close range battle started to heat up..not tens, not dozens but hundreds of morgenreates started to flow out of the massive launch bays..and towards the Light of truth..

"Lieutenant Albericht report to the flight deck immediately, all morgenreates prepare for launch" the klaxon boomed, Sarya's personal message woke her from her slumber..grouchily she got up out of bed..and felt the impacts on the ship. She darted up getting dressed as quickly as she could and headed as fast as she could to hangar 12..where her Morgenreate was stowed. After a short but shaky trip she made it to the flight deck, her squadron was assembled and recieving their orders.

Sarya was the Grahf Alberichts distant niece, through marriage. And as such she had been granted the honour of serving in one of the GTSS's morgenreate II' combat squadrons. She had not simply been given this honour through birth however, but had been chosen for her abilities as a pilot, as well as her attributes. She marched over to the Het Captain of the ships squadrons as he gave his final speech. "And for our continued survival as a people, we must stand against the unjust and the wicked, for if our worst fears our realised we are all that stands between death and domination for those under our protection" The wizened old Elf grinned at Sarya "Glad you could make it up this morning, princess" he laughed softly. "My apologies m'lord i took a sleep well pill last night, i hadnt heard the alarms at first" she looked at her feet..swaying slightly as a child would after being scolded. The het Captain smiled. "Do not worry Sarya, you didnt miss anything much..you shall be in command of the screen for our divine bomber units, we shall cripple this bastard traitor or die trying...it is not just our lives at stake, but those of everyone aboard Minerva..everyone inside sector command..hell the whole damn sector" he finished..suddenly the ship was wrocked hard, Anti gravity compensators strained trying to keep everything inside the ship from shaking around too much.

The ship had been struck hard...Light of truth had obviously brought its Loengren to bear. The PBS crew had done their job however...they were still here. Sarya mounted her Morgenreate as quickly as she could. Time was now of the essence. The loyalists had brought plenty of their own fighter support along with them..and Sarya's
squadrons were desperately needed.

Sarya was angry..she had been woken up...WOKEN UPbecause some damn traitors thought they should listen to her crotchety, angry and obviously perpetually drunk uncle. Now why, she thought to herself, couldnt they listen to her goofy, slightly patronising, and obviously perpetually drunk uncle...then she could be back in bed, and back to sleep. But no she had to be out here shooting at her own country men, who obviously had no sense. She was breathing heavy and hard, as she always did when she was angry. Her Morgenreate at full burn as she zoomed over the surface of the Minerva, as she cleared it she could see the battle ahead of her..hundreds of morgenreate fought each other in a dizzying dance of death, darting to and fro, avoiding each others fire only to be smashed down by AA or random missile fire..still the battle looked good.


She glanced back at Minerva..then looked forward to her enemy. uh oh sh realised, things looked bad..very bad. She powered in ordering her squadron to follow her lead. The first thing she did was power past the enemy morgenreates before her..her shipmates had them covered..for now. The second thing she did was switch to high maneuver mode, landing gracefully on the hull, dancing around AA fire as she switched her plasma cannons to tight beam..she skated along the hull quickly passing her blades through AA positions, Sensor booms..ridges..anything she could as she carved a trail through them. Her squad mates followed her, their high speed attacks crippled the bow AA batteries..unfortunately this had brought the attention of the enemy..and dozens of Morgenreates moved in to the attack. She hardly had time to order her squad to prepare for battle as they started to die..


She turned her craft around to face the newcomers, her morgenreates sensor "head" staring straight at them with its single baleful blue eye. With a boost of power she lifted off from the vessel bidding several of her squadron to follow, she glanced at the sit-rep in her cockpit..bomber squadrons had made it in and were already targetting the loengren cannon,and starboard maser batteries. They were trying to give Minerva some breathing space. It worked. Small holes and tears were blasted through the hull of the Light of Truth..she broke off slowly, trying to cause as much damage as she could, her own morgenreate's moving to fend off the Minervas own craft.

Suddenly an enemy morgenreate filled her view screen..it was coming after her. Angrily she boosted in and parried its first clumsy swing with her own plasma blade, then sliced in an upward arc, her ship back flipping then switching to high maneuver mode as the enemy crumpled and floated motionlessly. A good hit..she had hit the pilot. She saw another of the enemy craft in front of her as she turned. She switched firing modes and layed a heavy burst of plasma in to its back, long blue bolts tracing from her craft, crashing in to it again and again. It seemed to falter then fall apart in a series of explosions. She could almost hear it scream as it died. she didnt care...she wanted to sleep. She was having a wonderful dream before reality came crashing in.


She had been in a rather undignified position with a certain Naval trooper pilot she had grown very fond of. He was just about ot do something rather undignified too then the klaxons woke her up. Perhaps if the Squadrons under the command of Captain Cruz had known this, they may have given her a wide berth..but still they kept coming. After all the niece of the traitor was a fine prize. She kept fighting in the whirling melee, thrusters firing, explosions blossoming in the night. It was chaos...no it was hell. She was so busy making every single one of those traitor bastards pay for interrupting her dream, she almost didnt notice the order to return to the hangar..it seemed the enemy vessels were pulling back and the enemy morgenreates were either all dead, or had returned to hangars. A few squadrons of Garfish that had harrassed the ships as they fled were the final casualties of the battle. 12 ships died as the enemy let loose one last hurrah. A full salvo of Antimatter warheads that lit up the night sky and covered their escape.

****Agrippa city 3 million kilometers from Eastern frontier GTSS command****

It was a normal day at Agrippa..normal enough anyways. Convoys of ships moved back and forth, squadrons of morgenreates patrolled. But something wasnt quite right. Earlier that morning the Grahf Jan albericht had made a large and rather lengthy speech..and not more then an hour later 25 war ships of the GTNF had moved in, and waited only a few hundred thousands of kilometers away. Now this in itself would have been normal in these circumstances..Except for the fact that they had launched morgenreates...in their thousands...and had started to attack the cities defenses. Of course the city had launched its own fighters in response..but that was not important right now. The fact the the GTSS had still not responded to distress calls was.

****

The city defenders were hard pressed to fight back. Before they could fire most of the heavy gun emplacements had been compromised. Morgenreates were everywhere, preventing launches, and destroying everything within reach. The traitor ships had held back, slowly and methodically destroying everything within reach of Agrippa city.


The battle didnt last long. The carriers of the GTSS and the ships of the navy didnt respond to Agrippa cities desperate pleas. Within 15 minutes the battle group moved in close, their shadows passing over the wreckage of the defenders..now little more then flotsam, floating upon a sea of stars. The lead ship of the group, the Force of Discipline slowed. Effortlesly it swiveled its massive loengren cannon towards the main bulk of Agrippa city.The massive cannon discharged its blinding white lance of death upon the city, carving a great groove in the rock. Equipment, furniture and people were blown out from a thousand breeches..then the ship fired several missiles. They zoomed towards the tears in the rock slipping inside. Suddenly the Traitor ships veered away from the city as a massive internal explosion gutted it, showering everything within reach with a hail of death...


The Secession war had begun.

"Forgive us my lord but we are under direct instructions from the Grahf to prevent anyone from entering these facilities till daily training excercise's are over." the tall lanky Peasant-soldier stated with a drawl. Barizov's face twitched just beside his nose, with a motion so fast the other guards barely percieved it, the Major drove in the side of the soldiers head against the bulkhead with a dull, crunchy splat. The other guards panicked and tried to raise their Rifles, but before they could even cry out for help, they had been killed by the 40 men who accompanied Major Barizov. The other 2800 men were moving along in an orderly fashion down the cavernous hallways of the vast underground complex to the ship hangars, and their awaiting Lightning class transports. Unfortunately..their actions had been anticipated.


Unarmed the men of the battalions started to move towards their ships as fast as they could, after automated defenses started tearing through them. Wounded were left behind, and the dead and dying screamed in agony, not even a pancracea to ease there pain and save them. What is going on!! thought the major as he opened the door to the hangars. Inside he saw something that made his jaw drop. Row upon row of peasant soldiers accompanied by the elite knights, girded in there giant power armour barred the way to the ships, holding the thin stretch of deck plate that led from the hangar storage to the main hangar facilities. Barizov's heart felt heavy. Realising the majourity of his men were moving as fast as they could towards the hangar, most likely being pursued by an equal or greater force, he ordered the men and women with him to move in quietly. Suddenly the main doors in the centre of the hangar bay started to open. The knights raised their hands and the peasant soldiers raised their Laser rifles to their shoulders. Laser's..they are armed for fighting us, they were expecting to fight with their own? what madness is this, have brothers truly turned against one another over petty issues and vendetta's? A Rush of soldiers poured very quickly in to the main corridor, quickly closing the ground between them and the soldiers. Surprised the body of near panicked men hesitated as the Knights lowered their hands and the soldiers fired their laser rifles, cutting down dozens of naval troopers.



"Remain brave, remain resolute men!" Barizov shouted jumping off the 50 foot overhang he and his men had taken positions on as he broke in to a run towards the enemy. Unarmed his men continued to move through first one man made it incapacitating 5 of the soldiers before being hacked down by a particularly gaudily dressed knight, then another made it and another. Before long the Naval troopers had killed most of the soldiers and some of the knights. Barizov jumped over a pile of bodies, and grabbed the gaudily dressed knights arm, as his blade was about to strike one of his men. Twisting his arm effortlessly the Major seized the knights Plasma blade and rested it from his hand. Dropping the weapon, he grabbed the knights helmed head and forcibly drove him in to his knee. Without the strength and durability granted by the Pancreas Novum inside of him, he most likely would have crushed his own knee. Instead he crushed the helmet of his foe, causing him to reel back, screaming in agony pawing feebly at his crushed faceplate. He looked around, seeing that the enemy had been completely vanquished. His men had appropriated the peasants weapons as they came on in a massed, suicidal charge and had turned them upon the peasants and knights, with cries of vengeance on their lips.


Calming down the remaing troopers surveyed the situation. In less then 1 minute the 3rd 5th and 6th battalions had been reduced to less then 900 men. Barizov's command had been gutted. Normally the wounded would have presented no problems, the armour and regenerative abilities they possesed would have been more then enough to return them to a reasonable fighting strength. However the Lasers had maimed and sliced the unarmoured soldiers, presenting wounds which healed far slower then normal. having 900 fighting men and 1000 invalids will not make our escape easy the major thought. But he was a Naval trooper and did not doubt that he should at least try to save all those that could be saved. He ordered his men to gather the wounded and activate their vessels. They would be attempting to leave one of the most heavily fortified regions on the planet without permission, time was a luxury they could not afford...but they must at least try. The thrum of an anti gravity repulsor being activated notified the major that the Wellgunde was ready to depart. He strode towards the vessel confidently, he turned and spoke. "Alright men that was cake, now wasnt it...and that was the hard part, we will be in port charity by nightfall, and with it kegs of the finest spirits and heaps of the finest foods." His men cheered his words, but he knew that his boast would not change the inevitable fate of his men... which was most likely to be strewn across the landscape a few kilometres away from the hangar...


*****

The men of the 3rd, 5th, and 6th batallions mounted their vessels quickly and orderly. They armed themselves, then moved back out to the hangar deck, helping the wounded board the lightning transports that would take them to safety...or to their doom. "Major, the command codes are not responding, we cannot open the Hangar doors." one of his troopers grinned as he said the words. The Major grinned back. "All men aboard your ships, we ride for Grahfsberg!" he shouted across the hall. Though he didnt need to, the nano machines in his blood could synthesise a simple Throat ear communicator. The remaining troopers boarded the ships quickly and one by one they started to lift off. The hum of power capacitors could be heard as the massive Amp 90 maser cannons mounted on the front of the craft fixed their beams on the large hangar bay doors.


The doors first seemed to change colour, then consistency as they started to melt and slough off in heaps. Soon there was an opening large enough for the ships to pass through, and one by one they darted through, leaving their mountain prison at top speed. Seconds later Anti Air defences started to fire. At first ships were getting hit, taking damage..slowing. The AA found its range and started to take the ships down..but the Grahfsberg vessels were actually getting away. We are gonna make it Major Barizov grinned..then suddenly the ship shuddered, then groaned as a massive high energy ingelstung beam fired from above. A pure lance of death struck his vessel dead on. The Major didnt even have time to realise he was dead. Still it seemed as if many of the ships may just might make it to Auman...If the Sky Fortress didnt kill them first.


*****The Eastern Rim, Grahfsberg Frontier HQ

"Captain Cruz welcome to your new posting" the Space lord smiled warmly, extending his hand in friendship. The Captain took his hand and grasped it in the traditional greeting of Tannelorn. He stared in to the eyes of the space lord, his steely blue gaze staring straight through him. "This is your vessel, the Light of Truth." He smiled at him, the captain bowed graciously. "M'lord i shall take this honour in good stead, i shall serve the eagle as if my eternal soul depended upon it." he paused for breath. "Long live the Divine Celestial Kingdom of Tannelorn, long live the king," He looked up at the Space lord. He was a large man, burly with a large moustache. A large navy officers cap adorned his head, and his high collared tunic gave him an slightly comical appearance, as if his head was too small for his body. He grinned at Cruz. "Then young Captain, you shall have your first assignment." He looked down at him and pulled his ceremonial sword out of its sheathe. He touched it to Cruz shoulders, then placed it down. "As a knight of Tannelorn" he finished and handed Cruz a data slate. Cruz looked at it for some time, then he grinned, then started to chuckle..then laugh....


****The Eastern Frontier****

Within several hours of morning shift change, everything was different. In a few short hours those loyal to the King of Tannelorn, Richter Albericht had finished their "purge".

At 06:12 that very morning, Overlord Grahf Jan Alberecht had announced that the Grahfsberg were seperating from the Divine Celestial kingdom. He had cited many reasons why, but none more so then the Kings newest proclamation. The king had asked his loyal subjects for the heads of those who ran Grahfsberg, the head of his own brother.. The corruption of his servants and advisors was now apparent to all within the high command of Grahfsberg..it had long been suspected but never confirmed. Until this day, none had realised the true trust and faith Richter had placed in his advisors and nobles, the same people who believed all men and women of tannelorn should be serfs under their rule.

Within minutes of the Grahf's proclamation, the defenders of the Eastern reaches acted. For months now, those loyal to the king had been marshalling their forces, pooling them together here, in the Eastern frontier. The largest most lawless track of space under the control of the Grahfsberg navy. The reason was soon apparent..thousands had died already and the promise of thousands more was to come. The first ship to return home from patrol was the Furious rebuttle. She hailed Ragnar station command..and awaited confimation, as she moved in to approach position. Suddenly she was torn apart as a dozen Loengren cannons locked on and fired..she hadnt even known what hit her.



The vessel was sliced in to a dozen pieces, each of which tumbled away burning, breaking up in secondary explosions, trailing blue fire along the dusky void, impacting on support columns asteroids and ships. The Space Lord laughed softly glorious he thought to himself as he watched the first of his loyal squadrons power off in to the night. The just shall always vanquish the wickedhe started to laugh more and more now unable to contain himself any longer. Soon he would be the Space Marshall of the Tannelornian navy, and those that he served would grovel at his feet. Things would soon be as they should, never again should those of noble birth be forced to serve those of lesser breeding, never again would a peasant wear the uniform of a Space Lord..

****09:34 Eastern Frontier GTSS Sector command****

The battle of Agrippa


Several ships approached through the gloom. They identified themselves, Light of Truth, Herald, Trinity, Asclepios and the Pious Avenger of wrongs. 3 Sword class cruisers and 2 shield class carriers. that in itself would not be strange if not for certain facts.

"Commodore Montgrove 5 Ships approaching sir, GTSF vessels" a rating stated matter of factly in the command suite of the Minerva. The Minerva was one ofthe aging Ikazucki class carriers in use by the GTSS, it was a fine ship in her day and still was, no matter what the Techs said to the contrary. Its massive kilometer long hull practically shone in the dusky light of the asteroid field, its white and red hull blazing as it patrolled with a stately grace around the eastern frontier command base. Still the Commodore had noticed something was strange about the approaching vessels..he ordered a several squadrons of morgenreate I's to investigate and put the rest of his flight crews on alert. Something was strange..not quite right about this whole situation. GTSF vessels never patrolled in groups larger then 3..never..too many were needed to be able to do such a thing..yet here they were.


Several garfish moved in alongside the Minerva, within several thousand kilometers. Their captains too had sensed something wrong..as did sector command. However sector command didnt have enough time to act on it..as one 8 massive lances of energy tore through the large asteroid composing the first of the support habitations and hangars. Silently and slowly it seemed, they bore straight through the large rock..suddenly it started to decompress as huge rents were torn through her. The main hangar for 3 squadrons of Garfish police cruisers had in a few short moments, been blown to pieces..as likely were the ships and crews inside of it...before they could fire again the Minerva acted, she came about and aimed her Ingelstung directly for the lead vessel. The ship turned slowly in the gloom, massive power readings eminating from her forward section as the huge cannon finally charged up.


The Ikazucki class were reknowned for a slow charge up cycle on their ingelstung cannons. However as the Ingelstung mounted on and Ikazucki was fully twice the size of that on a Sword..it was understandable. The massive ship shuddered slightly as the massive forward section seemed to split in two, then move up to rest against the command tower. A massive sea of churning energy could be seen within the vessel, suddenly everything slowed as the massive blast tore out of the front of the ship, arching directly for the lead vessel. Light of Truth. The light of Truth moved in the distance, detecting the high energy blast long before it reached her. The ship evaded the blast without much difficulty..but that had not been the point.

Suddenly the first squadrons of Morgenreate I's had come upon the attacking vessels. Hundreds of contrails lighting up the night sky with their pale blue fire..they started to dance back and forth, explosions lighting up the night sky as the fighters fought each other in a graceful dance of death. The MK I's didnt stand a chance..but more and more came pouring in from adjacent sectors..and flight bays in ravaged sector command facility itself. Despite the superiority of their ships and equipment...these...loyalists.. had bitten off far more then they could chew..already several squadrons of garfish had closed on them, biting at them with their X ray laser turrets, the only weapon they had capable of making an impact on a Capital ship. They died in the night, slowly expanding balls of gas marking their passing as they attemped to engage the Navy vessels..still not all was lost..some of them were making it..and even more remarkably..some of them were having an effect...

Light of Truth suddenly powered past the attending escorts, engaging its Urenbeck catapult for a quick bust of speed then exited the field. She had done this to come alongside the Minerva, attempting to close with the massive carrier before she could fire her ingelstung a second time. The sleek angled form of the Light of Truth was dwarfed by the massive blocky bulk of Minerva..but she was unbowed. Along her hull the recessed Maser batteries fired again and again, long 14 second bursts along Minervas hull..Minervas PBS crews desperately attemped to block the bursts, and her own gun crews fired back..carving deep grooves in each others hulls, opening them up to space as holes were punched deep in to her side. As large as she was..as heavily armoured as she was..she was no where near as well armed As Light of Truth. This alone would have proven the end of Minerva..but the Ikazuckis had originally served as massive fleet carriers..as the close range battle started to heat up..not tens, not dozens but hundreds of morgenreates started to flow out of the massive launch bays..and towards the Light of truth..

"Lieutenant Albericht report to the flight deck immediately, all morgenreates prepare for launch" the klaxon boomed, Sarya's personal message woke her from her slumber..grouchily she got up out of bed..and felt the impacts on the ship. She darted up getting dressed as quickly as she could and headed as fast as she could to hangar 12..where her Morgenreate was stowed. After a short but shaky trip she made it to the flight deck, her squadron was assembled and recieving their orders.

Sarya was the Grahf Alberichts distant niece, through marriage. And as such she had been granted the honour of serving in one of the GTSS's morgenreate II' combat squadrons. She had not simply been given this honour through birth however, but had been chosen for her abilities as a pilot, as well as her attributes. She marched over to the Het Captain of the ships squadrons as he gave his final speech. "And for our continued survival as a people, we must stand against the unjust and the wicked, for if our worst fears our realised we are all that stands between death and domination for those under our protection" The wizened old Elf grinned at Sarya "Glad you could make it up this morning, princess" he laughed softly. "My apologies m'lord i took a sleep well pill last night, i hadnt heard the alarms at first" she looked at her feet..swaying slightly as a child would after being scolded. The het Captain smiled. "Do not worry Sarya, you didnt miss anything much..you shall be in command of the screen for our divine bomber units, we shall cripple this bastard traitor or die trying...it is not just our lives at stake, but those of everyone aboard Minerva..everyone inside sector command..hell the whole damn sector" he finished..suddenly the ship was wrocked hard, Anti gravity compensators strained trying to keep everything inside the ship from shaking around too much.

The ship had been struck hard...Light of truth had obviously brought its Loengren to bear. The PBS crew had done their job however...they were still here. Sarya mounted her Morgenreate as quickly as she could. Time was now of the essence. The loyalists had brought plenty of their own fighter support along with them..and Sarya's
squadrons were desperately needed.

Sarya was angry..she had been woken up...WOKEN UPbecause some damn traitors thought they should listen to her crotchety, angry and obviously perpetually drunk uncle. Now why, she thought to herself, couldnt they listen to her goofy, slightly patronising, and obviously perpetually drunk uncle...then she could be back in bed, and back to sleep. But no she had to be out here shooting at her own country men, who obviously had no sense. She was breathing heavy and hard, as she always did when she was angry. Her Morgenreate at full burn as she zoomed over the surface of the Minerva, as she cleared it she could see the battle ahead of her..hundreds of morgenreate fought each other in a dizzying dance of death, darting to and fro, avoiding each others fire only to be smashed down by AA or random missile fire..still the battle looked good.


She glanced back at Minerva..then looked forward to her enemy. uh oh sh realised, things looked bad..very bad. She powered in ordering her squadron to follow her lead. The first thing she did was power past the enemy morgenreates before her..her shipmates had them covered..for now. The second thing she did was switch to high maneuver mode, landing gracefully on the hull, dancing around AA fire as she switched her plasma cannons to tight beam..she skated along the hull quickly passing her blades through AA positions, Sensor booms..ridges..anything she could as she carved a trail through them. Her squad mates followed her, their high speed attacks crippled the bow AA batteries..unfortunately this had brought the attention of the enemy..and dozens of Morgenreates moved in to the attack. She hardly had time to order her squad to prepare for battle as they started to die..


She turned her craft around to face the newcomers, her morgenreates sensor "head" staring straight at them with its single baleful blue eye. With a boost of power she lifted off from the vessel bidding several of her squadron to follow, she glanced at the sit-rep in her cockpit..bomber squadrons had made it in and were already targetting the loengren cannon,and starboard maser batteries. They were trying to give Minerva some breathing space. It worked. Small holes and tears were blasted through the hull of the Light of Truth..she broke off slowly, trying to cause as much damage as she could, her own morgenreate's moving to fend off the Minervas own craft.

Suddenly an enemy morgenreate filled her view screen..it was coming after her. Angrily she boosted in and parried its first clumsy swing with her own plasma blade, then sliced in an upward arc, her ship back flipping then switching to high maneuver mode as the enemy crumpled and floated motionlessly. A good hit..she had hit the pilot. She saw another of the enemy craft in front of her as she turned. She switched firing modes and layed a heavy burst of plasma in to its back, long blue bolts tracing from her craft, crashing in to it again and again. It seemed to falter then fall apart in a series of explosions. She could almost hear it scream as it died. she didnt care...she wanted to sleep. She was having a wonderful dream before reality came crashing in.


She had been in a rather undignified position with a certain Naval trooper pilot she had grown very fond of. He was just about ot do something rather undignified too then the klaxons woke her up. Perhaps if the Squadrons under the command of Captain Cruz had known this, they may have given her a wide berth..but still they kept coming. After all the niece of the traitor was a fine prize. She kept fighting in the whirling melee, thrusters firing, explosions blossoming in the night. It was chaos...no it was hell. She was so busy making every single one of those traitor bastards pay for interrupting her dream, she almost didnt notice the order to return to the hangar..it seemed the enemy vessels were pulling back and the enemy morgenreates were either all dead, or had returned to hangars. A few squadrons of Garfish that had harrassed the ships as they fled were the final casualties of the battle. 12 ships died as the enemy let loose one last hurrah. A full salvo of Antimatter warheads that lit up the night sky and covered their escape.

***Agrippa city 3 million kilometers from Eastern frontier GTSS command***

It was a normal day at Agrippa..normal enough anyways. Convoys of ships moved back and forth, squadrons of morgenreates patrolled. But something wasnt quite right. Earlier that morning the Grahf Jan albericht had made a large and rather lengthy speech..and not more then an hour later 25 war ships of the GTNF had moved in, and waited only a few hundred thousands of kilometers away. Now this in itself would have been normal in these circumstances..Except for the fact that they had launched morgenreates...in their thousands...and had started to attack the cities defenses. Of course the city had launched its own fighters in response..but that was not important right now. The fact the the GTSS had still not responded to distress calls was.

****Agrippa dies***

The city defenders were hard pressed to fight back. Before they could fire most of the heavy gun emplacements had been compromised. Morgenreates were everywhere, preventing launches, and destroying everything within reach. The traitor ships had held back, slowly and methodically destroying everything within reach of Agrippa city.


The battle didnt last long. The carriers of the GTSS and the ships of the navy didnt respond to Agrippa cities desperate pleas. Within 15 minutes the battle group moved in close, their shadows passing over the wreckage of the defenders..now little more then flotsam, floating upon a sea of stars. The lead ship of the group, the Force of Discipline slowed. Effortlesly it swiveled its massive loengren cannon towards the main bulk of Agrippa city.The massive cannon discharged its blinding white lance of death upon the city, carving a great groove in the rock. Equipment, furniture and people were blown out from a thousand breeches..then the ship fired several missiles. They zoomed towards the tears in the rock slipping inside. The Traitor ships veered away from the city as a massive internal explosion gutted it, showering everything within reach with a hail of death...


The Secession war had begun.

****

Day 1 closes


Grahf Jan Alberecht had calmly risen from his quarters and walked towards strat-net compound 1 when he heard the news of Agrippa's fate. He had stayed silent for a long time as the media projectors had been brought on line. "My Tannelornians, my precious wards, i have failed you today." He looked down. "I did not see the seed of darkness in our midst and in my arrogance i had trusted the King of Divine kingdom on mars to not be so foolish as he was." he looked in to the cameras, his fine features contorted in despair and his long black hair lay flat against his shoulder in a pony tail. "The lord of the Eastern reaches has declared our secession from the Divine kingdom on mars illegal, and has declared war upon me" he waited a few moments. "Now if there are those who see me unfit, perhaps that is true but the mandate of heaven shall show us who is truly right, and who is truly wrong." He smiled and grinned. "There can be only one side, one ideology, and the one which is right shall be blessed by the divine through adversity and prosperity." the mandate of heaven would decide this. It was truly to be war. The media player started to show footage of the death of Agrippa city..and act that would be considered unconsciounable to the average tannelornian. And they played it again and again and again.



The eastern reaches were all but lost. Only the PTSS stood in the way of defeat and victory for Grahfsberg, and jan knew it. His first orders were to assemble a battle group to aid the PTSS. 1 squadron from the Southern and Northern defenders, and one from the Core, would be sent in immediately to bolster the forces protecting those few cities still in Grahfsberg hands. Also one half a division of naval troopers was to be sent immediately to aid them. Of the 135 cities that existed in the frontier, only 33 had remained within the control of the Grahfsberg. This was due to the PTSS presence, as well as the early warning gained from the death of Agrippa city. They had to act fast to reverse this serious defeat.