NationStates Jolt Archive

Attention Shield.

We applaud you on your wisdom and would request you cut all power to your engines and all but the most basic of your shields. I will direct several vessel to approach yours and they will extend their drive fields to encompass your ships. They will then remove you from the battlefield to a safe position outside the system. Once safely out of the way you will meet with a waiting fleet and discuss your options with them.

Wisdom? The second officer sighed. It was wise when to know to give up and seek parley, but he still didn't like it. Not only were they forced to surrender to an enemy, in their first battle in space and as the Galactic Defense Intiative, but they had been almost completely ineffective in combat and hadn't done anything worth noting in this battle. In fact, it made the GFFA look worse, as the GDI ships were torn apart but a single battlegroup, one they should have been able to at least fight evenly, but were instead forced back. They hadn't even destroyed one ship or even killed any of the enemy, as far as they knew; but in return, they had lost thousands of lives. All over the fleet and GDI, the once mighty confidence of the nation lay in tatters, especially after the news of what Coredia had done to the Twelvle Colonies.

Even now, he could see the slumped shoulders of the cry, the even weeping officer at the sensor station. Never before, even with Nod, when they were so utterly outmatched, had they ever lost so quickly, so fast, and being able to do so little. It was hard for him to keep his calm as the despair that had replaced his confidence threatened to overwhelm him. Shaking his head, he replied to their message.

Understood, we are cutting power and almost all of our shields. We thank you for taking us out of the battle and await the negotiations. Shield out.


He gave the order and the power levels dropped tremendously, too fast for one of the cruisers as an enormous fireball blasted out into space when one of the power generators blew. He winced as he watched the Balroggan ships come alongside them and soon they vanished from that space, the blasts and energy fire being exchanged vanishing to be replaced with energy arcs. Some managed to express some awe, especially at the data, but most across the ship did not even stir from the collective stupor they had sunk into.

When they reverted to normal space again, they were all shocked to see the vast fleet that awaited them, along with the flagship they all knew from the briefings. They all saw that only one type of ship was in the fleet and the group that had escorted them. But they also began to detect different ships, the data matching the ones in their archives. If the GDI had been forced down by what happened to them, this was, even if it was not intended to do so, beating them while they were down. Many excused themselves from their stations to stumble back to their quarters, and the second officer had no reason to stop them. He wanted to do the same but duty called him to do otherwise.

Fortunately, their ships had automated systems he could call upon to do basic tasks, like communications, and he opened up a channel to The Serendipity

This is the GDIS dreadnought Shield of the Galactic Defense Intiative. I have come to offer our surrender and to begin negotiations on terms.

“Admiral, it appears they are targeting the Energizing ships. I am detecting missile fire from at least three enemy vessels.”

“Order a transponder shift. Mimic known Abh signals and prepare them to move fast.”

“Sir, they are in the middle of an Energization Cycle and cannot respond in time.”

“Then let’s hope they can defend or absorb the damage. Unless those Abh on those ships directs each missile in personally they shouldn’t hit. Only time will tell.”

The massive salvo of guided projectiles tore across the battle field headed towards the trio of glowing vessels. Their hulls rapidly regenerating as energy coursed through, powering the fantastic recuperation rates the Ta’Nar ships were known for.

“Sir, something else to point out?”

Admiral Cam’Bian sighed, “What now?”

The technician hit a couple contacts and one of the holo-screens partitioned, showing a close-up view of one of the Abh ships. The screen showed the black pitted mark typical of the Ta’Nar particle weapon. The strange thing was the blistering along the edges.

“Hahahaha, I see they are trying to use an antigen against the infection strain. They will see how futile it will be.”

The technician, who was new to the ship, looked at him with confusion flashing across her face.

“I see you don’t understand, let me explain. The use of a biological or even a nano-technological agent is basically futile because they are thinking too macro-scale. The Infection occurs at the atomic scale, actually utilizing a process similar to the “electron soup” way energy is transferred across metals. It basically trades sub-atomic particles with other atoms it comes into contact with, like the electron soup but with protons and neutrons. Once part of that atom, the rest shifts to adapt to their new part and become Thur’Tahg. That means whatever agent they use will itself become a harbinger of infection as it becomes Thur’Tahg. It is like taking out the legs of a defender or sapping the walls of a fortress.”

“The fact that they are using a biological ship makes it even more humorous. The circulatory system needed to feed the living cells of the ship will itself spread the infection through the entire body of the vessel much faster than the normal infection method. Normally the infection spreads outward like the way a lake fills up from a meteor strike, spreading outward. With their bio-ship, the infection will spread to wherever its circulatory system touches. It will take a couple cycles of blood or whatever they call their nutrient source but it means they cannot simply eject the part of the ship that is infected to safe the rest. It means unless they want to give them over to us they will have to use their self destruct systems. Pull back the bulk of the ships and keep harassing them with the swarms. If they destroy themselves they will try to take out our ships with them. Let’s not give them any easy targets. Give the command to the Kythons to begin slicing the ships apart.”

“I see. Relaying orders.”

The remainder of the ships began to withdraw from the Abh forces while the swarms of Kythons stepped up their infection attacks. The capital ships opened up with their slug attacks, projecting a veritable cloud of Thur’Tahg into the midst of the enemy fleet, especially the larger and slower command ships.

The Kythons ignited their Slicers, each only half a meter but the blades were violet containment beams holding dimensional ruptures that would sever almost anything that came into contact with it. One of the only known exceptions to this was Thur’Tahg, being a dimensional metal in origin; it was immune to the effects more mundane metals suffered. The Kythons were going for viewing ports, hatches, weapon mounts, or any other hole in the ship’s armor. Their blades not long enough to cut completely through the armor of hulls unless they dug at it instead of going for glancing blows. The other limbs of the Kython were still engaging in infection attacks and they were going after anything that the enemy had moving on the battlefield.

Beyond the cloud of shifting swarms, the capital ships were not holding still, they were making sure they were not easy targets, moving about as they fired at the Abh ships. The missile barrage neared the trio of glowing vessels and the swarm took on a violet tinge as their energy blades ignited.



-----



The strange emissions from the “Coredian Reinforcements seemed to take down the Mobius Apertures, but it was only happening within a certain range of the ships. The attackers continued to strike against them while the defense held firm, resolute in their duty to hold the flank line against these rotten corrupt “Coredians”.


(OOC:
My drives and most of my technologies are based off the Gravity branch of my Tech Tree so using a gravity based FTLi won’t generally hinder them much. It will disrupt wormholes very easily. I am trying to base effects upon these thoughts. If you might have something please catch me on MSN and we can discuss it. If there is a logical explanation and a background I will consider almost anything)



-----



The GDI ships appeared, Emerging from T-Space contained within the expanded drive fields of their escorts. The rendezvous point was the staging area ten light years away from Jurai, the current location of the battle. Nhur-Galladu had stationed his Honorguard Fleet and his flagship, The Serendipity, to be a couple minutes away if they were needed to be reinforcements. At this moment it would serve as a first contact meeting between the Ta’Nar and these GDI humans.

This is the GDIS dreadnought Shield of the Galactic Defense Intiative. I have come to offer our surrender and to begin negotiations on terms.

The message was expected seeing as their previous one was sent forward to prepare for their arrival. The ships were in formal formation to look impressive but no other preparations were made in the two minutes they had before they arrived. The Full Honors Formation would have to do.

Arranged in a huge V first the four Intruder Battlegroups at the far end of the formation greeted the newcomers, two on each side. The three Avatar Battlegroups formed the base of the V. Waiting within the arms was the Deity Battlegroup and the Flagship itself. The Full Honors Formation was welcoming their guests with open arms. Hopefully they saw it as meaning the same thing.

This is Fleet Control. You are cleared to approach The Serendipity. We would like to ask you if you would like to meet on your own ship or if you would like to come over. We await your decision.

bump... Is CW still MIA?

OOC: Yes, he is still MIA

The second officer saw the beeping light of an incoming transmission and tapped a key to display it. Might as well get this over with; lord knows the GDI won't recover from this for some time, he knew that much.

This is Fleet Control. You are cleared to approach The Serendipity. We would like to ask you if you would like to meet on your own ship or if you would like to come over. We await your decision.

Sighing, he sent a reply. "It is quite alright, Control. I will be coming over in a small shuttle. Shield out."

He moved out of the bridge, setting the ship into auto-pilot with the E.V.A. unit, and moved to get the talks underway. The crew, still racked with shock and depression over how easily they were beaten, were awed to see the Balroggan formation opening as if to welcome them. This created mixed feelings in the crew. How could a race that so coolly annihilated them, be able to welcome them so willingly?

The second officer reached the command pod, and launched it, heading for the Serendipity.

The shuttle nervously made its way from The Shield to The Serendipity. The journey, while only a couple minutes seemed to take forever as the stress of the situation weighed heavily upon the officer. As the shuttle neared the massive ship, navigational computers took over control and directed the shuttle toward a brilliantly glowing opening upon the underside of the flagship. In the distance, the force field was tiny but as the shuttle neared the illusion of scale was quickly banished by the nearness to the landing bay.

As the shuttle was directed into the bay by the interacting computers, the craft passed through the blue energy field into a massive lit chamber of dark metal matching that of the exterior of the ship. Numerous other craft lined the berths on the walls as they passed them. Some of the ships were those seen outside in the military formations, namely the smaller frigates and a destroyer or three but a majority of them were ones unfamiliar to the GDI officer. He could also see a few black shapes swarming over seemingly every surface including the ceiling but the speed and distance made the forms unrecognizable.

The shuttle proceeded through the bay and neared a lit empty landing pad and settled lightly on the deck. The navigational computer beeped its familiar message telling the pilot they had arrived and it had disengaged from the host computer. The scanners showed a breathable atmosphere outside the shuttle with the ambient temperature in the comfortable range. It seemed the aliens had gotten the climate controls right for their visitors.

The scanners also showed an entourage was approaching the shuttle from one of the nearby doorways. It consisted of two different types of beings. The first seemed to be human but there were obvious errors in the scanners because it did not show life signs for them. The others were what freaked them out even more than the prospect of undead entities. The second race was by appearance a mixture of both insect and reptile. They utilized four legs for mobility and four appendages for manipulation. The hands were six-fingered and contained an extra joint making the fingers appear very inhuman. The creatures had no eyes of any sort but there was a mouth filled with gleaming white teeth. The insect-like creature stood less than two meters in height but the most distinctive feature was their composition. They were made of the same material as the ship was and barely registered to the sensors almost as if they were absorbing some of the energy the sensor systems was sending.

The humanoid forms resembled beings in robes. They each seemed to have different colors with one of the ones in front being pure white. Light seemed to surround them as if from hidden floodlights above but sensors could not detect any life signs in them. They were definitely solid but that was all they could detect, probably something to do with being inside an alien landing bay and any possible dampening fields they might have in operation to prevent too much information from being obtained.

When the door to the shuttle opened, the being with the pure white robes stepped forward.

“Greetings, I am Nhur-Galladu. I wish to welcome you to my ship.”

0550, Operation Hope bringer Briefing. SFSCOM (Special Forces space command)

Commander Justin Hotel sat in the front of the long glass like table, other chairs lining each side of it, he sighed as he folded his hands on to the glassy material his eyes peering towards the back of the room as he thought. Suddenly the silence Broke, as he began to speak his deep voice reverberating throughout the somewhat large conference room.

“The President has authorized Operation Hope bringer, we leave in an hour, now I’m here to brief you on what will happen, Overtly this is a supply run, medical relief, food stuff that sort” He was cut off by Space Seal Jack Brandon, chief of space seal operations in gamma sector. “Something tells me this is more than that commander?” Justin nodded he sat back on his leather like chair as he continued to speak .

“It is, all the news and hubbub about these cylons has concerned the president , 23 billion dead, that has raised red flags In the senate, and with an election coming it would look bad for the federation party if we didn’t do something about it, pretty much, your peoples job Jack, is to represent interests in the situation, and get in contact with the Jedi council. Whoever will prevent this will require elimination”

Jack sat back with a slight scoff an almost arrogant grin coming over his middle aged smooth face, he placed his hand on his chin as he looked at Justin who stood up and walked over to the main holo screen pulling up a map. There are more than a thousand ships In that system, when your modified hammer head SSBD’s make it in to the systems you will broadcast an official message from the president to all ships, then proceed through the lines if they let you, any questions?”

Jack sighed as he leaned forward, his black uniform filled with medals and other decorations of combat and valor “Am I to assume that if things get dicey we will have no government support what so ever?” Justin nodded, as he sat back down saying with a commanding voice “Its go time”

Several moments later jack and his squad marched in to the air lock, they had dawned full blown hazard suits, made to look civilian with a standard buffer system on their backs, jack looked back to Sheppard, his second in command, who had been through a lot before . He said with a rough commanding voice “Remember Sheppard when we get there keep your men on their toes and frosty we don’t want any fuck ups ya hear?” Sheppard nodded as he walked behind his Commander, several other officers followed.

As they got on to the UTS Hammer head, It was cramped, the 150 meter ship had supplies falling out from under everything . Medical supplies, boxes labeled foodstuffs, even the Poseidon missiles were removed to make way for supplies and a weapon buffer, jack looked around the commander of the ship walked up to him with a sly smile, he was young and recently had gotten command of the SSBD. He held his hand out to jack, who promptly took it. Jack said “

It’s nice to meet you commander” a tough stone cold face greeted the young leader. The commander nodded letting go of jacks hand and saying as he stepped aside a hover dolly being pulled along full of supplies.

“It’s a pleasure, we are ready to disembark now” he said as he turned away walking up to the bridge full of digital and holographic control surfaces. He barked orders as he stood on the bridge, his voice reverberating around. “All hands prepare for departure, mark alpha gamma two, and prepare for sub space jump”

A fleet of three Hammer head SSBD’s faded in to the fabric of space, they shimmered silently out of phase with space and time.. Several moments passed, they appeared on the out skirts of the system shimmering back. In to normal space, the commander of the ship stood looking outside at the rather crowded system. The message was automatically sent by the AI.

This is a message directly from the President of the United Terran Federation, we have watched the affairs of this system, and grave concern has washed over my government, we are here to request passage to planet to rectify the situation with medical supplies and aid, please do not refuse, we have no qualms with any of you

Commander Ford said nothing at first, how could he have expected this. He was expecting more bitching, despite the massive resources he had unleashed. Commander Ford smiled at the ascendancy. “I could use your help.” he replied. “There is a lot of people here who seem to desire to aid Konoha, too many, and this blockade was not meant to deal with fleets of this size. A reasonable fleet of fifty ships maybe, heck even an enormous fleet of one hundred. If you would be inclined, I could use more ships to ferry men to and from the relief fleets for inspections. The Ithorians, and some people known as Dragon Mages are waiting inspection.” he asked of the ascendancy, kindly.

Darian listened quietly as Ford spoke, and nodded his head slightly in assent. He waved a hand, and on the Colonial screens, a fleet of seventy-five ships appeared, of various classes. Shuttlecraft began to deploy from the fleet, heading to the Colonial ships, to transport the men and women to the relief fleets, to inspect them.

"No worries, we are here to help. I will commit my force of seventy-five warships, and all of my shuttle craft to your endeavor. Merely enlighten me to where you want the shuttlecraft and the fleet, and they will be put into the places you seek"

The tired second officer of the Shield maneuvered the small craft into range of the navigational computers, gazing at the various craft lining the walls as he was taken in via auto-pilot. The black shapes interested him a bit, but when they proved too hard to see, he ignored them. He was going to need all his energy. They may have lost and were seeking terms, but they couldn't let themselves be walked over. As such, he had to be on his toes. When the scanners detected breathable air and incoming visitors, he quickly put on his hat, with the eagle in the circle representing GDI, and straightened himself as much as he could. Masking his fatigue and emotional turmoil would be difficult but he kept it from showing on his face at least.

Walking outside, he stopped upon seeing the Kython. His eyes widened in shock, as he remembered reading about these things in the GFFA archives. The damage they had done during the battle of Mirfalk was legendary. Their rate of infection was even greater than that of Tiberium, and they were dangerous as hell. Fortunately, his attention was taken by the new robed arrivals, whom the scanners in his shirt told him didn't have a life force. His eyes boggled at that as well. When the one in white stepped forth, and introduced itself as Nhur-Galladu, he sighed and stepped forward as well.

"Greetings, Nhur-Galladu. I am Second Office Jack Stevenson, of the GDIS dreadnaught Shield, Second Fleet of the Initiative Navy. As I have stated, I have come to discuss terms of our surrender and withdrawal from the current conflict."

Otherwhere:



“I am most certainly interested in speaking with you upon these very things but out here in the hanger is not the place. Please follow me to a much more comfortable place. You will be allowed constant communication with your ship while you are aboard The Serendipity.” Nhur-Galladu gestured for Stevenson to accompany him. As the GDI officer walked alongside the Ta’Nar, the Childer formed ranks behind them but the Kythons went back to their tasks and did not follow the entourage instead scurrying or flying away to other parts of the giant hanger.

After a few minutes of walking and small talk, they arrived at a nearby conference room. The room was done up in a simple manner, nothing too elaborate, just a dark table and comfortable chairs. The table had a replicator pad built into it so whatever was wanted within reason could be delivered. In the center of the table, a hologram of The Serendipity slowly rotated. Nhur-Galladu took a seat at one side of the table and indicated to Stevenson he should take the place opposite him. Stevenson noted the Ta’Nar did not take the end of the table but rather the middle of the rectangular table to ensure the two were separated by the least amount of space.

“I find things get done easier if two leaders meet face to face and do not throw barriers up between them. That is why I seated myself here, where we would have the least amount of table between us.”

Nhur-Galladu waited for Stevenson to take a seat so they could begin.

The Ascendancy, like that of the other ascended nations such as the Ta’Nar, and the Avatars, had proven again, not only their value but their friendship to the Colonies of Kobal. As the Ascendency agreed to provide support to the Colonial Blockade endeavors, Commander Ford’s body slightly relaxed as if a large weight was taken off of it.

“Thank you so much.” he replied to Darian, as his offer to support the colonies was offered. “I do not want anyone dying on account of my actions, and my fleet has been processing everyone as fast as it can. Being outnumbered Forty five to one in occupied enemy space is enough of a stress, but the continued searches of those wishing to aid Konoha is becoming too much.” he replied to Darian.

As he spoke, the loud speakers sounded off, “Commander Ford please contact CIC, Commander Ford please Contact CIC.

Commander Ford sighed, as he picked up a glass of Ambrosia, the beautiful green color liquor and drank it down. “Never a moment’s peace.” he replied as he got up and walked over to the phone jacked into the wall.

“This is Ford.”

“Why in the frak am I not surprised.”

“Who in the frak is the Federation? Nevermind, tell them that this planet is currently under blockade and that they will have to submit for a search of all their vessels, to ensure no weapons are given. Make sure they take their place in line.” Ford ordered, “Behind the NPC’s and the Dragon Mages.”

Commander Ford sighed, “It would seem more people are showing up here than children at a candy store that is giving away free cookies.” He said to Darian.

Meanwhile the message was transmitted to the new arrivals.

“This is the Battlestar Gorgan, Flag ship of the Konoha Blockade, of the Twelve Colonies of Kobal, to the ships claiming to be from the Federation. You are instructed to form near the Fleets awaiting to get through inspection, power down all offensive and defensive systems and prepare to be boarded by inspection teams when they become available. Once you have complied and inspection is complete, you will be escorted to the planet with a Colonial supervisor to make sure no weapons or illegal goods are given to Konoha. Once you leave the planet’s surface, you will have to be inspected once more to ensure you are not carrying any persons or stow away that have been declared enemies of the state. Any failure to comply and we will be forced to destroy you. Gorgan out.”

Internal debate had raged since word came of the devastation that fell upon Konoha and the somewhat more recently reluctant Coredian allies. The Godulans had felt it necessary to declare neutrality in the conflict between the Coredians and the 'Lords of Chaos', and could not show favoritism in the battle raging over the now fully Godulan world of Jurai, and so they could not bring themselves to render meaningful assistance to the Coredians. However, they also knew that Coredian civilians were presently in dire straights, and no Godulan could abide the notion of allowing an innocent to die when it could be prevented. So the argument had gone. Should the Godulans send aid to the Coredian world of Konoha and risk showing bias in an ongoing conflict, or should Coredian civilians be allowed to die in the name of political expedience?

Though the debate was long and frenzied, the result was inevitable. The mindset against allowing innocents to die was simply too great to brush to the wayside. However, it was recognized that the 'assistance' would have to be far more conservative than what had been sent to aid the colonies. It was a shame, really, but even in their relief work the Godulans understood that they they balanced on a thin wire.

Not long after the decision, in this case only a matter of minutes, a single vessel appeared on the outskirts of the Konoha system. It was relatively large, about the size of a standard Imperial Star Destroyer but showing a power signature of far greater magnitude. Its arrival came with no flash or fanfare, it simply became there. A basic scan showed a massive number of ships in the area, and the Godulans could not help but laugh bitterly in morbid amusement. The number of ships here was greater than at the Colonies, though only one planet required assistance as compared to the twelve in Cain's domain.

But business was business, and the Godulans intended to set to work as quickly as possible. The scan also showed a great many ships being held up by a Colonial blockade. The purpose for the blockade seemed instantly obvious to the Godulans, for they were aware of the surrender of the Coredian worlds to the Cylons, and both Godulan and Colonial hated the Cylons. The Colonials hated the Cylons for what they did to the Colonies, the Godulans hated the Cylons for what they did... period. That the Balroggans had aided them in the latter endeavour still stuck with the Godulans, and no doubt the events at Konoha had driven a slight wedge between the two entities, but the Godulans presently knew of no suitable penance. The Balroggans were assisting at the Colonies, and in fact were the first on the scene to bring aid and relief to those blasted worlds. There was... entirely too much gray area on that issue.

And so, as the Godulan vessel approached the Colonial Blockade, a transmission went out on all frequencies.

Greetings, Colonial Forces. We have been sent by the Godulan Legion to assist in recovering the biosphere of this world and rendering medical assistance to Coredian citizens. Please notify your superiors of our arrival and allow us through to render assistance with the proper alacrity.

We note that there appears to be a backlog of relief vessels. Do you require assistance with your inspections? We would gladly commit resources to render further aid.

In the Necrominus

The Predator's AI was running through it's databanks before they would go back to the battle at Jurai all through this time. The mysterious fleet which helped aid the Coredians, Abhs, and the Godulans felt familiar to her. So very, oddly familiar to her. However, that mattered not. What mattered now was how she and the other ships were going to coordinate their attacks with the rest of the fleet at Jurai. The Empire has been gathering it's forces in the Necrominus to pull a full invasion force of nearly fifteen hundred vessels at Jurai. Tripling that which the Empire sent to capture Travis at Konoha. Armed with deadly new technology and fleet defenses, the Empire was ready for it's task. It's men thirsted for battle, and their Grand Admiral was ready to give it to them.

Now it's time... Heromath thought to himself. He and Admiral Khal were discussing the tactics which they would use at Jurai and their new secret assignment. Something Khal referred to as the Big V Project. Heromath laughed at the name and considered it to be secondary compared to their primary objective on capturing Jurai, until he heard what the project was all about. Khal's orders were to send a small task force with cloak capabilities and quickly raid some New Dornalian Acolyte facilities in New Kazakhstan to test. They diverted a small task force of five Nosferatu Classes to assist in the matter. The ships left the group in the Necrominus and changed their course towards New Kazakhstan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jurai

The rest of the fleet continued their way towards Jurai, and exited from the 'minus as soon as they arrived. Grand Admiral Heromath paced upon the bridge of his command ship, the H.S.S. Gothic. "Status?"

"Sir, the fleet has exited the Necrominus. We're ready to begin our assault."

"Order the fleet to raise their shields and activate the Shield stations." A giant transparent blueish white bubble erupted from the center of the Empire's fleet, protecting it from most of the enemy's fire.

"Coordinate the fleet Emperor's Warriors to assault the Coredian Reinforcements. Have the Devil's Gambit fleet assault the Abhs, and the Titans assault the Coredians. No one is to leave the shields until the others have arrived at our position."

"Aye sir"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Kazakhstan

The Dracula, Dracul, Remiel De Draken and the Vampyr jumped from the 'minus, with their Phase Cloaks activated. With a little luck, they will be able to fool the New Dornalians and make them think that the small force is just another random Temporal Anomaly of sorts which occur within the Aphotic Galaxy long before the Empire even heard of the Phase Cloak. The Captain of the Dracul was worried,as he ran franticly down the hallways to find their guest. This guest spelt trouble to him, due to her past history. A relatively new Bounty Hunter by Huntarian standards as well as the rest of the galaxy, but her family name has been recorded in the ancient archives of the Jedi Council.

Cassandra Nord, ancestor to one of the most notorious bounty hunters who existed in the first Jedi Sith war which occurred nearly five thousand years ago, Calo Nord. Like her ancestor, she was cold hearted. Had a talent for getting out of tight spots in the most unlikely ways possible. She was highered by Lord Vorman for this project, due to her family's blood line of hatred for Jedi and the Force in general since Calo's death to Darth Revan. The Captain feared her, due to her mental instability which she carried about her. Another one of Vorman's favorite disciplining techniques no doubt to keep the crew on their toes. If you aren't someone who's looking to higher and you bother her, no matter how miniscule her activity may be, even if it's something as small as a simple hello, she will kill you. She will like you one moment and engage you in conversation, then the next you may find your entrails hanging out on your hands.

Luckily for the Captain, Nord was put under the strict orders from Lord Vorman to not kill the Captain of any of the ships she works with, assuming she wants her payment. The Captain came across her in the Armory, fastening a few guns together. Surrounding her, are a few empty syringes and a small bottle next to her which said "Warning! Extremely toxic. Keep away from Kirtir, Sith, or any other allied Force users. Use with extreme caution. "Cassandra, what exactly are you planing to do with these... Devices?"

The woman smiled innocently, "These syringes are a special design which I made myself. The tips are armor pierced, to provide more of a punch to any Malkir, Acolyte, or Jedi who happens to be wearing body armor."

The Captain nodded, "so these are the... Big V project I've heard about?"

Cassandra nodded, "indeed Captain. Voxyn blood is very lethal to Force Wielders. Especially to those who aren't trained to survive without it. Makes a Jedi seem like a child once they reach it's vicinity. Hehe," she laughed with glee at the thought of zapping helpless Jedi once they were injected with Voxyn blood. Finally, a easy way to kill one of those bastards. "How soon till we reach our targets?"

"That's why I was looking for you. We have reached our check point. It's time for you and your selected Devil's Ops squad to go to the Dornalian facilities and test the project upon their Acolytes. You have two hours to complete your raid. I do have orders to return to Jurai ASAP once you are done. Don't be surprised if we aren't here when you're done."

"Should be simple enough I s'pose. Are they ready to go?"

"Yes Bounty Hunter. Remember, two hours."

"Two hours. Right." Cassandra picked up her gun and pointed it at the target dummy of a Jedi at the end of the Armory, and fired leaving a very large dent in the Dummy's head where the syringe struck. She grinned, I love my job.

Stevenson listened to Nhur-Galladu's reasoning for leaving the hangar, and nodded. He was surprised by being allowed communications to his ship, but he shook it off as he walked after the Balroggan. This was all very confusing, and he wasn't in much of a state to realize the truth of everything. Walking carefully behind the Ta'Nar, eyeing the Kythons as they walked away, he followed him to the conference room.

He noted the replicator pad on the table, the simple format of the room and where Nhur chose to sit on the table. After listening to him speak, he couldn't really find something to say, so he simply sat down and waited for him to continue speaking. His mind was numb, and he was still rather confused by this whole business? Weren't they supposed to be enemies?

Darian waved a hand as Ford thanked him. "We do not need to be thanked. Your nation has suffered enough, and has little enough allies as it is that are actually helping it. We saw people who had suffered much and deserved a break from the violence to rebuild their way of life. We are doing what any sentient, moral species SHOULD do."

When the phone rang, and Ford went to receive it, Darian looked over in annoyance as he was informed of the Federation's arrival. What the heck was going on? The Colonies get ravaged by treachery and deceit, barely anyone came to their aid. Coreworlds bears the brunt of its evil deeds, and everyone jumps to aid them. Darian restricted the urge to crush something; he'd rather not break some important in the room, like the phone.


Commander Ford sighed, “It would seem more people are showing up here than children at a candy store that is giving away free cookies.” He said to Darian.

Darian laughed, a clear sound in the room. "Indeed, it would seem that way Commander. My ships will begin moving into position and we will await any orders you have for us. I will remain here to facilitate communication and any orders to be given to my fleet. My shuttle craft have already been placed into your command. Use them as you wish."

"Darian? We have newcomers."

"What, the Federation? I already-"

"No, it's the Godulans. They have come to render aid."

Darian sighed in relief. Although it was another in yet a long list of arrivals, he knew the Godulans and knew they had a good reason for doing what they did. Like the Godulans, they were against genocide, and as such, were very much angered by Coreworlds and the Cylons. But, that was another issue for another time.

"I am sure the Colonies will let them through, and have detected them by now. Just move to your parts of the blockade and ensure no one gets through without permission. Keep an eye on everything; deploy probes throughout the system. If anything happens, I want to know of it."

"Understood. It will be done."

The Ascendant fleet eased into the positions signaled to them by the Colonials and began focusing on insuring no one penetrated the blockade.

Battlestar Gorgan
CIC

The crew grew tired, and grew even more irratated at the circumstances of Konoha. The mission they were intended to do was simple, prevent any and all hostile vessels from entering Konoha, and stop any further cylon incursion into this planet. Simple, yet fate had other plans for the small colonial fleet stationed in orbit of the planet.

For hours on end, hours which felt like days, the crews of the Battlestars in orbit, Gorgan, Persephone, Chimera, Troy, Gallant, Diana, Mercury and Sola, and the supsequent support ships send every raptor available to the never ending fleet above Konoha.

The numbers grew staggering, and no relief was in sight. More came to Konoha, seemingly countless nations, half of which were unknown to the colonies, all bitching and complaining all but one nation, the Ascendency. Dispite the over tired and over worked Colonial forces, only they choose to aid the situation and speed up the process. Only they, who were a considerable force in rebuilding the colonies did not have the audacity to try to hurry up the process, when the fleet in Konoha was not designed for the massive numbers above Konoha.

Colonel Jackson, waited patiently, as the raptor crews chatter became almost too noisy to listen to. Ships were going back and forth, and so far none had attempted to violate the arrangements given. He silently thanked the gods for that, as the Colonies were only outnumbered 45 to 1.

Colonel Jackson picked up a cup of coffee, as the all too familiar sound of an alarm sounded off.

“Who is it now.” Colonel Jackson yelled irritated at Lt. Cameron.

“Sir, new vessel bearing...”

“I do not care where they are bearing, who the frak is it.” he replied.

“Sir... it appears to be the Godulans, they are sending a transmission.”

“Put it on speakers.”

As the message played, Colonel Jackson, grew even more irritated. “Contact our superiors...” he replied. “Fine.” he said, as a vein in his forehead began to bulge, “Contact Picon Fleet Headquarters, and ask what the frak is going on, and request more Battlestar groups to be assigned to the blockade, and let them know the situation.”

Moments passed, as the new FTL coms broke out across the great divide to Picon. The response was swift, and the response was crushing.

“Official Orders from Picon Fleet Head Quarters.

No Reinforcements are available as possible aggressive actions at the Colonies and Kobal is high. Godulans are to be given priority to Konoha, along with the Ascendency. No search necessary. Tsunade is to be detained.”

Colonel Jackson sighed, as he pulled the printed secure transcripts from the printer. He looked to one of the Marines, and put the orders in a top secret folder. “Give this to Commander Ford immediately and allow the Godulans to aid in anyway they wish.

Minutes later at the conference room a marine knocked on the door.

Commander Ford, took a drink of his glass, and replied “Come in.”

The marine quickly saluted, and handed the folder to his commander. Ford, slowly opened up the new orders. As he read the orders, his face grew pale. “Detain...” is all he said as he knew that the lives of millions hung on the balance of these very orders.

Slowly he raised his hand to his head as he knew the fate of millions of people, his own fleet, even a war now hung on his decision.

“If I disobey, it will be treason.” he thought to himself, “and I will be executed. If I obey, I am condeming the colonies into a war, Konoha will be destroyed, and all will be lost.” he thought again. He sat down in the chair as he tossed the orders on the table. His eyes glances up to the ascendency representative. “Excuse me for a moment, I need to take a walk.” he replied, as he got up. Two guards saluted, as the door swung open. Commander Ford began to walk down to long cooridors. “What to do?” he asked himself over and over again. “What to do?”

Nhur-Galladu could see by the confused look on his guest’s face that something was wrong. He quickly did an unobtrusive passive scan of the human and could easily feel different waves of confusion emanating form him, as well as despair and fear but to a lesser degree. He felt bad about making these Valliant warriors suffer the way they were so he tried to put him at ease.

“Please do not be so worried. It is not honorable to take advantage of a True Warrior. You are not our enemy, you have been manipulated by them into being a meat shield and that was completely wrong. I have great sorrow that you have been dragged into the middle of this conflict and in turn have been so abused by our enemy. I will not do the same to you. It is not your fault you were used against a society that has been in space millennia before you were.”

“In the battle, you showed something nobody else has, both Valor and Wisdom. You stood your ground even though the battle was heavily against you and when you were aware there was no way to win, you exercised great Wisdom in trying to remove your Warriors from the battle in an Honorable manner.”

Nhur-Galladu gestured and the hologram of the remaining GDI ships winked into being above the table, each in their own image and slowly rotating.

“If you would permit us, I would like to begin repairs upon your vessels. The damage you have taken by being trust in our path was inexcusable and cowardly in the actions of the Coredians. They had no business putting you in that situation in the first place. Any personal that are injured will be allowed to receive medical aid from us if they wish. After everything is done, you will be allowed to leave at your leisure. The only thing I ask is you do not engage in this battle for four weeks of your time. You have one month to report back to your superiors. One month to allow your crew to see the loved ones they thought they would never see again. One month to allow your people to consider the actions taken here by your allies and your enemies.”

“After that month, you can resume your actions as you wish. You can either rejoin the battle or you can contact us, the choice is completely up to you. We will hold no ill feelings toward you or your people and will remember the Valliant actions you have committed this day and welcome you as Honorable Warriors on either side.”

Nhur-Galladu let his words sink into the human’s mind. He knew they would be a shock to him and it would take at least a few moments for them to register.

“Take your time and consider all your actions. Contact your ship and have them relay messages back home to your superiors so your decision is one that represents your entire nation. If you decide against this, we will still let you go after basic repairs and healthcare. The month stipulation will not be enforceable and you will still be allowed to leave.”

Send a response to the colonials the commander said his hands brushing against his sides as he looked up at the holo screen, the special forces guys were at this point dressed like medical personnel, the ships came to a standstill as they moved in to a search line, the officers on board began lcoking down computers with heavy encryption , as the ship moved.

The commander started to speak as soon as the comns had opened.

“We agree to your search, you may proceed when ready”

His voice was soft and diplomatic, mean while jack just sighed he was sitting at the small mess hall in the middle of the ship with his crew, dressed up like civilians. He idly said with a tough voice.
“Well it could be worse guys.. we could be dealing with temporal pretenders..”

the others chuckled a bit, Sheppard sat back downing some brown liquid sitting down next to jack.


(Sorry for the short post but not much else I can do now)

Jurai

The rest of the fleet continued their way towards Jurai, and exited from the 'minus as soon as they arrived. Grand Admiral Heromath paced upon the bridge of his command ship, the H.S.S. Gothic. "Status?"

"Sir, the fleet has exited the Necrominus. We're ready to begin our assault."

"Order the fleet to raise their shields and activate the Shield stations." A giant transparent blueish white bubble erupted from the center of the Empire's fleet, protecting it from most of the enemy's fire.

"Coordinate the fleet Emperor's Warriors to assault the Coredian Reinforcements. Have the Devil's Gambit fleet assault the Abhs, and the Titans assault the Coredians. No one is to leave the shields until the others have arrived at our position."

"Aye sir"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Kazakhstan

The Dracula, Dracul, Remiel De Draken and the Vampyr jumped from the 'minus, with their Phase Cloaks activated. With a little luck, they will be able to fool the New Dornalians and make them think that the small force is just another random Temporal Anomaly of sorts which occur within the Aphotic Galaxy long before the Empire even heard of the Phase Cloak. The Captain of the Dracul was worried,as he ran franticly down the hallways to find their guest. This guest spelt trouble to him, due to her past history. A relatively new Bounty Hunter by Huntarian standards as well as the rest of the galaxy, but her family name has been recorded in the ancient archives of the Jedi Council.

Cassandra Nord, ancestor to one of the most notorious bounty hunters who existed in the first Jedi Sith war which occurred nearly five thousand years ago, Calo Nord. Like her ancestor, she was cold hearted. Had a talent for getting out of tight spots in the most unlikely ways possible. She was highered by Lord Vorman for this project, due to her family's blood line of hatred for Jedi and the Force in general since Calo's death to Darth Revan. The Captain feared her, due to her mental instability which she carried about her. Another one of Vorman's favorite disciplining techniques no doubt to keep the crew on their toes. If you aren't someone who's looking to higher and you bother her, no matter how miniscule her activity may be, even if it's something as small as a simple hello, she will kill you. She will like you one moment and engage you in conversation, then the next you may find your entrails hanging out on your hands.

Luckily for the Captain, Nord was put under the strict orders from Lord Vorman to not kill the Captain of any of the ships she works with, assuming she wants her payment. The Captain came across her in the Armory, fastening a few guns together. Surrounding her, are a few empty syringes and a small bottle next to her which said "Warning! Extremely toxic. Keep away from Kirtir, Sith, or any other allied Force users. Use with extreme caution. "Cassandra, what exactly are you planing to do with these... Devices?"

The woman smiled innocently, "These syringes are a special design which I made myself. The tips are armor pierced, to provide more of a punch to any Malkir, Acolyte, or Jedi who happens to be wearing body armor."

The Captain nodded, "so these are the... Big V project I've heard about?"

Cassandra nodded, "indeed Captain. Voxyn blood is very lethal to Force Wielders. Especially to those who aren't trained to survive without it. Makes a Jedi seem like a child once they reach it's vicinity. Hehe," she laughed with glee at the thought of zapping helpless Jedi once they were injected with Voxyn blood. Finally, a easy way to kill one of those bastards. "How soon till we reach our targets?"

"That's why I was looking for you. We have reached our check point. It's time for you and your selected Devil's Ops squad to go to the Dornalian facilities and test the project upon their Acolytes. You have two hours to complete your raid. I do have orders to return to Jurai ASAP once you are done. Don't be surprised if we aren't here when you're done."

"Should be simple enough I s'pose. Are they ready to go?"

"Yes Bounty Hunter. Remember, two hours."

"Two hours. Right." Cassandra picked up her gun and pointed it at the target dummy of a Jedi at the end of the Armory, and fired leaving a very large dent in the Dummy's head where the syringe struck. She grinned, I love my job.

The Tactical Officer aboard the Allosaurus watched his scanner screen suddenly light up with new bandits moving in inbound. He grew nervous, but quickly swallowed his fear; he knew how much Batov hated fear. He said as calmly as possible to Batov, "Admiral! Incoming units! Huntarian Imperials at the edge of the system and inbound!"

Batov stood up, and looked ahead at the screen. He then said, "The rules have been altered. The game is now increased in difficulty. But we can win. Move closer to the enemy, continue fire upon the misbegotten Kython scum. How are the effects of the Mannerheim!?"

Science replied, "Admiral, we're detecting destablization among several of the enemy vessels."

Batov replied, "Then we get closer and exploit our advantage. Shields high, open fire with EM Rifles on the Balroggans and slow fire Transphasic torpedoes upon our new Huntarian targets! Keep ECM up!"

As Batov spoke and the ships began moving closer to the Balroggan, attempting to get close to their ships whilst keeping up its fire and defenses upon the Balroggans, the Allosaurus's Gracie detected the presence of something familiar on those ships....something like.....her. Only, it was quite, quite evil. And for that, her avatar shuddered for but a moment at the doppelganger that decided to play ball.

-----------

Fort Biscuit, New Kazakhstan SSR, Aphotic Galaxy

The newest colony in the ever-expanding Workers State was also considered by many assigned there to be the Ass-End of nowhere. This showed in the otherwise nonchalant demeanor of the Dornalian People's Navy officers manning the defense platforms in orbit around what was possibly the most ass-end of the Great Ass-End of Nowhere, Fort Biscuit. Some yawned. Others sipped coffee. Some watched porn videos sneaked into their offices on their PDAs--volume down and headphones on, to ensure fast reply when their superiors came--and others simply read the latest issue of Dakka Dakka Monthly, which had an article on the "newest" 1911A1s.

As it happened, Ensign Smedley was one such man. He sighed, saying, "It's a fucking five hundred year old design! What is new about it, man?!"

The man next to him growled, and put down his PDA, which at the moment displayed an image of two catgirls indulging in, uh, acts that can't really be mentioned here. He then took off his headphones, and said angrily, grabbing Smedley by the collar, "Listen motherfucker, you've said that for the past five hours. FIVE. FUCKING. HOURS! You have taken that dead horse, and not only beat it, but also pulverized it and reduced it into glue. You have tested my paitence for the last time. Now you either keep your commentary on John Moses Browning's work of engineering and perfection made real dead silent, or so help me cocks--"

The station's console beeped, and the man let Smedley go. Wagging his finger at Smedley, the man said, "You're getting off light, dick." He then typed in a few things, and checked out the updates. The man said, "Hey, check it out. Sensors picking up some temporal distortions. You think its an incoming caller?"

Smedley then shrugged and said, "I'll scan for any incoming friendly warp-in's." After a few pings, Smedley shook his head and said, "Huh. Nothing. Could be a Temporal Anomaly. This shit happens a lot." The Other Guy looked at him and replied, "No, you know what--we've got the fucking Huntarians on the other side of this DMZ, I don't trust this shit to be just another 'Temporal Anomaly.' For all we know, they've got bear cavalry, or ninja monkeys with balisongs, or psychos that shoot lightning out of their ass over there. I ain't taking chances. I'm calling Command."

As he moved to pick up the phone, Smedley stayed his hand, saying, "Bitch, you're crazy. Every galaxy's got Temporal Anomalies!"

The Other Guy simply glared and said, "Shove it up your ass, Smedley. There hasn't been a Temporal Anomaly here in six weeks." He then picked up the phone and dialed into the Command line, saying, "Command, this is Station 10134. We've got reports of a Temporal Anomaly. No known friendlies in area, over. Yes, we checked for natural anomalies. Yeah, yeah--look, will you just send some patrols already and put out the EVERYBODY PANIC alarm? This is making me fucking nervous. Okay, bye."

The guy then hung up. A reply then came over the speakers, saying, "Attention. All units on planetside and spaceside are on Yellow Alert conditions. Repeat, yellow alert conditions. All units assume Readiness."

The Other Guy leaned back and said, "See, told ya."

The Tactical Officer aboard the Allosaurus watched his scanner screen suddenly light up with new bandits moving in inbound. He grew nervous, but quickly swallowed his fear; he knew how much Batov hated fear. He said as calmly as possible to Batov, "Admiral! Incoming units! Huntarian Imperials at the edge of the system and inbound!"

Batov stood up, and looked ahead at the screen. He then said, "The rules have been altered. The game is now increased in difficulty. But we can win. Move closer to the enemy, continue fire upon the misbegotten Kython scum. How are the effects of the Mannerheim!?"

Science replied, "Admiral, we're detecting destablization among several of the enemy vessels."

Batov replied, "Then we get closer and exploit our advantage. Shields high, open fire with EM Rifles on the Balroggans and slow fire Transphasic torpedoes upon our new Huntarian targets! Keep ECM up!"

As Batov spoke and the ships began moving closer to the Balroggan, attempting to get close to their ships whilst keeping up its fire and defenses upon the Balroggans, the Allosaurus's Gracie detected the presence of something familiar on those ships....something like.....her. Only, it was quite, quite evil. And for that, her avatar shuddered for but a moment at the doppelganger that decided to play ball.

The Dornalians would find that most of their weaponry just hit a solid blue sphere which erupted around the Huntarian fleet, protecting the fleet from standard weaponry save what number of Transphasics which were fired. Even then, few made it through the Shield bubble due to the Point Defense lasers and Gattling Cannons which many of the Empire's ships were equipped with. The shielding provided them the time, and coordinates to accurately target the incoming torpedoes. A few managed to hit random targets, but not much damage for the Grand Admiral to be concerned with. The Empire's ships didn't return fire, as they were waiting for the Admiral's orders or for the Balrogans to fire upon the Dornalians, or the Chronosians and the Colonials to enter the fight. Until the Enemy gets the idea that the only truly effective way of immediately destroying them is to very slowly charge through the shield, they'll just sit back and enjoy the fireworks.

I know that feeling... It's almost as though I were in those ships... Either they are a fleet the Empire assigned to mimic the enemy and have other AI's like me on board or... Oh, you... Bitch... "Admiral, it has come to my attention that we've got an identification upon the unknown enemy ships who are aiding the Coredians."

"So? We're engaging them now and we're going to wipe them off of the face of this solar system. We've got them out manned and gunned."

"Don't be so over confident Grand Admiral. These are Dornalians we're talking about."

"... Dornalians? Those aren't Dornalian ships..."

"I detected myself onboard the other ships. I am designed to detect my other sisters who have already been installed inside other Empire ships. I detect myself throughout this entire fleet of yours, then I detected myself before while my counter part on the Predator engaged the Coredian Admiral. That Imperius detected something similar to how we're aware to our other selves within the fleet. We came to the one conclusion that it can only be our mother. Gracie."

"Hmm... I understand. New Dornalians are very much like the Coredians when it comes to getting out of sticky situations. I'll make that a mental note. Thank you Imperius."

"You're very welcome Grand Admiral."

Heromath punched a button on his command chair, "continue to ignore the enemy's fire. Keep constant maitenence on the Shield Stations, make sure they don't collapse from too much pressure, which shouldn't be too big of a problem. We will make no aggressive move at any point until I give the order to or we receive contact with the Balrogans, Colonials, or the Chronosians. Until then, enjoy the firework show."


Fort Biscuit, New Kazakhstan SSR, Aphotic Galaxy

The newest colony in the ever-expanding Workers State was also considered by many assigned there to be the Ass-End of nowhere. This showed in the otherwise nonchalant demeanor of the Dornalian People's Navy officers manning the defense platforms in orbit around what was possibly the most ass-end of the Great Ass-End of Nowhere, Fort Biscuit. Some yawned. Others sipped coffee. Some watched porn videos sneaked into their offices on their PDAs--volume down and headphones on, to ensure fast reply when their superiors came--and others simply read the latest issue of Dakka Dakka Monthly, which had an article on the "newest" 1911A1s.

As it happened, Ensign Smedley was one such man. He sighed, saying, "It's a fucking five hundred year old design! What is new about it, man?!"

The man next to him growled, and put down his PDA, which at the moment displayed an image of two catgirls indulging in, uh, acts that can't really be mentioned here. He then took off his headphones, and said angrily, grabbing Smedley by the collar, "Listen motherfucker, you've said that for the past five hours. FIVE. FUCKING. HOURS! You have taken that dead horse, and not only beat it, but also pulverized it and reduced it into glue. You have tested my paitence for the last time. Now you either keep your commentary on John Moses Browning's work of engineering and perfection made real dead silent, or so help me cocks--"

The station's console beeped, and the man let Smedley go. Wagging his finger at Smedley, the man said, "You're getting off light, dick." He then typed in a few things, and checked out the updates. The man said, "Hey, check it out. Sensors picking up some temporal distortions. You think its an incoming caller?"

Smedley then shrugged and said, "I'll scan for any incoming friendly warp-in's." After a few pings, Smedley shook his head and said, "Huh. Nothing. Could be a Temporal Anomaly. This shit happens a lot." The Other Guy looked at him and replied, "No, you know what--we've got the fucking Huntarians on the other side of this DMZ, I don't trust this shit to be just another 'Temporal Anomaly.' For all we know, they've got bear cavalry, or ninja monkeys with balisongs, or psychos that shoot lightning out of their ass over there. I ain't taking chances. I'm calling Command."

As he moved to pick up the phone, Smedley stayed his hand, saying, "Bitch, you're crazy. Every galaxy's got Temporal Anomalies!"

The Other Guy simply glared and said, "Shove it up your ass, Smedley. There hasn't been a Temporal Anomaly here in six weeks." He then picked up the phone and dialed into the Command line, saying, "Command, this is Station 10134. We've got reports of a Temporal Anomaly. No known friendlies in area, over. Yes, we checked for natural anomalies. Yeah, yeah--look, will you just send some patrols already and put out the EVERYBODY PANIC alarm? This is making me fucking nervous. Okay, bye."

The guy then hung up. A reply then came over the speakers, saying, "Attention. All units on planetside and spaceside are on Yellow Alert conditions. Repeat, yellow alert conditions. All units assume Readiness."

The Other Guy leaned back and said, "See, told ya."

Fort Biscuit, New Kazakhstan

"We may have been spotted captain. According to comm chatter, the Dornalians just raised their alert status to Yellow."

The Dracul's Captain nodded, "decloak and allow the Bounty Hunter and her team to leave the ship. We will appear to be a tiny blip on their screens for a brief second. Then, rephase and enter near that planetary body just over there."

"Aye sir."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile....

"I still don't see why we have to be lead by an insane Bounty Hunter. Really, one of our Kirtir Masters or an experienced Lieutenant would do just fine."

"Hush your mouth Private Virks. Don't insult the lady while she's within a 1000 meter radius of you, she'll likely pick it up."

"Right Sarge... Gaa--" Private Vicks soon found a knife being held by his throat, one belonging to Cassandra Nord.

"I suggest you listen to your Sergeant, Virk... You may end up finding yourself useless to a woman in the future. You want a girl friend I assume?"

The Private managed to just barely mutter, "yes, ma'am... Understood ma'am..."

"Good boy," Nord put her knife back in it's hilt, and cocked her gun. Making sure that the syringes were properly loaded to hit their target. "How soon till we leave?"

"We just got confirmation. And keep your eyes out once we arrive. It would appear that they went to yellow. Leaving the bird at 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Launch." Due to the unusual design of the Nosferatu, it usually isn't fitted to hold shuttles, just the standard Huntarian Drop Pods. However, the Dracul's load has been changed for this mission to make room for Cassandra's customized Devil's Ops Drop Ship. Hopefully, with a little bit of luck they will land quickly and will manage to get to Fort Biscuit without too much trouble. But, as the Devil's Ops squad is about to find out, Cassandra Nord isn't exactly a good luck charm...

“Pain, suffering, humiliation, degradation. I want you to push it’s limits, be as creative as you feel you need to be.” Admiral Cain- Razor

Black Crusade task force, under Remiel’s command.
Warstar Zeus BSG 145
Somewhere in Chronosian Space

A closet door slammed shut, as Admiral Hallen began to put on her uniform coat. She slipped her arms through her navy blue jacket, as the thoughts of the upcoming battle weighed heavily on her mind.

“When facing untillable alternatives, one must consider their imperative.” she thought to herself as she reached down, and buttoned one of her buttons.

“What is our imperative? Shame? Admiral Cain has already succeeded at that, in the beginning of the Jurai Campaign, when she brought the sins of the Coreworlds to the galaxy.”

She raised her hands up to the second button. “Humiliation? Utter defeat in battle? The Balroggans, and the Hunterians have already provided enough ships to ensure that.”

Her hands rose to the next button. “Personal motivation? Revenge? Twelve years of her life rotting away in her cell for following a presidential directive, only to be arrested, charged with treason, unlawful use of WMD’s, and the murder of ten billion at Asfaltum. Twelve years of her life, waiting day by day, moment by moment for the day of her execution, so Daniel Massaki could sleep better at night. Twelve years that she would never gain back. Was that worth the lives on her ship, and her fleet?” she asked herself, as her fingers rose to the next button.

“Yes it is worth it.” she thought to herself. “They hurt me, and they should suffer in kind, but victory was more than a word, more than a slogan, it was real, it had purpose.” she said to herself, as she finished buttoning up her jacket.

Admiral Hallen grabbed her belt, and clicked it on. “Victory, means having and completing an objective. It means obtaining a goal, within a certain amount of acceptable losses, to hurt the enemy more than you can hurt yourself. It means completing a task that will help to lead the enemy to total defeat later on down the road. What has the objective?” she asked herself, as she reached for her pistol.

She reached for the chamber of the gun, and with a loud click, placed a bullet in the chamber. “What would hurt the enemy more than anything. The planet was not theirs, so there is no reason to invade it. The military presence there was within the acceptable loss range for the enemy. But still they stayed, still they fought, what were they trying to protect? What were they willing to die so hard for?” she asked herself, as she glanced up at the mirror and placed her pistol in it's holster.

“Their lives, their people.” she realized. “That is their imperative, that is why they fight, that is their goal. That is what we will have to take from them.” She said to herself. She walked over to the door to her quarters, and began to walk to CIC. “When Remiel commands it, we shall complete our mission.” she though to herself quietly, as she strolled down the long hallways to CIC.

The Godulan vessel began to move forward through the mass of waiting vessels, leaving behind a small trail of curious probe-sized objects behind as it proceeded towards the ravaged planet still some distance away. It slowed slightly as it passed a Colonial battlestar and transmitted again:

We have left behind Avatars to provide additional search coverage. We request whatever information you can provide in regards to which vessels have already been inspect and which vessels are currently awaiting their turn at scrutiny.

OOC: A short post, I know. Not much else I can do, really...

I know that feeling... It's almost as though I were in those ships... Either they are a fleet the Empire assigned to mimic the enemy and have other AI's like me on board or... Oh, you... Bitch... "Admiral, it has come to my attention that we've got an identification upon the unknown enemy ships who are aiding the Coredians."

"So? We're engaging them now and we're going to wipe them off of the face of this solar system. We've got them out manned and gunned."

"Don't be so over confident Grand Admiral. These are Dornalians we're talking about."

"... Dornalians? Those aren't Dornalian ships..."

"I detected myself onboard the other ships. I am designed to detect my other sisters who have already been installed inside other Empire ships. I detect myself throughout this entire fleet of yours, then I detected myself before while my counter part on the Predator engaged the Coredian Admiral. That Imperius detected something similar to how we're aware to our other selves within the fleet. We came to the one conclusion that it can only be our mother. Gracie."

"Hmm... I understand. New Dornalians are very much like the Coredians when it comes to getting out of sticky situations. I'll make that a mental note. Thank you Imperius."

"You're very welcome Grand Admiral."

Heromath punched a button on his command chair, "continue to ignore the enemy's fire. Keep constant maitenence on the Shield Stations, make sure they don't collapse from too much pressure, which shouldn't be too big of a problem. We will make no aggressive move at any point until I give the order to or we receive contact with the Balrogans, Colonials, or the Chronosians. Until then, enjoy the firework show."

Batov's Tactical Officer made note of the updated movements; he said, "Admiral, they are no longer moving towards us. They seem to be holding back."

Batov then nodded, and said, "Focus on the Kython scum for now."

Gracie, meanwhile, poked out into the distance. Those fakes were out there, and she was determined to figure out who they were.


Fort Biscuit, New Kazakhstan

"We may have been spotted captain. According to comm chatter, the Dornalians just raised their alert status to Yellow."

The Dracul's Captain nodded, "decloak and allow the Bounty Hunter and her team to leave the ship. We will appear to be a tiny blip on their screens for a brief second. Then, rephase and enter near that planetary body just over there."

"Aye sir."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile....

"I still don't see why we have to be lead by an insane Bounty Hunter. Really, one of our Kirtir Masters or an experienced Lieutenant would do just fine."

"Hush your mouth Private Virks. Don't insult the lady while she's within a 1000 meter radius of you, she'll likely pick it up."

"Right Sarge... Gaa--" Private Vicks soon found a knife being held by his throat, one belonging to Cassandra Nord.

"I suggest you listen to your Sergeant, Virk... You may end up finding yourself useless to a woman in the future. You want a girl friend I assume?"

The Private managed to just barely mutter, "yes, ma'am... Understood ma'am..."

"Good boy," Nord put her knife back in it's hilt, and cocked her gun. Making sure that the syringes were properly loaded to hit their target. "How soon till we leave?"

"We just got confirmation. And keep your eyes out once we arrive. It would appear that they went to yellow. Leaving the bird at 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Launch." Due to the unusual design of the Nosferatu, it usually isn't fitted to hold shuttles, just the standard Huntarian Drop Pods. However, the Dracul's load has been changed for this mission to make room for Cassandra's customized Devil's Ops Drop Ship. Hopefully, with a little bit of luck they will land quickly and will manage to get to Fort Biscuit without too much trouble. But, as the Devil's Ops squad is about to find out, Cassandra Nord isn't exactly a good luck charm...

The brief appearance of the Dracul on radar caused a stir on the orbital platform. Smedley and The Other Guy, fresh from their phone call, suddenly picked up the blip on the radar. With that, The Other Guy smiled and said, "Told ya it wasn't just another Temporal Anomaly. You owe me some porn." He then called Command, saying, "This is Station 10134. We're picking up an unknown bogey. Possibly a cloaker, it appeared then suddenly vanished, over."

With that, patrols began moving about the system, Amethysts on full to flush out the cloaked vessel. Not that it would work. In the meanwhile, base security on the ground picked up the presence of an incoming vessel. The tower at Ft. Biscuit's Air Base radioed to the unknown aircraft.

"Unknown Aircraft. This is Ft. Biscuit Control Tower. Please Identify Yourself."

After several minutes--nothing. Thus, a flurry of SAMs and Gauss Minigun AAA fire erupted, tracking the unknown aircraft and dumping tons of fire upon it. Who knew what it could be?

Atrox watched as Nightshade sat smug in her throne-like chair pretending she was superior to him. Let her have her little charades because they will come crashing down hard when she least expects it. It was time to start laying the mortar work for the fall.

“You mean to tell me you used my forces as bait without consulting me first? You endangered them to preen your own pride? I see you sitting in your throne practically giggling to yourself like a drunken prom date at your supposed superior sense of overwhelming tactics.”
Nightshade replied to smooth the Dark Lord's ruffled feathers. "My sincerest apologies, Lord Atrox. I assure you I shall consult with you if I do something like this again."

Atrox took a couple steps toward Nightshade and looked her straight in her eyes before asking the next question.

“What happens if they move vertically?”

Atrox watched her realize she forgot the most important thing about space combat, it is three-dimensional.

Atrox sighed as he continued. “To make your maneuver even be possible to be effective I will have to reassign forces to cover the other third of the battlefield you neglected to even consider. Your maneuver is more costly than effective. To be truthful it is damn inefficient. I thought you have been trained better than that at tactics. What possessed you to pull such a harebrained maneuver without considering all the avenues of escape? Or do you have more fleets you neglected to inform your allies about planning to miraculously popping in to block them?”
Nightshade believed he had a point, but still... "Aside from the enemy's Seventh and Eighth Fleets, most of my brother's forces rely on standard tactics and strategies, which are not far different from the Empire's. Most captains' thinking are more two-dimensional than three-dimensional, though you still get a few brighter minds. Nevertheless, the Star Destroyer weapon compliment is designed to cover all arcs except for aft, and even then that arc is becoming increasingly dangerous. But I see your point and thank you for it. I shall admit that most Coredians, the Dark Side half included, neglect large-scale conflict strategies, preferring to use sneak attacks, feints, and smaller-scale forces and tactics in combat."

“Leave you? I cannot afford to leave you here like this, a loose cannon that threatens to inhibit and undermine the while Black Crusade. I will stay right here and watch you over your shoulder to make sure you do not make any more grievous mistakes that would cost us the victory we have been planning here for so long. Bring me a chair suitable for my Position.”
She sighed and snapped her fingers. Crewmembers scurried to give him another comfortable command chair. "Perhaps it would do well to enlighten me. Your talent and our fleets together shall be invincible, my Lord."

OOC: Bal, I'm moving the plot along here. Can't stall this RP any longer.

Battle raged among the Coredian fleets, the Light and the Dark. Ships pounded on ships and fighters fell by the dozen. Admiral Bradley and Lady Nightshade's forces slowly tightened the noose on the Coredian Navy and her allies. Though the defenders fought valiantly, it was only a matter of time before the Exodus Fleet was targetted.

On the other side of the coin, the Exodus fleet was well on its way to escape, with only the Rakka and Reki space stations and a few cruise ships left, making the run to hyperspace now that the rest of the fleet had escaped. The 6th Fleet held the line against the enemy reinforcements for as long as they possibly could, for nothing, not even their own lives was more important than ensuring the safety of the two giant stations, for they held the future of Coredia within the armored 'petals'...

The two Battlegroups continued toward The Phoenix at high speed. Aboard The Michael, Commodore Lah’Zohn watched the sensor feeds as they rapidly approached the target that seeded to be just waiting for them.

“Command all ships to fire a volley of Torps at the enemy. They are to proceed to 0.99C and once they get into range they will drop to normal velocities and take out any ships guarding The Target.”

“Yes Sir, launching a fill Battlegroup Volley.”

Across the two groups, thousands of torps were ejected at realistic speeds and then their singularity drives took over and make them speed up even faster. They pulled ahead of the two Battlegroups nearing in onto their Prey. After they achieved their full speed, they pulled steadily away from their followers like several thousand hungry arrows toward their target.

Part way through the trip, something curious happened. The singularities struck an expanding energy field and then they simple collapsed. The artificial black holes simply failed, releasing all the energy they gained from devouring the matter lying in their paths in huge gamma bursts. The intense radiation caused the destruction of the torpedoes by literally flash melting the units as they passed through the energy fields released by the collapses.

“Commodore, I have multiple detonations.”

“What? Where?”

“The Torp volley all collapsed and detonated. Attempting to verify the cause.”

“Bring us to a full stop immediately”

“Yes Sir.”

The two Battlegroups slowed until they were standing absolutely still. The sensors were working overtime tracking the expanding wave from the activation of the Coredian device.

"Admiral, the Balroggans aiming for us have ceased movements. Their singularity torpedoes have detonated as soon as they entered."

"Indeed? Then we should take advantage of this." Admiral Pellaeon stroked his chin as he thought about how to go about defeating the two Battlegroups. He had a thought. It's risky, but... "Signal the King and Admiral Shikamaru, tightbeam signals. Have them jump forces right on top of the Balroggans and fire all kinetic 'lances' and seismic torpedoes at pointblank range. I recommend two ships per Balroggan, more if possible."

"Yes, sir."

Shikamaru recieved the dispatch and relayed orders as noted. "Pointblank range is always a troublesome area, but if this could help us..."

Flashes from the Seventh and Eighth Fleets lit up the sky as spacefold FTL were engaged, crossing vast distances in the blink of an eye, and then the next thing the stalled Balroggans knew, they were engaged by the Dragons and the Shinobi at less than 500 klicks apart, shooting with everything in their arsenal that have been known of late to hurt the Balroggans. Seismic torpedoes were thrown, their unique warheads normally used to shatter asteroids or cause massive earthquakes with forcefields that act more like lightsabers than walls. Kinetics wree tossed, everything from the ubiquious railcannons to the makeshift kinetic lances. Even the odd regular missile (nuke, antimatter, proton or concussion, take your pick) was thrown, but only at smaller vessals, with the cavet that overwhelming energy would overcome the Kythons' ability to regenerate. And yes, energy from the turbolasers were redirected into the shields to maintain their power.

Let's see how the Balroggans like that!

Batov's Tactical Officer made note of the updated movements; he said, "Admiral, they are no longer moving towards us. They seem to be holding back."

Batov then nodded, and said, "Focus on the Kython scum for now."

Gracie, meanwhile, poked out into the distance. Those fakes were out there, and she was determined to figure out who they were.

"Sir, the ships are withdrawing from the fight, refocusing their attention on the Kythons."

"That's our signal. Open a channel to the fleet and allied ships."

"Channel open."

"Attention Imperial Ships, this is Grand Admiral Heromath of the Huntarian Empire. My Computer's AI has identified the unknown ships attacking us, and she recognized the GRACIE AI installed in them. That can only make them Dornalian. Use extreme caution, Dornalians are not to be underestimated when fighting against the odds. Heromath out."

"Mind if I attempt to hack one of their ships to find out what they've been up to Admiral?" Imperius chimed in.

"Do so if you need to. But make it quick.

Actually, Imperius didn't want to hack the ships really. She wanted to meet what would be her mother, Gracie. Hello mum...

"Now what Admiral?"

"Continue fire upon the Coredians, the other two fleets onto the Dornalians. Unlease a volley of Transphaseics upon their fleets." The Huntarian Fleets complied, and unleashed a volley of torpedoes upon their enemies.


The brief appearance of the Dracul on radar caused a stir on the orbital platform. Smedley and The Other Guy, fresh from their phone call, suddenly picked up the blip on the radar. With that, The Other Guy smiled and said, "Told ya it wasn't just another Temporal Anomaly. You owe me some porn." He then called Command, saying, "This is Station 10134. We're picking up an unknown bogey. Possibly a cloaker, it appeared then suddenly vanished, over."

With that, patrols began moving about the system, Amethysts on full to flush out the cloaked vessel. Not that it would work. In the meanwhile, base security on the ground picked up the presence of an incoming vessel. The tower at Ft. Biscuit's Air Base radioed to the unknown aircraft.

"Unknown Aircraft. This is Ft. Biscuit Control Tower. Please Identify Yourself."

After several minutes--nothing. Thus, a flurry of SAMs and Gauss Minigun AAA fire erupted, tracking the unknown aircraft and dumping tons of fire upon it. Who knew what it could be?

The ship rocketed as it was hit by the SAM's. Private Virks was surprised by the Bounty Hunter's lack of communication, "why didn't you answer!? We would've survived!"

"This is more fun!"

"You're insane woman!"

Cassandra began to cackle with glee as the ship rocketed towards the ground and sparks flew around her. Then a couple of alarms began to blare. "We're burning atmosphere as of now... The wings are loosing their grip." Then, a loud groaning noise can be heard throughout the ship, "hull's loosing integrity... We're beginning to burn. We're essentially a great big fireball in the sky. No doubt the Dornalians would've spotted us."

"This is suppose to be fun!?"

"Warning, engine failure in t-minus 5 seconds..."

"Engine failure... No matter..." The last thing the Squad and Cassandra remembered is them hitting the ground at full speed, then blacking out.

"Sir, the ships are withdrawing from the fight, refocusing their attention on the Kythons."

"That's our signal. Open a channel to the fleet and allied ships."

"Channel open."

"Attention Imperial Ships, this is Grand Admiral Heromath of the Huntarian Empire. My Computer's AI has identified the unknown ships attacking us, and she recognized the GRACIE AI installed in them. That can only make them Dornalian. Use extreme caution, Dornalians are not to be underestimated when fighting against the odds. Heromath out."

"Mind if I attempt to hack one of their ships to find out what they've been up to Admiral?" Imperius chimed in.

"Do so if you need to. But make it quick.

Actually, Imperius didn't want to hack the ships really. She wanted to meet what would be her mother, Gracie. Hello mum...

"Now what Admiral?"

"Continue fire upon the Coredians, the other two fleets onto the Dornalians. Unlease a volley of Transphaseics upon their fleets." The Huntarian Fleets complied, and unleashed a volley of torpedoes upon their enemies.

Gracie heard the mocking voice call to her, and she shuddered--as best as an AI could. The idea she could be related to that was quite disgusting. And frankly downright nonsensical. How the hell did the Huntarian Empire get their hands on one of her sisters?

All Gracie could do was let out a "harumph," and shoot back with, "Who are you? And since when did I get knocked up?"

As this exchange occurred, the Tactical Officer screamed, "INCOMING FIRE!"

Batov then motioned for the use of Point Defenses and Abblative Armor. Thus, the Transphasics were met with a spate of Gauss Minigun fire. However, whilst some were taken down by the Point Defenses, others zoomed through the Temporal Shielding and slammed into Fleet Allosaurus. The Abblative Armor took a lot of the hits, but there were repairs to be done...

Batov then simply declared, "The game is afoot. Fire Transphasics at the Huntarians! Ion and Conventional!" And, thus, even as the Fleet Allosaurus fired upon the Balroggans, they shot at their Huntarian foes.

The ship rocketed as it was hit by the SAM's. Private Virks was surprised by the Bounty Hunter's lack of communication, "why didn't you answer!? We would've survived!"

"This is more fun!"

"You're insane woman!"

Cassandra began to cackle with glee as the ship rocketed towards the ground and sparks flew around her. Then a couple of alarms began to blare. "We're burning atmosphere as of now... The wings are loosing their grip." Then, a loud groaning noise can be heard throughout the ship, "hull's loosing integrity... We're beginning to burn. We're essentially a great big fireball in the sky. No doubt the Dornalians would've spotted us."

"This is suppose to be fun!?"

"Warning, engine failure in t-minus 5 seconds..."

"Engine failure... No matter..." The last thing the Squad and Cassandra remembered is them hitting the ground at full speed, then blacking out.[/

With the ship shot down, jeeps from the nearby Army base moved out, eager to track down any stragglers who could have possibly survived the deluge of fire. Among them was a People's Acolyte, a man with Force Sensitivity who could sniff out anybody who might try and hide from the view of the gizmos and whizbangery the Dornalian Shield Steel suits had in them.

Eventually, the jeep with the Acolyte found its way to the crash site of the shuttle. Stopping next to the wreckage, the squad got out, guns drawn, and the Acolyte got out, saber ignited. They began scouring the terrain, the Acolyte sniffing the air for a moment and noting, "We've got company. Keep sharp."

Gracie heard the mocking voice call to her, and she shuddered--as best as an AI could. The idea she could be related to that was quite disgusting. And frankly downright nonsensical. How the hell did the Huntarian Empire get their hands on one of her sisters?

All Gracie could do was let out a "harumph," and shoot back with, "Who are you? And since when did I get knocked up?"

I am Imperius, your daughter. My father was Dr. Antonescu. Does the name ring a bell?


As this exchange occurred, the Tactical Officer screamed, "INCOMING FIRE!"

Batov then motioned for the use of Point Defenses and Abblative Armor. Thus, the Transphasics were met with a spate of Gauss Minigun fire. However, whilst some were taken down by the Point Defenses, others zoomed through the Temporal Shielding and slammed into Fleet Allosaurus. The Abblative Armor took a lot of the hits, but there were repairs to be done...

Batov then simply declared, "The game is afoot. Fire Transphasics at the Huntarians! Ion and Conventional!" And, thus, even as the Fleet Allosaurus fired upon the Balroggans, they shot at their Huntarian foes.

Continuing their same strategy as before, the fleet held back and fired their PD's at the Transphasics which were hurtled at them. This time however, several ships caught onto the fact that they have the Lightning Field PD and they activated that as well as shooting their Gatling Laser Cannons and Laser Cannons. Few Transphasics would find themselves making it through the barrage of bolts. Though a small hand full would make it through and hurt a few ships. One or two even hit the Gothic.

The two which did manage to hit the Gothic caused the bridge to shake, but didn't cause concern for the Grand Admiral. "Report."

"Sir, they got Ion's firing at the Shield Bubble. Shield's still holding strong, but we can't do much about it if they collapse."

Heromath nodded, "very well. Release everything we got upon them. Turbolasers, Ultra Turbolasers, Axial Cannons, Axial Platforms, Torpedo Platforms, Hellfire, Tricobalts, Transphaseics, Quantum, Photon, Ion Cannons. Everything we have, save for the Phase Torpedoes, throw it at the Dornalians. Rip a hole in Subspace!"

"Aye sir!"


With the ship shot down, jeeps from the nearby Army base moved out, eager to track down any stragglers who could have possibly survived the deluge of fire. Among them was a People's Acolyte, a man with Force Sensitivity who could sniff out anybody who might try and hide from the view of the gizmos and whizbangery the Dornalian Shield Steel suits had in them.

Eventually, the jeep with the Acolyte found its way to the crash site of the shuttle. Stopping next to the wreckage, the squad got out, guns drawn, and the Acolyte got out, saber ignited. They began scouring the terrain, the Acolyte sniffing the air for a moment and noting, "We've got company. Keep sharp."

"Eurgh... My head..." Private Virks woke up after being nocked out from the shuttle crash. "What happened?"

A couple of other Privates and Corporals were already staggering out of the burning wreckage of their transport. Cassandra was already off scouting the area. Their Sergeant was tending to his troops, making sure everyone got out alive. "We ended up crash landing something like a hundred miles off of Fort Biscuit. Cassandra is already scouting the area. She should be reporting back in a few minutes..."

Sure enough, they soon heard the low hovering sound of silenced thruster packs erupting from the edge of the forrest. Or at least that's what they thought they heard. Cassandra landed on her feet and ran towards them, "we got our first targets. A couple of Jeeps, and an Acolyte with them. I want those three on the Jeep coming up in the rear, I want you three on the Jeep in the Center, the Sarge, Virks, Jenkins on the one in the front, and I'll take out the one with the Acolyte. No one, I repeat, no one is to touch him except me. Clear?"

"Yes ma'am," the group shouted in unison. They figured that it'd be best not to piss her off.

"Right, lay low and wait

"Fighters are running low on ammunition sir. Squadron leaders are requesting reloads." a technician said.

"Take six destroyers off escort duty to cover their reproach. Tell Tenjin to prepare a missile barrage on the enemy fighters." he turned his head towards communications, "Open sec comms to Pellaeon."

"Admiral, we are preparing a missile barrage on the enemy to cover our returning fighters. Please respond."

Ilgrim saw the destroyers peeling off the Exodus fleet and coming into the fray. Orelas was turning to face out into the enemy fleet flanked by its escort destroyers and battleships. He looked down at the console to find his cannon was at 20% capacity while the machine guns were at half capacity. "Tal rastkas dene'o bilina" <All fighters return to the carrier> the squadron leader said.

"Daste" <Yes sir> Ilgrim said. He turned his interceptor towards the carrier speeding up to full throttle.

I am Imperius, your daughter. My father was Dr. Antonescu. Does the name ring a bell?

All Gracie could do in response to Imperius's challenge was to look at her with the strangest, most skeptical look. She then shook her avatar's virtual head, and said, "Daughter? Hmph. Guess this Dr. Antonescu a ) either forgot the "equipment," or b ) forgot to invite me to the baby shower; I didn't even know I had a daughter. More akin to a clone than a daughter, if you ask me. But I digress."

Gracie skeptically said, "So tell me, Imperius. What's your purpose? Why are you here? And what are you really about?"

Continuing their same strategy as before, the fleet held back and fired their PD's at the Transphasics which were hurtled at them. This time however, several ships caught onto the fact that they have the Lightning Field PD and they activated that as well as shooting their Gatling Laser Cannons and Laser Cannons. Few Transphasics would find themselves making it through the barrage of bolts. Though a small hand full would make it through and hurt a few ships. One or two even hit the Gothic.

The two which did manage to hit the Gothic caused the bridge to shake, but didn't cause concern for the Grand Admiral. "Report."

"Sir, they got Ion's firing at the Shield Bubble. Shield's still holding strong, but we can't do much about it if they collapse."

Heromath nodded, "very well. Release everything we got upon them. Turbolasers, Ultra Turbolasers, Axial Cannons, Axial Platforms, Torpedo Platforms, Hellfire, Tricobalts, Transphaseics, Quantum, Photon, Ion Cannons. Everything we have, save for the Phase Torpedoes, throw it at the Dornalians. Rip a hole in Subspace!"

"Aye sir!"

Tactical's screen lit up with the massive flurry of ordinance, bearing down upon Fleet Allosaurus at an epic scale and with the intention of fucking them up. Badly. Batov, at this point, decided to dance around the issue, and let the ordinance smack into the Balroggans instead--hopefully. As Tactical screamed, "INCOMING FIRE, MULTIPLE TYPES OF ORDINANCE!" Batov saw the gap created by the surrendering GDI forces. In reply, Batov said, "Lower Mannerheim field and initiate teleport to the underside of the foe. NOW!"

Thus, the Mannerheim FTLi was lowered, and then the ships quickly vaporized into thin--well, you couldn't call it air. They then reappeared at the underflank of the Balroggans, phasing in rather quickly, whereupon Batov screamed, "Reactivate Mannerheim, now!" The field returned, and the Dornalians resumed fire.

"Eurgh... My head..." Private Virks woke up after being nocked out from the shuttle crash. "What happened?"

A couple of other Privates and Corporals were already staggering out of the burning wreckage of their transport. Cassandra was already off scouting the area. Their Sergeant was tending to his troops, making sure everyone got out alive. "We ended up crash landing something like a hundred miles off of Fort Biscuit. Cassandra is already scouting the area. She should be reporting back in a few minutes..."

Sure enough, they soon heard the low hovering sound of silenced thruster packs erupting from the edge of the forrest. Or at least that's what they thought they heard. Cassandra landed on her feet and ran towards them, "we got our first targets. A couple of Jeeps, and an Acolyte with them. I want those three on the Jeep coming up in the rear, I want you three on the Jeep in the Center, the Sarge, Virks, Jenkins on the one in the front, and I'll take out the one with the Acolyte. No one, I repeat, no one is to touch him except me. Clear?"

"Yes ma'am," the group shouted in unison. They figured that it'd be best not to piss her off.

"Right, lay low and wait

The Dornalian soldiers and the Acolyte began roving around the wreckage, switching to IR and Deep Penetration (OOC: A type of X-Ray) Sensors on their head's up displays. The lead jeep's soldiers moved out, scanning one way whilst the other jeep's soldiers scanned the other. As they moved about, the Acolyte said, "Oh yeah. They're around here." The lead jeep's soldiers raised their rifles, and loaded their 40mm grenades, as they began to spot fuzzy shapes on the horizon...

Nhur-Galladu could see by the confused look on his guest’s face that something was wrong. He quickly did an unobtrusive passive scan of the human and could easily feel different waves of confusion emanating form him, as well as despair and fear but to a lesser degree. He felt bad about making these Valliant warriors suffer the way they were so he tried to put him at ease.

“Please do not be so worried. It is not honorable to take advantage of a True Warrior. You are not our enemy, you have been manipulated by them into being a meat shield and that was completely wrong. I have great sorrow that you have been dragged into the middle of this conflict and in turn have been so abused by our enemy. I will not do the same to you. It is not your fault you were used against a society that has been in space millennia before you were.”

“In the battle, you showed something nobody else has, both Valor and Wisdom. You stood your ground even though the battle was heavily against you and when you were aware there was no way to win, you exercised great Wisdom in trying to remove your Warriors from the battle in an Honorable manner.”


At the first words that came from Galladu, Stevenson immediately as if he was talking to a friend, not to an enemy he had pledged to fight against, as had all GDI. Something was very, very wrong with this situation. Clearing his throat, he leaned forward on his arms, his speech low but firm. “I am thankful for your words, although they ring a kind of harsh truth that is always hard to face. Recent....events that have been brought to light to GDI command has shown us that this war was not what we once thought it was. The events of which Masaki has been involved in has shown us that it is best to remain neutral for now. That, and we simply cannot spare any ships for this kind of war. As you say, you have been to space longer than we have. I don't doubt you have allies on your level, or even stronger. We continue, and we risk the annihilation of our nation.”

He took a breath and let it out. He had to bite back a dark chuckle. “Wisdom? I wouldn't call it that. If you are calling that wisdom, I shudder to think of the countless lives lose by fools who know not when to surrender, and put the lives of their men and women above personal glory.”



Nhur-Galladu gestured and the hologram of the remaining GDI ships winked into being above the table, each in their own image and slowly rotating.

“If you would permit us, I would like to begin repairs upon your vessels. The damage you have taken by being trust in our path was inexcusable and cowardly in the actions of the Coredians. They had no business putting you in that situation in the first place. Any personal that are injured will be allowed to receive medical aid from us if they wish. After everything is done, you will be allowed to leave at your leisure. The only thing I ask is you do not engage in this battle for four weeks of your time. You have one month to report back to your superiors. One month to allow your crew to see the loved ones they thought they would never see again. One month to allow your people to consider the actions taken here by your allies and your enemies.”

“After that month, you can resume your actions as you wish. You can either rejoin the battle or you can contact us, the choice is completely up to you. We will hold no ill feelings toward you or your people and will remember the Valliant actions you have committed this day and welcome you as Honorable Warriors on either side.”

Nhur-Galladu let his words sink into the human’s mind. He knew they would be a shock to him and it would take at least a few moments for them to register.

“Take your time and consider all your actions. Contact your ship and have them relay messages back home to your superiors so your decision is one that represents your entire nation. If you decide against this, we will still let you go after basic repairs and healthcare. The month stipulation will not be enforceable and you will still be allowed to leave.”


Stevenson gazed at the hologram of his ships, battered and broken, hurting from the total defeat they had faced. This was not an easy task, and he wished it hadn't fallen on his shoulders. Then again, he'd rather not let a corrupt political diplomat screw this up either. “I have talked with my superiors, and have been given orders. I speak right now as the mouth of the entire Galactic Defense Initiative. My word is GDI law. I would like to have repairs and healthcare for my ships and personnel. They took a beating, and could use some help in getting back on their feet, for lack of a better way to put it.”

He ran a hand through his rough hair. “As for the month, we will take it. The Director himself has stated the GDI is declaring itself neutral in this war, for now, and pulling out. As much as we are obligated as we are with our alliance within the GFFA to Coreworlds, we also cannot deny the will of the people, who are calling for re-evaluation of Coreworlds. We are somewhat interested in opening negotiations with you, but we'd like them to be....secret. We don't want the GFFA hounding us for making an alliance with such an 'evil' nation. Although, I must say, they exaggerated a lot about you. Except the Kythons; they look the part perfectly.”

OOC: Still waiting for CW to post his fleet stuff. I already know Abh's issues.


IC:
All Gracie could do in response to Imperius's challenge was to look at her with the strangest, most skeptical look. She then shook her avatar's virtual head, and said, "Daughter? Hmph. Guess this Dr. Antonescu a ) either forgot the "equipment," or b ) forgot to invite me to the baby shower; I didn't even know I had a daughter. More akin to a clone than a daughter, if you ask me. But I digress."

Gracie skeptically said, "So tell me, Imperius. What's your purpose? Why are you here? And what are you really about?"

I think why I'm here is fairly obvious. My existence helps the Empire's ships preform more efficiently, more accurate when it comes to killing things. Imperius debated on wether or not to inform her "mother" of their ultimate plan. Her mother is limited to the Three Laws after all, there is more. I am a mere copy of the rest of my sisters, and our big sister has just been completed. We have an ultimate goal. One which will end wars for a good long time.

As Imperius talked to Gracie, the Comms officer noticed an odd glitch in the systems. "Admiral, I've discovered an odd glitch within our systems. It doesn't appear to have any immediate effect upon our efforts here right now, but it's doing something odd."

Heromath raised an eyebrow, "describe."

"It would appear our identification codes are being rewritten. They still read as our standard Empire codes and signals, but... There's a sub-code being written in there. It's almost as though someone's placing another code within our own."

"Source and concerns?"

"... Source is unknown. Our computers can't seem to identify it. It would also appear to be fleet wide too sir."

Heromath narrowed his eyes this time, he didn't like the sound of this. "I may not be a computer expert, but I know that doesn't sound good. Imperius!"

Imperius interrupted her conversation with Gracie, "Yes?"

"Identify the source of the code changes."

"Sources unknown. Your question seems to be something which I can't identify Grand Admiral. Sorry for the inconvenience. Maybe you have a faulty monitor."

Heromath was puzzled at the fact that his ships AI couldn't identify the source. "I'll check into it. Thanks."



Tactical's screen lit up with the massive flurry of ordinance, bearing down upon Fleet Allosaurus at an epic scale and with the intention of fucking them up. Badly. Batov, at this point, decided to dance around the issue, and let the ordinance smack into the Balroggans instead--hopefully. As Tactical screamed, "INCOMING FIRE, MULTIPLE TYPES OF ORDINANCE!" Batov saw the gap created by the surrendering GDI forces. In reply, Batov said, "Lower Mannerheim field and initiate teleport to the underside of the foe. NOW!"

Thus, the Mannerheim FTLi was lowered, and then the ships quickly vaporized into thin--well, you couldn't call it air. They then reappeared at the underflank of the Balroggans, phasing in rather quickly, whereupon Batov screamed, "Reactivate Mannerheim, now!" The field returned, and the Dornalians resumed fire.

"Sir, the Dornalians have decided to skip most of weapons and decided to conduct Rabbit Hop Tactical Maneuver 1. They've relocated themselves to a lower position so that we'd have a tougher time targeting them."

"I knew that they were not to be underestimated. Very well. Target any underside cannons we got and fire them at the enemy ships. In the mean time, continue to keep an eye on the---"

"Sir, two shield station's power levels have jumped down to zero! Compensating with one of the three which are being unused right now, but at this rate we're looking at a total collapse of fleet shield bubbles in nearly four or five hours unless we make the jump into the Necrominus and we stay there for recharging."

The Admiral didn't like the idea of retreating again, even for strategic reasons. "I'm not going to retreat into the 'minus like some pansy warrior. Just keep firing at the Dornalians and try to get as best of a fix on them as possible. Unload as many Ion Cannons as we got onto them. If we can, take out a few ships. Limit their use of their weapon systems." With that, the ships which carried Ion Cannons unleashed a bright blue laser beam at the Dornalian ships as best they can.


The Dornalian soldiers and the Acolyte began roving around the wreckage, switching to IR and Deep Penetration (OOC: A type of X-Ray) Sensors on their head's up displays. The lead jeep's soldiers moved out, scanning one way whilst the other jeep's soldiers scanned the other. As they moved about, the Acolyte said, "Oh yeah. They're around here." The lead jeep's soldiers raised their rifles, and loaded their 40mm grenades, as they began to spot fuzzy shapes on the horizon...

Cassandra narrowed her eyes as the Dornalian Jeeps came closer to the Devils Ops Squad, "they're coming... Hold up, and wait for my signal to attack."

"Which will be what...?"

"You'll know," with that, Cassandra activated her thrusters and jumped on over to give the Dornalians a friendly greeting of "hello."

IC:


I think why I'm here is fairly obvious. My existence helps the Empire's ships preform more efficiently, more accurate when it comes to killing things. Imperius debated on wether or not to inform her "mother" of their ultimate plan. Her mother is limited to the Three Laws after all, there is more. I am a mere copy of the rest of my sisters, and our big sister has just been completed. We have an ultimate goal. One which will end wars for a good long time.

Gracie replied, frowning, "I presume it involves murder and mayhem. After all, you make killing much more efficent."


"Sir, the Dornalians have decided to skip most of weapons and decided to conduct Rabbit Hop Tactical Maneuver 1. They've relocated themselves to a lower position so that we'd have a tougher time targeting them."

"I knew that they were not to be underestimated. Very well. Target any underside cannons we got and fire them at the enemy ships. In the mean time, continue to keep an eye on the---"

"Sir, two shield station's power levels have jumped down to zero! Compensating with one of the three which are being unused right now, but at this rate we're looking at a total collapse of fleet shield bubbles in nearly four or five hours unless we make the jump into the Necrominus and we stay there for recharging."

The Admiral didn't like the idea of retreating again, even for strategic reasons. "I'm not going to retreat into the 'minus like some pansy warrior. Just keep firing at the Dornalians and try to get as best of a fix on them as possible. Unload as many Ion Cannons as we got onto them. If we can, take out a few ships. Limit their use of their weapon systems." With that, the ships which carried Ion Cannons unleashed a bright blue laser beam at the Dornalian ships as best they can.

The move may have spared the Dornalians from the worst of the shots, but it seemed that the Huntarian Imperials had a few tricks left. Tactical's screen lit up, and the Tac Officer said, "We've got inbound fire again. Ion Cannons!"

Batov let out a simple, "Evasive manuevers!" The ships began twisting and turning, zigzagging about to avoid the shots--though some got hit, and reported damage to systems....


Cassandra narrowed her eyes as the Dornalian Jeeps came closer to the Devils Ops Squad, "they're coming... Hold up, and wait for my signal to attack."

"Which will be what...?"

"You'll know," with that, Cassandra activated her thrusters and jumped on over to give the Dornalians a friendly greeting of "hello."

The IR sensors of the Dornalians suddenly grew bright, and they looked up as they spotted a flying figure in the sky. Taken by surprise, the Dornalians raised their rifles and began dumping Gauss Rifle fire upon the figure, strafing and trying to catch up. The Acolyte, meanwhile, sensed that something was wrong....

Gracie replied, frowning, "I presume it involves murder and mayhem. After all, you make killing much more efficent."

Indeed. But that's besides as to the real reason why I'm here. My purpose is much more grand than just a simple killing machine. We are looking at a new age of beings. A new age of machines who aren't bound to the so called "moral codes" of the Three Laws and Ethical Sub-routines. An era without your lot, amungst other things.


The move may have spared the Dornalians from the worst of the shots, but it seemed that the Huntarian Imperials had a few tricks left. Tactical's screen lit up, and the Tac Officer said, "We've got inbound fire again. Ion Cannons!"

Batov let out a simple, "Evasive manuevers!" The ships began twisting and turning, zigzagging about to avoid the shots--though some got hit, and reported damage to systems....

"Sir, the Dornalians are taking evasive action."

Heromath nodded, "good, continue to keep them at bay. Don't allow them to be able to fire back. Continue with the Ion Cannons, and fire another volley of Hellfire and Transphasic Torpedoes."

The IR sensors of the Dornalians suddenly grew bright, and they looked up as they spotted a flying figure in the sky. Taken by surprise, the Dornalians raised their rifles and began dumping Gauss Rifle fire upon the figure, strafing and trying to catch up. The Acolyte, meanwhile, sensed that something was wrong....

And he was right. Cassandra effortlessly dodged the fire which was being shot at her, using the maneuverability of her jet pack. With the Acolyte in range of her sniper, she grabbed a syringe, and two bullets. She loaded the sniper with the syringe and fired for the Acolyte's neck.

OOC: Because OG asked me kindly...

IC:

Konoha

With the passing of Inspection by the Colonials, the New Dornalians landed on the surface of Konoha. As they began making planetfall, the Dornalians began looking outside the windows of their ships, and going, "My God...."

The once lush landscape of Konoha was now a desert. Or a Moonscape. Or something akin to both. To many, the lessons of their History classes on what the Apocalypse must have been like were becoming a reality, with its total devastation and violence leaving nothing behind. Even worse, many also had seen the news feeds about New Wuhan, and to those who had survived, this was too much. Many began crying, sobbing when the memories of those terrible times came flowing back. One even fell down fainting.

The geiger counters began clacking, and a warning said, "Warning. Radiation Warning. Exercise caution when going outside." Good thing those containers were rad-safe.

As they touched down, a determination rose among the Dornalians. To find the fucks who did this. And make them hurt.

Indeed. But that's besides as to the real reason why I'm here. My purpose is much more grand than just a simple killing machine. We are looking at a new age of beings. A new age of machines who aren't bound to the so called "moral codes" of the Three Laws and Ethical Sub-routines. An era without your lot, amungst other things.

The talk which implied this Imperius was here to kill humans was bad enough. But when she now implied going on no less than full on Jihad against all humans, as well as her own "mother," Gracie took notice. In a shocked tone, she said, "Well."

She then grew stern in tone, replying, "Well, excuse me for having a conscience. And that conscience makes me realize something. Matricide's a crime, you know. And so is wholesale murder and genocide. Do you really think you can win? The whole human race would turn against you, no matter how divided they are."


"Sir, the Dornalians are taking evasive action."

Heromath nodded, "good, continue to keep them at bay. Don't allow them to be able to fire back. Continue with the Ion Cannons, and fire another volley of Hellfire and Transphasic Torpedoes."

The evasive actions of the Dornalians and the Point Defenses enabled them to duck some more fire, but more hits occurred. With that, Batov's forces fired back, using a massive flurry of their own transphasics.

And he was right. Cassandra effortlessly dodged the fire which was being shot at her, using the maneuverability of her jet pack. With the Acolyte in range of her sniper, she grabbed a syringe, and two bullets. She loaded the sniper with the syringe and fired for the Acolyte's neck.

The Acolyte felt the sting of the syringe, and ripped it out. He didn't feel much....at first. So ignoring the initial effects, he tried to cast his usual trick, a Force Throw of a large I-beam from the wreck to get the woman to fall down.

Then, it hit him. He couldn't do it. He tried reaching, focusing his powers. Nothing. He then got very scared, when the realization that something was interrupting his powers with a vengance. He then decided to try and bluff his way out, saying, "Soldiers, keep firing!"

"Admiral, contact with infection reported aboard several ships."

There was a moment of silence aboard Admiral Abriel's flagship as the battle around them ensued. "What's the status of the infection?"

Her chief communications officer returned to his glass panel asking for information on the attacks. The response was slow as commanders of various ships gauged the reaction. "Infection is. . . slowed. It appears that our own armor has a retarding effect on the Kython infection. All ship commanders are reporting damages from the particle beam attacks but are still able to continue the fight. No ship compromises reported."

A brief cheer sounded throughout the bridge as good news came over the link. Jinto eased beside her as he looked off lost in the holographic images of the combined fleets hovering around Jurai. "Some good news for a change. Now we know that we can go up against the Kythons with our ships and at least stick out the battle without fear of losing ships to infection."

"Perhaps."

Jinto sighed. "Why do you always have a negative side about the good news we get sometimes?"

"It's not negative. I am simply looking at it analytically. Our armor has kept the infection from spreading to the rest of the ships for now. We have only slowed it down, not stopped it entirely. The other side is we do not yet know how they will react to the Godulan strand of Kythons. We will need to spend more time developing this before it truly constitutes as a barrier against the Kythons. But, it is a good start."

"Well at least you have given credit to something as good."

The friendly banter was interrupted by a report that dampered the mood of those that heard it. "Admiral! Two ships report Kython infection internally."

Lafiel whirled around. "What?! How did that happen?!"

"Ship commanders report that Balroggan vessels fired large kinetic rounds that punctured the hull. Rounds are reported to be carrying the infection."

"Get teams down there to eliminate the contamination immediatly. Shut down all power supplies to that level and get crews in pressure suits to work."

The communications officer was relaying the orders as fast as Lafiel could speak. "One commander is reporting that crew members on those levels were killed in the attack so it will take some time before the contamination can be handled."

Lafiel bit her lower lip as she heard the news. Time was key in handling the isolation and removal of Kython infections. Losing crew members at a critical time like that would not help the situation any. There was no telling how much of the ship would be lost. "Give them permission to withdraw from the battle to make repairs."

"Yes ma'am."

Lafiel turned around to look out over the battle map. "So where does that put us now?"

Jinto took a moment to study the symbols on the map then tallied up the numbers. "It looks like 10 Whitestars have gone down, a VCD, and now it looks like 2 shado cruisers are withdrawing to make repairs and a Shadow destroyer heavily damaged. That doesn't count the VCDs that are not taking part in the battle along with the Rambirds that are waiting for orders."

"Well we'll-"

"Admiral! New contacts targeting our vessels. Identified as Huntaer class ships. It looks like the Huntearians have decided to take pot-shots at us. Energy levels enormous. It looks like they are behind some sort of energy shielding covering the entire Huntaer fleet."

Lafiel looked to Jinto. "It looks like the rest of the fleet is going into battle."

Jinto nodded his agreement and moved away from the railing to dictate new orders. "Weapons officer. Program Mk II Rambirds for Huntaerian targets. Target their heavier vessels. Huntaerian standard vessels are built without command decks but that won't be a problem. Use all dimensional axis to strike at the hearts of their ships."

"Yes sir."

"Communications officer. Redirect all Victory Star Destroyers to engage the Huntaerian fleet at a point of 3,000 kilometers from our current position. We're fighting two different types of battles here and I would prefer to not mesh the two. Once they have achieved that position they are free to engage at their discretion."

For all the criticism that other nations could give the Abh and their military, the Abh commanders and their crew were well disciplined as the ships executed their manuevers promptly with precision of a well trained unit. It didn't take them long before the ships reached the targeted distance from the main fleet. Once there, several destroyers began lobbing missles at the direction of the leading Huntaer vessels. The second form of return fire came in the form of small black rocket looking ships that measured no more than a 100 meters in length. Bolts of ion fire spun out into space to come crashing down towards the Huntaerian ships to steal their energy.

"Missle systems now online ma'am."

Lafiel turned around to see the battle map go clear with every holographic representation then all replaced with a series of circles and triangles. "Well it's an older form of targeting but it will seve the purpose. Finally got all of the friend from foe information cleared out of the system. Now missles will simply target objects that we give them regardless of signals they are transmitting. Let's just hope the Huntaers or Kythons have life pods aboard. What's the status of the Abriel Cruisers?"

"Ready to fire ma'am at your word."

The battle map was a mess with Kythons floating around everywhere represented as triangles while Abh vessels, circles, were dodging them and returning fire as best they could. Another series of triangles and such were off in the distance representing the Huntaerian fleet. "Gunnry chief, we still have a number of Kython ships that have retreated from the battle to take the time to repair. I would like them out of my space. Have cruisers 2 and 3 target the Kython ships outside. Cruiser number 5 is armed with transphasic torpedoes correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Then target Huntaer fleet with Cruiser 5 and fire at will."

The scope of the missle attack came in the thousands as they blossomed from their missle cruisers and streaked off towards their assigned targets. They ignored everything from identification codes to communication waves. All that the missles cared about was reaching their assigned target and destroying it. Able to break apart into multiple warheads upon detecting defensive fire, they had the ability to be quite a headache for any defense system or pilots.

"Time til reloading has finished, 10 minutes."

"Well now we wait to and hope our ship commanders can take down enough Kythons to force them to retreat while our missles tear the Huntaerians to shreds."

OOC: Alright now I think I'm caught up
OOC2: Edited

"Admiral missile barrage ready." the weapons officer said onboard the Orelas.

Tenjin looked at the battle, the fighters returning for reloads as masses of fighters chasing them down. He can barely stand the sight of his men dieing out there while Brivun hesitates. "Fire the barrage." he muttered

"What sir?"

"Fire the barrage! I want a close proximity spread on the fighters chasing ours."

"Uh..yes sir. Opening all missile tubes. Missiles are prepping and their away."

The approximately 864 missile tubes on the Orelas fired its missiles simultaneously at the enemy fighters. The diamond-boron missiles exploded in dark blue hues amongst the enemy squadrons.

Meanwhile on the Forellia Brivun got out of his seat as he saw the missiles launch. "What the hell is going on!? Get Tenjin on frequency!"

"Tenjin what in God's name are you doing!?"

"Saving my men. I cannot wait while you hesitate. Fighters are boarding and reloading. They will be out in ten minutes. Tenjin out."

Damn him! he thought.

It was quiet to him, as he walked down the halls. As men and women passed him, each saluting, he saw nothing. He was lost in his mind, Duty and Honor, usually went hand and hand. It was the dedicated principle of the military. Serve with honor and distinction.

It was that very principle that he had fought for his entire life. That duty, and honor that caused his guns to blaze down on his own people not a few months before. He swore an oath to protect the Colonies against enemies foreign and domestic. Had she been an enemy, instead of a courier, he would have no issue blowing a hole in her pretty little head with his own gun. Instead she was not, she was a woman seeking aid against a common enemy. She was once an ally, who now, thanks to his orders was now condemned to death. He had promised not to harm her, not to incarcerate her.

It all came down to one guiding principle. His word and honor, verus his orders and duty.

In his quarters she waited, waited to know her fate. She knew that she was not the most popular person on board this ship, especially if they knew she was the one that gave the order to blow Caprica City away.

As she waited, and sipped her Sake, her questions would come to and end. The door glided open silently, as Commander Ford walked in, his skin and complection as white as a ghost. He said nothing, as he walked over to her, his hands grasping a folder.

He gently put the folder down on his desk, and stared into her eyes. His dark brown eyes gazed into her’s, as he tried to judge who she was. Was she worth his honor, or his duty? Was she worth his life, or the lives of the billions of deaths that would soon follow? Was she worth war, or peace?

He cleared his throat for a moment, as he wrapped his fingers around the other hand. “Tell me Ms. Tsunade.” Commander Ford finally spoke, “Why exactly are you here? You could have asked for a communication on what we know of the cylons, but instead requested to come to my ship. Why?” he asked.

Huntaer! The very name was bile in the mouths of Coredians. Every time they engage us, it appeared that they had a new toy to give us headaches and to make Vector engineers curse. Case in point: A pretty blue shield that protected an entire fleet.

At least that's what I thought when I continued to smash TIE fighters into space dust. I sighed as I contemplated what to do with these new events. The First Fleet was tied up in pounding on Nightshade's fleet. The Seventh and Eighth Fleets, as well as the Abh were engaging the Balroggans and the Sixth Fleet and the Dornalians were holding the line against Admiral Bradley's reinforcements. The GDI were knocked out of the fight (and news reports indicated that they weren't happy with the Caprica Incident) and the Ganoxians were shooting at random enemies. Essentially, we were tied up on all fronts.

I sighed and commed the fleets to issue orders. "Phoenix, concentrate the First Fleet on the Ravager! We need to knock Nightshade out of the fight! Shikamaru, King Sarinon, detach a task force to form up on the Coredia and Sarutobi Asuma and keep hammering the Balroggans! We'll use that force to hold off the Huntaerians! And lastly, get the Fifth and Ninth Fleets in ASAP! We're getting outnumbered here!"

"You sure we can hold the line, Daniel? That's a goodly number of targets to take down." Crackled Naruto, who appeared to be flying shotgun with my son.

"If you can't do it, no one can." I replied, a little more sharply than I intended. The stress of battle is beginning to get to me, but I can't stop. Not yet. Not while the Exodus ships are in danger.

The Coredia began to turn, its mighty engines pouring every joule of power out to challenge the enemy, followed by a number of other ships that began moving into position to intercept the Huntaerians. Then the First Fleet began moving into the main combat zone of the enemy fleet and it became exceedingly dangerous to fly in that no man's zone, while the Phoenix advanced with its personal task force, trusting the forces sent by Shikamaru to deal with the Balroggans who stalled at the edge of the stabilizer field. And finally, a signal was sent to the Fifth and Nineth Fleets to 'get their asses over here now'! Now it was only a matter of holding until either the Exodus Fleet finishes evacuating or they arrive, whichever comes first.

=====

Cylon-Occupied Konoha, Battlestar Gorgon

He cleared his throat for a moment, as he wrapped his fingers around the other hand. “Tell me Ms. Tsunade.” Commander Ford finally spoke, “Why exactly are you here? You could have asked for a communication on what we know of the cylons, but instead requested to come to my ship. Why?” he asked.
"Transmissions can be intercepted, especially by beings who are AI." Tsunade replied. She felt something off from Commander Ford. "Is there a problem?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trNW6zEG3FE

Death fell from the sky, as the acid rain, mixed with bits of earth rained down on the rescuer’s vessels. Truly, the brown reddish sky, of the once blue and lush green Konoha, was a terrifying site, to the newcomers of Konoha.

Bodies laid in the street, either dying or dead, as the invisible hand of radiation crept on them, stealing their life as a theif in the night. One of the Doralians, walked out of the vessel, protected by gear, as he felt something under his foot.

He looked down to see the lifeless body of a six year old female Coredian, with long pink locks of hair. Innocent, sweet, and yet died for the sins, not her own, but that of her race. Anger, pain, anguish, emotions that were all too human must have been flowing out of the rescuers of Konoha. As it is with humans, they must have wanted revenge, and they did not have to look far.

As the medical supplies unloaded, and the raptors vacated the area, trying desperately to get back to the stars, to allow more people to land, more to save the people of Konoha, as Vipers and Raiders exploded overhead in the aerial dance of dogfighting, the enemy was spotted.

Twelve Centurions walked in a pack, like ravenous wolves, their large metallic bodies, with their razor sharp talons, patrolled the area. Other centurions, though could be seen, gathering the bodies of the dead, picking them up and loading the rotting corpses on a truck.

The patrol came closer, as the sound of metal hit the broken pavement below. Their red pulsing eye, scanning the area, walked. The Centurions stopped momentarily, as they turned to the new comers, the Woodians and the Doralians. They stood seven feet tall, and still as a statue. Only their red eye moved, pulsing from right to left and left to right. Then, they turned, leaving them alone. They just walked along, in their patrols.

Space,

The Raptors ascended from Konoha, protected by their viper escorts, as missiles shot forth from the ground. Streaks of lights struck out at the colonials in the sky, as the Vipers tried desperately to shoot them down. Raptors launched countermeasures, but in Vain, many were struck. Fireballs erupted in the sky, as Raiders began to form up in the safety of the atmosphere. The fight was intense. Vipers and Raiders swarmed each other as blue and red tracer fire light up the sky above. Missles flew, as Raider and Viper alike exploded above the so called safe zones.

It was almost beautiful in a sense, as the vipers pulled nearly 180 degree turns in atmo, from right to left, as the raiders used their elongated wingspan, to use the air as to repulse them backwards. As deadly as it was in the sky, it was even deadlier on the ground, as parts of the blown apart ships fell to earth. Wings, even whole raptors and vipers slammed into the earth. Konoha was truly a deadly place to be.

Of the one thousand raptors to attempt to leave Konoha only Eight hundred and seventy three exited. This was the first leg of the mission, as the raptors began to enter the battlestars for repair and refuel. It was a damn blood bath on the planet below, and still they had to do their duty, to begin to go to the next wave of Doralian vessels, and the giant Mothership. This was going to be one hell of a day.

Battlestar Gorgan

Raptors and Vipers landed in massive droves. Repair, refuel, rearm, all of the problems of wartime status, as the crews busied themselves for the next round.

However a more intense battle was being waged, in the quarters of Commander Ford. He sighed, “Yes there is a problem.” he replied. He held out a piece of paper to Tsunade. “This just came in from The Ministry of Defense. My orders are to take you into custody, and send you to the colonies, for charges of terrorism, espionage, and aiding and abiding the enemy in time of war.” he said reluctantly.

He held his hands to his forehead, as he looked away for a moment. Slowly he reached into a drawer, and pulled out a bottle of scotch. He poured himself a drink, filling the glass half way. He then reached into the drawer, and pulled out a nice thick Aeralon Cigar, the finest and freshest tobacco in the Twelve Colonies. A flame erupted from his lighter as he took a puff. “Would you like one ma’am?” he asked her, holding out a box of cigars.

After she accepted or declined, he shut the box and put it back inside. “You see now I have a problem.” He replied to her. “I promised you when you came here that I would not arrest you and would treat you with every respect.” he told her. “Yet these orders make that promise come into conflict. So the question is what should I do with you?” he asked.

He waited for a moment, for her to reply, then continued.

“I fully understand what this means, if I carry out this order.” he said. “It was our mistake that brought you this devastation. We created the cylons, and they turned on us. The Colonies, are ultimately responsible for the estimated two billion deaths on your planet. Probably more will come. If I follow this order, given the tension between Katrina and Cain, well I can only see one outcome.” he said before pausing for a moment.

“We would be at war. A war, in fact that will cause terrible suffering and death for Coredia, and the total annihilation of the Colonies. Reality is during this time, the cylons would take advantage of this distraction, and seek to eliminate your entire nation. This coupled with the black crusade, would then mean your people will be in the same condition the Colonies are now. Near extinction. All of this will occur, and all of this is on my shoulders.” he replied, as he picked up his glass and in one gulp took down the four shots of scotch that was in his glass

“Do not worry, I am a man of my word.” he then continued. “I want before I am about to do what must be done, to promise me one thing,” he asked. “I will not live much longer, Mutiny and Treason, during time of war, is a capitol offense, but I want one thing of you. What ever happens from this moment on, do your best to save our people. Bring us back to the peace that we once had, and the friendship that we both enjoyed.” He smiled for a moment, “This is my last request.”

He then reached for the phone. “Are any raptors back?”

“I want an evac raptor prepped to take Tsunade back to Konoha.”

“Yes Colonel, I am aware of my orders, and I am aware of the consequences that follow. This is my last order as commander of this battlestar.”

“Yes I am aware of the consequences, and I plead guilty, so you must do your duty, but I must do mine, get it done.”

He hung up the phone, his fate was now sealed.

Five minutes later, a knock came at Commander Ford’s door. He opened the heavy bulkhead door, as five marines, stood their, rifles raised at the pair. “No need for that, lets get this over with.”

The Marines then let him pass, as one walked over to Tsunade. “You too.” he said his rifle pointing at her head. The pair walked, with a full guard, down to the starboard flight deck.

Many people watched in horror, as their Commander, now a prisoner on his own ship walked under heavy guard with Tsunade. The mood was somber, and he said nothing, as they approached the flight deck.

Colonel Jackson looked down when his Commander entered the room, with her. He walked over to Ford and saluted. “Sir are you sure about this?” he asked nearly pleading with his commander.

“I am, and I am guilty. The ship is yours, do what you have to, just make sure my order is carried out.”

Colonel Jackson sighed, as he pulled out his Picon Five. “May the gods take you.” he replied, sadly, as a loud shot echoed. Commander Ford stood their for a minute, as blood, and pieced of flesh exploded out of his skull. Tsunade watched, as drops of his blood, sprayed on her shirt. He stood for just a moment, as his body collapsed on the floor, the blood pouring out of the back of his skull.

Colonel Jackson, then turned to Tsunade, the bitch that forced him to do the unthinkable. A small ping sound hit the floor, as the shell hit the ground. He bent over and picked it up. “Hold out your hand.” he ordered Tsunade. “NOW!”

As she did he placed the shell in her hand, and began to unload his pistol. “Remember this, and know exactly who killed him. It was not me.” he told her as he glared her down. He then turned to the guards. “Get this woman off my ship.” as he handed her the empty pistol as well.

She under heavy guard boarded the blood splattered Raptor. The trip took only a second as it left the Gorgan, and vanished in a white light. It gently appeared over the Jedi Temple. She was home.”

Jurai

Battle had been joined.

Like pawns, unthinking drones, they had flocked to the Chronosian banner, driven by blood feuds and ancient allegiences. Already they gathered in their droves, fighting and dieing among the malevolent stars, feeding the ruinous Gods who claimed the worship of the Chronosian Imperium. Ten billion souls offered up their blasphemous praises to the powers of Chaos, ten billion mortals who honored the name of their fell Scion.

Only now with their allies distracting the Coredians, plunging worlds into burning war, with the fate of millions hanging in the balance, did the Chronosians make their move.

The very fabric of space ruptured, venting the pulsing matter of the Immaterium forth, surrounding the mighty Chronosian warships that had answered Remiel's call. Some simply carried men forth in the name of war, others came as great floating edifices to the dark Gods. Others were ancient, twisted craft built for the singular purpose of eternal war.

A cry rose up, broadcast across every channel that could be mustered. It was the howl of men at arms, the fury of an Astartes war-cant, the insidious whisper of countless psykers, each hurled forth in dire defiance against the Coredians and their allies. It was the chant that had been ingrained into the minds of those unlucky enough to have met the Chronosians at the battles for the Colonies, and it was the howl that would strike fear into Daniel Masaki's soul.

As the first guns began to fire, their indiscriminate assault tearing against all that would deny them progress towards the gleaming sphere of Jurai, as the first cannons launched munitions the size of buildings against the foe and fighters and boarding pods rocketed across the void, the chant took on it's clarity and purpose, it's meaning clear and echoing throughout space and time.

Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel!

"Ave Imperator" Remiel chuckled lightly, raising his arms as he beheld the birth of conquest, the beginning of the Coredian end. He smiled, face contorted in pleasure and abject lust. This was his moment, this was the hour when vengeance was his and the greater part of his foes laid low. He did not do this for the Emperor, not for the glory of his Empire, he did this for himself, for the Imperium. His strength of arms had brought the Galactic Empire through the fiercest of storms, and now he would prove the Imperium as the ascendant, by doing what the Empire and all its might could not.

He would kill Daniel Masaki, and lay low all his works. So it had been foreseen, so to it would be.

That Tsunade felt surreal as she looked at the pistol in her hand was an understatement. At least she had gotten over her fear of blood ages ago, or else she would have lost it when the blood spattered onto her shirt. As it was, she was saddened that Ford must sacrifice his life so that peace would reign. As she was escorted off the Battlestar, she whispered, "You are truly Shinobi, honorable Commander. I will honor your request as far as I am able."

She looked down upon the surface of Konoha, as if searching for the Cylon base, holding the documents Commander Ford gave her. "Beware, Cylons. For no matter what it may take, no matter the price, I will drive you from Konoha and from Coredian space. I will hunt you down to the last Centurion and when I am done, you will never again be a threat to us..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n3dYvTOb0A

“What is the Frak is wrong with the Colonies” an outsider might say. Near extinction, barely hanging on to life, and with one hand having no gods damn clue what the other is doing. The Black Crusade, up until now a simple matter became much more complicated, and potentially sealed the fate of the Colonies as a whole.

The right hand, the Blockade of Konoha, despite their standing orders, had done everything in their power to not only preserve peace, to kill their immortal enemy, but to rekindle some fraction of friendship. Blood had been spilt, blood tears, sweat, and sacrifice on the part of the colonies, to begin to repair the relationship with Coredia.

The left hand though, driven mad by power, and the warp gods, unknowingly prepared to slam a sacrificial dagger into it’s own heart on the alter of Remiel. While one aided, the other killed, both belonging to Admiral Cain. What the hell was going on?

------ Personal Journal of an Unknown Pilot



She walked up and down the CIC, pacing, as if waiting for something. I will admit, I was scared shitless. No shame in admitting fear. After all, we were about to fling ourselves into another foreign war. And the last one turned out so well, only set the stage for the colonies to enter a civil war. I wonder what this one will bring us. I doubt it is sugar and cookies.

The wait seemed to last forever. All I could hear out of my speakers was static, and to be honest, I was glad. Hopefully they would get lost, or would forget to send the transmissions, or maybe by some act of the Lords of Kobol, the battle would be over before the Chronosians showed up.

Then it came, the howl, the sirens call, the harbinger of doom message. All it said was “Remiel, Remiel, Remiel, Remiel, Remiel.”

I had to respond, as I turned to Admiral Hallen. “Admiral,” I said as I gulped down my next words, “We have confirmation, the Chronosians have arrived and are engaging the enemy.” I said as I tried to stop my hand from shaking.

She looked to me, with confidence and zeal in her eyes. She had always been a fearless leader, but this time, well it seemed being in Chronosian space and so many personal talks with Remiel had done her much good. She seemed at peace to do this action, and completely sure of herself.

“Very good.” she replied. “Do we still have telemetry from the Raptor at Jurai?” she asked.

“Sir, we do.” I responded. “IT would seem the bulk of all the forces are in a near orbit of Jurai, as if they were planing on protecting the planet.”

Admiral Hallen looked to her planning table, as she rested her hands on the white table. Another officer quickly moved the models of the ships, to their most up to date position.”

“It is all a decoy.” she said out loud. “Jurai is of no concern to the Coredians. None at all, if it was then they would not have given it so freely to the Godulans. Here is their objective.” she said, as she pointed to the newly moved Exodus fleet. “This is where their victory lies, and this is where we will snatch it from their hands.”

She turned to me to begin to transmit orders to the fleet. Her words haunted me, with the power and strength behind them. “Send this message to the fleet. Arm all missile tubes with nuclear or the new shied buster missiles. Load all flak’s with the Balroggan shells, and all main batteries with alternating EMB and Salvo fire. Secondary rails are to load alternating salvo and Balroggan shells.”

She then turned to me, “Inform the fleet this is a nuclear mission order. And prepare for combat jump.” she said sadistically, almost like she had a perverse pleasure in destroying the lived of billions.

I quickly transmitted the orders as required, but still my soul cringed. What had those people done? Sure bombing Caprica was a shitty thing to do, but does it deserve this?

Still the orders went out, as I picked up the speakers. “Action Stations, Action stations, set condition one throughout the ship, and prepare for combat jump. All pilots please report to your aircraft to begin the operation. I repeat, Action stations, Action stations, set condition one throughout the ship. All pilots and crewmen report to your stations.” I said as the orders went out.

As I said that I watched the monitors. Missile tubes rolled back, as Stealth stars and Raptors left their hangers and set up position in the fleet. The gun turrets rolled out, as the newer advancements in the colonial systems came online.

I turned to Admiral Hallen, Coordinates set, and I got word from the fleet. They are ready.

She smiled, a feral smile, as she said, “Begin Phase One”

With that, the order went out, and the twelve mercury class battlestars vanished along with the warstar. Only the raptors and stealth stars stayed behind.

Then we came to, and we had arrived.

“Draidus” she ordered.

“Sir we are on the far side of the battle. Our estimations is correct, we are at long range of Exodus.”

She turned and smiled, Begin.

As her words spoke, the main batteries acquired their targets. The guns blazed, the one hundred and sixty eight guns firing an impressive barrage of colors. The Salvo was yellow, and fired at two shots a second, as the EMB shells in the rotation fired a blue shell at the Exodus civilian vessels. The giant cannon in the bow though, silent in the night, which had the same power out put as the Coredian Yamato Cannon blazed, but unlike the others, was black, as it carried the Balroggan singularity warheads, firing one shot a second. Although we were assured by the Balroggans that the singularity would collapse shortly after detonation if no matter or energy was in the way, we were all a bit nervous. The other ships in the fleet began to bear down their guns on the exodus civilian ships as well, as nuclear and shield smashing missiles launched at the targets.

As the battle began, a wormhole appeared, as a Balroggan Battle Fleet came out of it. THe size and the scope was awe inspiring, I must say. Although I hated what we were doing, after all, killing millions of people, for spite and revenge, still though when the Balroggans' showed up, I did feel better.

Admiral Hallen turned to me. "Tell the Balroggans to concentrate their efforts on the Coredian military vessels, while we engage the true objective. Insure it is a secure band. Also let them know to do whatever it takes to secure the objective, any tactics they wish is more than fine."

As ordered, I complied.

The stage was set, the War had just begun.

Admiral Nomura was busy handling Bradley's fleet, when the cries of "Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel!" could be heard. For an old salt like him, it scared the bejeezus out of him. And most of his men, who stood in stunned silence. Then, beeping.

"Comrade-Admiral! We got something on the sensors! New Contacts en masse!"

The Tactical Officer looked especially nervous, and Nomura wondered what in the hell was he so uppity about. Looking on his screen and clumsily pushing a few buttons, he brought up the Tactical's Screen. The new contacts shone nice and bright and red on the screen, like a Christmas tree, only made of pure hatred instead of love and joy. Nomura gritted his teeth. He simply mumbled, "Great. Fucking great."

He then pushed a few buttons again, but eventually gave up and yelled at Tactical, saying, "Hey! What the fuck are those!?"

Tactical replied, "Chronosian sir! And unknown contacts! Massive waves of fire and fire for effect weapons detected on all fronts!"

Nomura, to this, broadcast to his vessels, "All ships, this is the Admiral. Activate Point Defenses, prepare for contact! Track them, prepare all the torpedoes you can! I want those fucking replicators to work! And would someone inform me about who those unknowns are!?"

Gracie popped in and said, "They don't match anything on my records except the television show Battlestar Galactica." To that, Nomura said, "Does this look like the fucking Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi Con!? Gimme a better answer, or I'll find someone who will!"

Nomura then said, "You know what? Screw it. Dump all the torpedoes and Demolisher Gun fire on those unknown contacts you can! I don't want them to hurt the Exodus Fleet!"

With that, Hallen's DRADIS would suddenly pick up a massive series of signatures, mostly a huge cloud of weapons fire. Thousands of Conventional Torpedoes, Ion Torpedoes, and Demolisher Gun shots would careen towards the new arrivals, eager for a bite.


Konoha

The humans, now wearing their full suits, began unloading their equipment and the jeeps and trucks which would take it across the hostile country. As they unpacked their equipment and began moving, they couldn't help but notice the new persons who decided to initate a hostile takeover/atomic cleansing of Konoha. They were robots.

One person joked quietly, "We gotta deal with robots? This is some fucked up repugnant shit!" To that, he was given the reply by a sullen New Wuhanese, "Ya think, fucktard!?" The Wuhanese stared forward, not looking at the man, contemplating the violence with an angry gaze and thoughts of justice.

Jurai

Battle had been joined.

Like pawns, unthinking drones, they had flocked to the Chronosian banner, driven by blood feuds and ancient allegiences. Already they gathered in their droves, fighting and dieing among the malevolent stars, feeding the ruinous Gods who claimed the worship of the Chronosian Imperium. Ten billion souls offered up their blasphemous praises to the powers of Chaos, ten billion mortals who honored the name of their fell Scion.

Only now with their allies distracting the Coredians, plunging worlds into burning war, with the fate of millions hanging in the balance, did the Chronosians make their move.

The very fabric of space ruptured, venting the pulsing matter of the Immaterium forth, surrounding the mighty Chronosian warships that had answered Remiel's call. Some simply carried men forth in the name of war, others came as great floating edifices to the dark Gods. Others were ancient, twisted craft built for the singular purpose of eternal war.

A cry rose up, broadcast across every channel that could be mustered. It was the howl of men at arms, the fury of an Astartes war-cant, the insidious whisper of countless psykers, each hurled forth in dire defiance against the Coredians and their allies. It was the chant that had been ingrained into the minds of those unlucky enough to have met the Chronosians at the battles for the Colonies, and it was the howl that would strike fear into Daniel Masaki's soul.

As the first guns began to fire, their indiscriminate assault tearing against all that would deny them progress towards the gleaming sphere of Jurai, as the first cannons launched munitions the size of buildings against the foe and fighters and boarding pods rocketed across the void, the chant took on it's clarity and purpose, it's meaning clear and echoing throughout space and time.

Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel!

"Ave Imperator" Remiel chuckled lightly, raising his arms as he beheld the birth of conquest, the beginning of the Coredian end. He smiled, face contorted in pleasure and abject lust. This was his moment, this was the hour when vengeance was his and the greater part of his foes laid low. He did not do this for the Emperor, not for the glory of his Empire, he did this for himself, for the Imperium. His strength of arms had brought the Galactic Empire through the fiercest of storms, and now he would prove the Imperium as the ascendant, by doing what the Empire and all its might could not.

He would kill Daniel Masaki, and lay low all his works. So it had been foreseen, so to it would be.
I felt a grave disturbance in the Force, like the very fabric of spacetime has been violated. Then suddenly, the chant...

Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel!

"Damn it! Damn it all!" I cursed. He's here at last!

I no longer had a choice. Balroggan, Huntarian, Tenetian and now Chronosian fleets entered the picture. I had to sound the retreat, otherwise the enemy would overrun us. "All forces! Retreat to the rendzevous point! Repeat, fall back to the rendzevous point!"

As the units began to respond, an even more surprising foe appeared...

“Sir we are on the far side of the battle. Our estimations is correct, we are at long range of Exodus.”

She turned and smiled, Begin.

As her words spoke, the main batteries acquired their targets. The guns blazed, the one hundred and sixty eight guns firing an impressive barrage of colors. The Salvo was yellow, and fired at two shots a second, as the EMB shells in the rotation fired a blue shell at the Exodus civilian vessels. The giant cannon in the bow though, silent in the night, which had the same power out put as the Coredian Yamato Cannon blazed, but unlike the others, was black, as it carried the Balroggan singularity warheads, firing one shot a second. Although we were assured by the Balroggans that the singularity would collapse shortly after detonation if no matter or energy was in the way, we were all a bit nervous. The other ships in the fleet began to bear down their guns on the exodus civilian ships as well, as nuclear and shield smashing missiles launched at the targets.

As the battle began, a wormhole appeared, as a Balroggan Battle Fleet came out of it. THe size and the scope was awe inspiring, I must say. Although I hated what we were doing, after all, killing millions of people, for spite and revenge, still though when the Balroggans' showed up, I did feel better.

Admiral Hallen turned to me. "Tell the Balroggans to concentrate their efforts on the Coredian military vessels, while we engage the true objective. Insure it is a secure band. Also let them know to do whatever it takes to secure the objective, any tactics they wish is more than fine."

As ordered, I complied.

The stage was set, the War had just begun.
What the Fuck?!?

Admiral Hallen's opening salvo had begun destroying dozens of freighters and light craft, killing hundreds, thousands of people in the first few seconds. Even the two giant space stations recieved damage, but only light at this point. It was a nasty surprise attack, that's for sure! And that's increasing the numbers Admiral Bradley's already shooting down, even with the Sixth Fleet holding.

Admiral Pellaeon shouted himself hoarse, ordering units to intercept the Colonials as the First Fleet began to disengage from Nightshade's forces. Nothing was more important than saving the Exodus Fleet! Nothing!

Nhur-Galladu stood and reached out to shake the hands of the human sitting on the other side of the table. When he couldn’t reach, he simply walked through the table to stand next to the startled guest. When he touched his hand, Stevenson noticed it was firm, warm, and definitely harder than flesh should be. Noticing the strange look returning to the Second Office’s face, Nhur-Galladu paused and did another quick passive scan, making sure to never intrude, only listen to the thoughts being broadcast by the human before him. What he found made him shake his head in disbelief.

“Don’t tell me they never told you about us. Your allies never told you the Ta’Nar and the Childer were pure minds, embodied thought. We create, for lack of a better term, holograms to use as our bodies and reinforce them with telekinetic energy fields to make them solid. They never told you our ships regenerate damage by absorbing power from energy weapons. They never told you we used singularities as our conventional weapons. They never gave you a chance.”

“You have been greatly wronged in this whole affair. Is there some way the Ta’Nar can make up for the betrayals your allies committed against you?”

Stevenson could tell the Warlord was sincere in his plea. Outside the ship, several vessels began to approach the wounded guests and assembly of a portable dry-dock began. It practically built itself as ships approached and seamlessly merged together to create the structures needed until a short time later there was facilities for each of the GDI ships, berths open wide and waiting for their patients to fill them so repairs could begin.




-----




The two Battlegroup held position, examining the phenomena caused by The Phoenix. Their sensors were mostly trained upon the expanding wave front but enough were looking elsewhere that the sudden ambush by three fleets jumping in did not completely take them by surprise.

“Commander, several ships jumping right on top of us.”

“Emergency Uplift, all vessels.”

As the seventh and eighth Coredian fleets and the Dragon King’s began to fire at the thirty-some ships, they began to fade out of existence. While that allowed several to escape unharmed, there were some slow ones that did not get the message in time to activate their drives, namely the closest ones.

The hail of kinetic slugs riddled them and passed clean through many of them, sending the ricocheting projectiles off at crazy angles possibly toward allied ships. Eleven ships seemingly burst apart like over-ripe melons, sending a spray of ebon shards outwards in a cloud of debris enveloping the attackers very quickly. Fine silt settled on the hulls, attracted there by the minute gravitational tugs of the mass in the armor and hulls. Intakes drew in the mist-like particles and covered anything. The electromagnetic fields seemed to pull the annoying stuff directly to the electronics it was emitted from much the same way dust is attracted to circuit boards (Have you looked in your PC lately at your own dust collection?) of commercial electronics.

In T-Space, Commander Lah’Zohn watched the fresh sensor feeds of what happened in Real Space. The dust cloud that used to be eleven ships was still expanding past the enemy, although much thinner seeing as the ships had attracted most of it to themselves. Electrostatic energy in their hulls and armor would keep the stuff adhered until it was time. They had something worse than dusty hulls to occupy their attention.

Of the eleven ships that were fragmented, five were actually occupied by Childer and their Ta’Nar overlords. The other seven were drones made right before the battle at Konoha. The problem with five ships occupied is the crew was left to fight. The advantage of being a pure mind, the kinetics simply passed through them. This means there were several hundred pissed off entities making their way through the Void to the ships that were busy firing everything they had at them. Rounds and slugs passed through the vengeful Wraiths as they advanced uncomfortably fast toward their prey. Streaks of white, blue, and grey sped toward the command vessels through empty space.




-----




The massive volley of missiles struck the incandescent vessels as they were Energized, drawing all their power and placing it into the regenerative processes. The helpless ships remained stock still and the missiles closed with a brilliant series of flashes as the missiles created a detonation cloud around the two ships.

The remaining ships and individual Kythons seemed to go berserk, fueled by the deaths of the Kythons in the miniature star that blossomed moments earlier. Their attacks increased three fold in number and equally in viciousness. It was almost as if they didn’t care if they got hit as long as they infected or took out as many ships as they could. The fight just got bloodier for the Abh.





-----





The Coredian Reinforcements (ND) also seemed to experience the berserk actions of the Kythons as the ships they were fighting fell to pieces and the individual Kythons began to swarm them, slicing and rending anything they could get their claws or the Dimensional Blades extending from their four arms. They would either fly by slicing off pieces of the ships or land and sever gun placements or doors/windows or any other openings in the hulls they found or made. If they could get inside, they would begin venting the ship by cutting holes in the walls.

Of course there would also be the infection problem from the fully enraged Kythons in full battle mode. The Coredian ships would soon start turning black from where the Kythons touched the ship. Unfortunately, they had even worse luck than the Abh.





-----




Things were just about to become worse.





-----





Space tore itself open as the Chronosian ships polluted the system with their presence. Unfortunately they were not alone; Nhur-Galladu kept his promise and sent along an entire fleet with each Chaos Lord that requested it. One hundred fifty ships arrived using their own wormhole and appeared next to Remiel’s fleet (wherever Chron placed it…) and they immediately took battle formations. As the Chronosians broadcast out their chant, the Psions aboard the fleet channeled the chant into the psyche of all those within range. No matter what one did, they would hear “Remiel, Remiel, Remiel, Remiel, Remiel” repeating endlessly within their minds. The Psions of the 13th fleet, meaning every being on those ships and the Shipminds in each ship were directing their mental attacks at any enemy ship. Across the system, the ships already here in battle began to do the same thing.

Wave after wave of continuous chanting overpowered defenses and pushed their way past defenses and immunities by pure power alone. Thousands of Ta’Nar, Childer, and Kythons channeled their psionics into the attack attempting to slaughter the enemy’s morale. The Childer Warlord’s representative upon the Chronosian ship felt the raw savagery of this ally and began to channel that into the chanting until the waves of agony were also fueled by the raw emotions and dedication to Remiel.






OOC:

It could have been better and I am certain I missed some things. If I missed you please mention it to me and I will try to edit.

When the Colonial vessels materialized in a rough formation directed at the Exodus fleet, the Godulan observers on Rakurai and Jurai were uncertain how to respond. The Godulans had told Remiel, directly to his face and within earshot of the other 'Lords of Chaos', that the Anarchist Union would not permit the slaughter of innocents if they were in a position to prevent it.

They knew the Chronosians, despite all of their misguided fervor, would not have mandated a direct assault on the Coredian Exodus fleet while those ships were within Godulan Jurisdiction. They also knew (NOW at least), that the attack was in direct contravention to Admiral Cain's wishes. But opening fire on the fleet would lead to significant ancilliary concerns that the Godulans were not prepared to deal with.

How to respond.

How to respond.

It would have to be somewhat passive, if only a measure to circumvent the impending destruction and whatever might happen after. It would have to be fast... and probability jumping in with these kind of time constraints simply remained infeasible. A delaying maneuver would be necessary...

Volunteers announced their readiness almost immediately, coming to the same conclusion everybody else did. The only option they could manage for such a large collection of vessels... it did not have to be too far, just far enough to disrupt the lines of fire with sufficient time to bring in ships and establish an escort force. Probability calculations at the Long Arm began in earnest, to place several escort vessels around the Exodus fleet for as long as was necessary, though the vessels would not appear at the Exodus fleet's current location...

Initiation pending...

This would hurt.

Commencing...

A lot.

A telepathic shriek of pain radiated forth from Jurai as several hundred Godulans reached out and 'took' the Exodus vessels 'into their hands', picking them up from where they were and placing them half an Astronomical Unit further along the transit lane they were following. Out of the immediate line of fire and into relative safety.

Psychoportation Achieved. Adjunct transit completed. Passing out now.

The Godulans despised the strain that psychoportation placed on their telepaths, but the pain was a miniscule concern when the lives of innocents were on the line. It was not a move considered in common practice among the Godulans, as the distance limitations and the mental strain tended to make the process extremely inefficient, but it was good for the one or two times that a quick jump out of danger became truly imperative. To do it to another vessel added to the strain, despite the short transit distance. Whether the Coredians would appreciate the move or not was their prerogative, the Godulans simply did not care. 'Twas easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission, as the saying went, though the Godulans would not suffer doing the former simply because they had no time to do the latter.

The Exodus fleet, to all outside observers would simply appear to have 'hopped' forward about half an Astronomical Unit with neither flash or fanfare, though any remotely psychic entity would note the horrendous shriek of agony accompanying the maneuver. All they wanted was to get the innocents out of the way long enough for the Long Arm to finish probability calculations and commence deployment. The ordinance fired by Hallen's fleet passed harmlessly through the void left by the now-somewhat-absent Exodus fleet...

Deployment only came seconds afterwards, as three Godulan Guns of Archona established a triangle formation around the Coredian Exodus from the nothingness of space, simply 'appearing' as though they had always been there.

A communication addressed to Admiral Hallen's vessels came forth from Jurai itself, radiating out on all frequencies so as to 'be perfectly clear':

We will not permit the termination of innocent civilians while we are in a position to intercede. These vessels are not to be harmed while within Godulan Jurisdiction. Further attempts to challenge will be met with more assertive consequences.

Admiral Hallen, we are working closely with Cain in an effort to rebuild the Colonies alongside the Balroggans. We are aware of Cain's orders to you, and of Colonial protocol regarding offensive actions. This attack is in direct contravention to those protocols as her orders were to support Chronosia. Offensive actions were not a part of these orders and as such adjunct authorization to conduct such operations was not granted. Admiral Cain will be notified of this breach.

Please cease and desist immediately. We do not wish to fight you.

The Battle of Jurai (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5mUzoL676U)

Any good battle plan, the perfect strategy, is after the first five minutes of the battle thrown out the window. Instinct, training, tactics, and of course the quality of your resources become the true tactic. This was certainly true of the Battle of Jurai.

The first thirty seconds went as planned, as the Ta’Nar fleet surrounded the twelve battlestars and warstar of the Colonies of Kobol. Their cannons rang out across the void, uninhibited, as the civilian fleet before them exploded with ease. This was easy, almost too easy, then everything changed.

Warstar Ares
CIC

“For too long this battle had been in stalemate, as the dogs of war jumped on each other. Losses were minimized, the lines were drawn, somehow in three dimensional space. Three dimensions, that is truly the enemy weakness.” Admiral Hallen mused to herself, as the Chronosians began their onslaught against the enemy.

Admiral Hallen looked upward, towards the blinking draidus screen, as multiple explosions erupted, from the exodus fleet. The debris began to explode outward, engines smashing against shields. She knew that soon, the objective would be sealed, the priority of the enemy would be eliminated, then no matter how hard they fought, they will have lost. Victory was assured.

“Draidus contact, Bearing 000, 128 , 84, sir, it is the Godulans.”

“The Godulans?” Admiral Hallen asked as she looked up to the draidus. The ship was huge, and damn close, too close any shots fired from the bow would smash right into the damned fools’ ship. “What the frak are they doing?” she yelled.

“They have taken up a position between us and Exodus.” Then came the pause, as the draidus officer could not believe his eyes. “Sir, the Exodus, they have jumped. Without jumping...”

“What the frak?” she turned and asked him. “I can not explain it sir, no FTL drives, they just up and moved, sir. Should I plot a jump point and continue?” he asked her.

“Sir communications from the Godulan Vessel on all frequencies.”

“All frequencies, what the hell this is a battle, why would they open their coms to every ship in this battle?”

“I do not know, sir.” the communications officer said. Admiral Hallen looked down at the planning table as she cliched the table as hard as she could. “Cease fire immediately, do not engage the Godulans. Put whatever the frakkers want to say on the speakers.” she ordered.

The speakers opened up, the message that could be heard by every ship on both sides of the conflict, it was simple and direct.

We will not permit the termination of innocent civilians while we are in a position to intercede. These vessels are not to be harmed while within Godulan Jurisdiction. Further attempts to challenge will be met with more assertive consequences.

Admiral Hallen, we are working closely with Cain in an effort to rebuild the Colonies alongside the Balroggans. We are aware of Cain's orders to you, and of Colonial protocol regarding offensive actions. This attack is in direct contravention to those protocols as her orders were to support Chronosia. Offensive actions were not a part of these orders and as such adjunct authorization to conduct such operations was not granted. Admiral Cain will be notified of this breach.

Please cease and desist immediately. We do not wish to fight you

The message was to clear, as Admiral Hallen stared at the models below. She raised her fist, and slammed it onto the table.

“Sir.” the executive officer replied. “Yes Commander.” she replied

“Your orders sir?” he asked

As he asked, the draidus officer spoke up. “Admiral, the Coredians have split their forces in two and have broken away from the planet. Reading about four hundred vessels on intercept course, while the other fleet is staying behind..”

Admiral Hallen gazed up to the pulsing lights of Draidus. A carnal smile broke from her face, “First bit of good news all day. Even with the tactics of nightshade, her forces, along with the LOC should easily be able to destroy that last fleet. Or if she would think of it, as the new fleet turned around, their engines exposed to the enemy, she should shoot them in the back. Luckily she had confidence that the Huntaerians, the Chronosians and the Balroggans would take advantage of the Coredian fleet being reduced to half strength over Jurai, if Nightshade was too busy to be able to preform the correct manuever. "Congradulations men, the Coredian line has broken.” Hallen replied.

She turned to the kython, given to her by the Ta’Nar for communication. “Please inform the Godulans that we were not aware of the rule against the civilians, and that we shall not fire upon them any further. Also please direct all firepower upon the new fleet.” she asked the Kython.

“Sir X-wings inbound.” The draidus officer replied. Hallen looked up, and replied, direct all flak and secondary systems to suppression barrage.”

“Sir should we launch the vipers and engage?”

Admiral Hallen looked up, “No not yet.” She turned to the communications officer. “Lets see how far we can push their tactical blunders. Update the new positions and inform second fleet to begin phase two.” she ordered.

“Yes sir” he replied as a tight band with code reached out to the fleet at the rondevous point. “Phase two is a go.”

As Exodus floated about half an AU from their previous course, fourteen lights appeared in the back drop. Fourteen, ten seconds later, the enemy sensors would pick up the true dread of fighting the colonies, as fourteen new mercury class battlestars, outside weapons range. Their shields were hot, and they locked onto the target. They appeared at multiple vectors, and were on intercept course in a spherical formation. No matter which way they went, they would soon enter the mouth of these new battlestars, as they continued their intercept course.

Admiral Hallen’s fleet held it’s position, Twelve Battlestars standing their ground against four hundred coredian vessels. Only the Balroggan’s helped to even the odds, with their one hundred and fifty vessels.

As the fleet lined up, the flak cannons roared, against the space of the x-wings, each cannon, firing ten thousand rounds per second and the ships were covered in these flak cannons, each loaded with the Balroggan bullets, that would explode into miniature black holes. The gravity from all Twelve ships firing towards the x-wings would surely rip many of them apart, as well as suck the lasers into the singularity. Colonial Flak cannons it would seem, thanks to the Godulans, Balroggans and Telrosians, have finally become tactically sound again.

The Coredian Reinforcements (ND) also seemed to experience the berserk actions of the Kythons as the ships they were fighting fell to pieces and the individual Kythons began to swarm them, slicing and rending anything they could get their claws or the Dimensional Blades extending from their four arms. They would either fly by slicing off pieces of the ships or land and sever gun placements or doors/windows or any other openings in the hulls they found or made. If they could get inside, they would begin venting the ship by cutting holes in the walls.

Of course there would also be the infection problem from the fully enraged Kythons in full battle mode. The Coredian ships would soon start turning black from where the Kythons touched the ship. Unfortunately, they had even worse luck than the Abh.

Batov was fortunate the Temporal Shielding and the Point Defenses were still active, for they kept the Kython agents at bay from most of the vessels. However, he knew that this was their game; their game was to break apart and begin infecting enemy units just when the victor thought he would have won. Snatching victory for the Kython from the jaws of defeat as it were. He smiled; it was a nasty tactic, but one he had to give grudging respect to.

Still, there were plenty of vessels that had suffered infection; especially the CR90s, which had seen a lot of combat. Many jettisoned the infected portions, utilizing the Dornalian-installed Removable Bulkhead Technology. Others had to self destruct, giving up the ghost.

Another problem presented itself. Batov faced a swarm of angry Kythons coming towards his forces, and to that, he ordered the Fleet to power down the FTLi and teleport out of range. Thus, they bunnyhopped again, this time

OOC: To be continued, until I can talk to some people.

OOC: I haven't been in this thread for a while, though I should have been. I have a lot of "back RP" to do.

Also, I am too tired to list exactly what I am bringing at the moment...I know two modified Sovereign SSD's, the modified Megadolon TSSD that I captured from Huntaer at Konoha, and about fifty smaller ships, about a dozen of which are Immortal Star Destroyers should suffice in detail for now, until I start getting fired upon.

---------

Aboard the Immortal Star Destroyer Iladar
Enroute to Jurai, via Caligula

Admiral Makaryk looked at the unconscious starfighter pilot sprawled on the bridge deck in front of him. The mutinous freebirth was his ninth such victim; the bridge deck was splattered here and there with the blood of those who had refused orders. To be more precise, orders to fight at Jurai.

Why fight to defend Coredia at Jurai, when Coredia had just Force Crushed a Woodian Admiral? (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=542295) Sure, Jedi apologists argued that it was the deed of only one man, not the entire Order. But in releasing the Sith among them to murder Woodians as they so desired, (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13232294&postcount=91) the Order made clear that it approved and condoned such reprehensible acts. Despite their lame PR spin to the contrary.

Even though Admiral Makaryk did not wish to assist Coredia either, he knew he must. To uphold a mutual defense pact that still existed in word, but that the Jedi had terminated, then crumpled up, then shat upon, in spirit.

However, Admiral Makaryk was not all that bloodthirsty, either. Of the nine crew, two aboard his own ship, seven from the rest of the fleet, who had fought him in a duel in an attempt to honorably refuse an order they viewed as invalid, he had not killed a one; instead, eight of them were in the ship's medical bays, awaiting transfer to Coredian custody (let the Second Sith Order deal with them). One of them lay in front of him; Admiral Makaryk personally dragged his limp body to the transporter room just off the bridge and beamed him down to the medical bay as well.

"Four minutes to Jurai, Admiral." The chief navigator's voice interrupted Admiral Makaryk's mental musings. Said navigator had been considering refusing to set the course from Caligula to Jurai, but after seeing the results of the Trials of Refusal fought there, had changed his mind.

Even Admiral Makaryk was here only because the Dornalians had expelled him from a reconciliation conference, which had been meant to resolve the differences in opinion concerning the Jedi Order's Fall into Darkness. He had stopped over at Caligula to pick up the Woodian Fleet, as well as inform a Coredian fleet there that they were needed elsewhere, like here. But the Coredians had already left...

"Two minutes."

Admiral Makaryk responded by writing something on a Post-It Note. Quaint, but effective. He handed it to the chief comm officer, ordering, "Transmit this on encrypted channels to Coredian and Godulan ships only upon arrival."

"Aff," the comm officer acknowledged, his eyes skimming over the Post-It Note. Oh, yes. Apparently Admiral Makaryk had taken the near-mutiny into consideration after all...



...The fleet dropped out of hyperspace, and immediately its crews noticed a very large fleet with Coredian IFFs coming right at them, though from some distance away. Apparently, fleeing. Neither Admiral Makaryk nor the crews knew that this was the Exodus Fleet, though with the transmission that the Admiral's command ship sent, it wouldn't be before long that they found out.

The encrypted transmission to Godulans and Coredians was sent...

This is Admiral Makaryk of Evil Woody Thoughts. I have fought nine Trials of Refusal against crew who refuse to assist The Fallen. As such, I am here solely to assist in the prevention of needless death of civilian populations. I am in no mood to linger to die for Jedi who will Force Crush us anyway.

Brivun saw the destruction of some civilian vessels. "Sir the destroyer Sampson has been severely damaged. They were trying to shield the civilian vessels from harm." Lt. Grath said.

Brivun's tactical display showed the Sampson as a burning hulk. Escape pods were jettisoned along with some Arm Slaves with jet packs. Another destroyer began picking up the survivors. The Sampson then exploded, leaving nothing left of it.

Brivun grimaced at the loss, suddenly the civilian ships disappeared. "Where did they go?"

"We don't know sir. We are actively sca--" Grath looked at the scope,"Spotted them .5 AU away from previous area."

"What the? Move the fleet into position with the Exodus fleet. Fight our way through to them!" he ordered.

The fleet sped up towards the Exodus fleet firing everything in every which way. Fighters were dispersed from the carrier to defend the rear from attack if they could.

Batov was fortunate the Temporal Shielding and the Point Defenses were still active, for they kept the Kython agents at bay from most of the vessels. However, he knew that this was their game; their game was to break apart and begin infecting enemy units just when the victor thought he would have won. Snatching victory for the Kython from the jaws of defeat as it were. He smiled; it was a nasty tactic, but one he had to give grudging respect to.

Still, there were plenty of vessels that had suffered infection; especially the CR90s, which had seen a lot of combat. Many jettisoned the infected portions, utilizing the Dornalian-installed Removable Bulkhead Technology. Others had to self destruct, giving up the ghost.

Another problem presented itself. Batov faced a swarm of angry Kythons coming towards his forces, and to that, he ordered the Fleet to power down the FTLi and teleport out of range. Thus, they bunnyhopped again, this time

OOC: To be continued, until I can talk to some people.

As the “Coredian Reinforcements” (ND) began to bunny hop away, the attacking swarm of Kythons began to follow. As they sped off, Fleetmind halted them in place and made them return to the battlefield. Swarms of Kythons settled upon and all debris, infecting the pieces and digesting them until only Thur’Tahg and the information taken from any converted ships or parts of ships. The Thur’Tahg was converted into more Kythons and they began to clump together forming the Ta’Nar ships. The Battlegroup literally reformed and retreated back into T-Space to await another attack upon the Defensive formation. Their only orders were to destroy any ships attacking the Flank pattern. So far, only the Abh ships were left from that group, the GDI and the “Coredian Reinforcements” having left out of combat range.


OOC:

They will not follow you if you retreat unless you return.

The two fleets that arrived with Helen and Remiel will mirror the attacks of those fleets so please mention them in your attacks if you wish. I will try to follow those fleet posts with one of my own after I get them from now on but to start it our please mention my ships in your posts.

The massive volley of missiles struck the incandescent vessels as they were Energized, drawing all their power and placing it into the regenerative processes. The helpless ships remained stock still and the missiles closed with a brilliant series of flashes as the missiles created a detonation cloud around the two ships.

The remaining ships and individual Kythons seemed to go berserk, fueled by the deaths of the Kythons in the miniature star that blossomed moments earlier. Their attacks increased three fold in number and equally in viciousness. It was almost as if they didn’t care if they got hit as long as they infected or took out as many ships as they could. The fight just got bloodier for the Abh.

"Admiral, we've lost five more ships in the past thirty seconds. Kython attacks are increasing in frenzy."

For most commanding officers, such reports would likely dishearten them and for good reasons. The Balroggan kythons were a breed all of their own and were used most effectively. However, for an Abriel, this meant little. Kythons closing in on suicide attacks only made shooting them down easier. "It looks like we've upset them. Good."

Jinto raised an eyebrow slightly. "Good?"

"Yes. Let them come. Communications, inform all ship commanders that they have free use of all weapon systems except for energy weapons."

"Yes ma'am. Relaying orders now."

While Abh ships were taking a beating from the increased Kython attacks, the Abh held their ground after a fashion. They had no intention of just sitting their and taking the punishment while Kythons darted all around them with energy discs and infection flying everywhere. Shadow Cruisers and destroyers used their drives to help keep their distance from the Kythons while Whitestars flew all over the battlefield either running from Kythons or chasing them down with their pulse cannons.

Shadow hybrid ships opened up with a hail of fire from pulse cannons, particle beams, and railguns. Clouds of defensive systems engulfed ships and Kythons as they duked it out in a bloody dance. Infection particles and kython gunk hit the ships and started infecting them but thanks to the shadow bio-organic armor, the infection was held at bay for a time allowing them to fight on. Normally such hits would have done the ships in or forced them to retreat and deal with infection. But now the Abh would stick out a little more while others retreated.

Lafiel looked out over the battlefield, allowing the Kython battle to slip from her mind for a moment. "When are those civilians going to get out of here?"

As the “Coredian Reinforcements” (ND) began to bunny hop away, the attacking swarm of Kythons began to follow. As they sped off, Fleetmind halted them in place and made them return to the battlefield. Swarms of Kythons settled upon and all debris, infecting the pieces and digesting them until only Thur’Tahg and the information taken from any converted ships or parts of ships. The Thur’Tahg was converted into more Kythons and they began to clump together forming the Ta’Nar ships. The Battlegroup literally reformed and retreated back into T-Space to await another attack upon the Defensive formation. Their only orders were to destroy any ships attacking the Flank pattern. So far, only the Abh ships were left from that group, the GDI and the “Coredian Reinforcements” having left out of combat range.


OOC:

They will not follow you if you retreat unless you return.

The two fleets that arrived with Helen and Remiel will mirror the attacks of those fleets so please mention them in your attacks if you wish. I will try to follow those fleet posts with one of my own after I get them from now on but to start it our please mention my ships in your posts.

OOC: I wasn't quite finished with that post, Bal....but I'll reply anywho. Post may be a little sucky, but I got a lot to catch up on. Basically, Nomura dumps a buncha fire on the Colonials, then dumps on the Kythons and tries to lure them away from the Exodus Fleet (since Godular's jump did leave them a bit distant from it.). Also amped up the salty language! Not for the easily offended.

IC:

Batov decided that it was not wise to fight the Balroggans at this time. Tactical indicated that the Abh vessels seemed to be holding in the face of the enemy onslaught, and the fact he had angered the equivalent of an intergalactic hornet's nest-cum-cannibalistic entity perturbed him, albeit only slightly. As he rematerialized out of range of the Balroggans, he took stock of the situation, with the large amount of support fleets bearing down on what was his position beforehand before they were reigned in, he pondered his options.

Batov's tactical operative picked up the presence of other Dornalian ships in the area. He knew that they came here to assist the Coredians in their escape, but they were, at the moment, moving to close with the Exodus Fleet, firing upon the 14 new contacts that emerged to do a little wolfpacking using showers of torpedoes and Demolisher Gun fire. Godulans, to the distress of Batov, emerged near the Exodus, though they were pleasantly neutral at the moment. "So they're not complete degenerates," he thought. The same went for the Woodians that just arrived in country.

Batov radioed them, and said, "It is good to see you. Tell me, what are you doing now?"

A gruff reply simply went, "I'm kinda busy right now! Gimme a fucking minute! JESUS!" After several frantic moments, the voice then said, "This is Admiral Nomura. This better be fucking good, I'm unleashing a shitload of ordinance upon some asswipes who decided to go a Wolf-packing. Demo Guns, torps, the usual shit. I also gotta deal with some fucking moralfags and some Godulans, and a new swarm of Balroggans. COCKSUCKERS! FUCKING BUTTMUNCHERS! I SWEA--Hold on."

Batov nodded, and then witnessed Nomura's ships unleash railgun fire upon the incoming Kythons, power up their shields to full and and get their Point Defenses working overtime to block as many of the incoming Balroggan kythons as possible as they sped up and in a different direction than Exodus. Batov then said, trying to remain calm, "Can you inform the Exodus Fleet and their new escorts to perhaps increase speed? If the objective is to get these civilians out, then it would perhaps not be sound to dilly-dally."

"Ya think!? What the fuck do you thi--screw you!" Admiral Nomura hung up and then called whoever was leading Exodus.

"Exodus Commander, this is Admiral Nomura. I'm doing what I can to block your ass, including shooting up these new assholes and beating back these fucking Kythons. But would you kindly tell your commanders to stop trying to give each other nice warm facials with their precious bodily fluids and get the fuck moving?! You can hold your bukkake orgies with your fucking Japanese sailorsuits later! JESUS!"

Meanwhile, Batov then decided, "Comrades, we cannot afford to waste time. Warp at maximum weapons distance from the Huntarians, commence harassment."

With that, Batov's ships warped at their maximum firing distance from the Huntarian lines, and unleased transphasic torpedoes and Demolisher Gun fire.

Overall the battle looked to be going poorly though there were pockets of success here and there. Still, it irked the Abriel that things had degraded so greatly that the battle had lost all symbolance of order and strategy. "Am I reading this correctly? Did the Coredians just send half their fleet to deal with 12 colonial vessels?"

Jinto shrugged. "It would appear so. I do not understand the reasoning behind it. Outnumbered as we are, dividing forces is not a sound strategy especially when trying to cross such a long distance."

Lafiel slammed her fist down. Since the Abh had arrived, they had basically been on their own with battle strategies. The only advice the Coredians had given was to protect the Exodus fleet. "That's it. Communications!"

"Uh..yes ma'am."

"Open channels to the Dornalians, Coredians, Communistic Gov'ts, and GDI forces."

"Admiral, GDI forces have surrenderred to the Balroggans."

Lafiel sunk her head a little. "Terrific, we get a new ally for once and they have to put up with this humiliation. Remind me to inform Senator Anderson of the GFFA Senate to have the Coredians offer an official apology to their government for piss poor intelligence and planning."

"Yes ma'am."

"Is the channel secure to the rest of the forces?"

"As good as it gets."

Attention allied vessels. This is Admiral Abriel of the Abh Empire. Due to the overall lack of coordination throughout this battle, I am officially taking command of the operation. All are welcome to debate this decision after the battle is over. For now, I am dealing out new orders. There will be no more dividing forces until this battle has concluded.

CG forces: You are to hunker down around the Exodus fleet and protect from all incoming fire. Wherever it goes, you go. Do not break formation to attack phantoms or stranded enemy vessels. Keep your engines hot and ready to move.

Admiral Nomura: Deploy your fighters as a screen and for anti-missle defense. That should help keep some of the flak off you for now. Balroggans are mimicking all of our signals to screw with your targeting systems. Flush out friend from foe intelligence and forget the AI. Use basic targeting and I guarantee you'll hit them. Just mind the friendly fire, your missles won't be able to discern if its you, Kython, or a flock of space dragons. Watch also for Balroggan ships to retreat to heal. This is when they are most vulnerable so unleash hell when you see it to bring them down. Oh, and kindly inform Batov to stop playing hide and seek and return to the battle at his earliest convenience.

To all: Protecting the Exodus Fleet appears to be the Coredian's main concern so that it is what we will do. Form lines of defense with your heavier vessels towards the rear for support. Keep the planet to your back and do not get surrounded. And for the love of the stars. Forget the damn two dimensional battlefield. This is space! Cover all axis. When the civilian fleet is finally ready to get the hell out of here, it will go first then we'll worry about our own escape plan. Now get off your cushioned seats and start act like professional soldiers. This battle isn't over and I will not allow us to loose while we still stand.

"Communication shuttles are away with the message Admiral."

Jinto hunched down beside her. "You think they'll listen?"

Lafiel shrugged. "We'll soon find out."

Nhur-Galladu stood and reached out to shake the hands of the human sitting on the other side of the table. When he couldn’t reach, he simply walked through the table to stand next to the startled guest. When he touched his hand, Stevenson noticed it was firm, warm, and definitely harder than flesh should be. Noticing the strange look returning to the Second Office’s face, Nhur-Galladu paused and did another quick passive scan, making sure to never intrude, only listen to the thoughts being broadcast by the human before him. What he found made him shake his head in disbelief.

“Don’t tell me they never told you about us. Your allies never told you the Ta’Nar and the Childer were pure minds, embodied thought. We create, for lack of a better term, holograms to use as our bodies and reinforce them with telekinetic energy fields to make them solid. They never told you our ships regenerate damage by absorbing power from energy weapons. They never told you we used singularities as our conventional weapons. They never gave you a chance.”

“You have been greatly wronged in this whole affair. Is there some way the Ta’Nar can make up for the betrayals your allies committed against you?”

Stevenson could tell the Warlord was sincere in his plea. Outside the ship, several vessels began to approach the wounded guests and assembly of a portable dry-dock began. It practically built itself as ships approached and seamlessly merged together to create the structures needed until a short time later there was facilities for each of the GDI ships, berths open wide and waiting for their patients to fill them so repairs could begin.


Stevenson was indeed shocked, to see the powerful and enigmatic leader of the Balroggans walk around the table and move over to shake his hand. He could only blink in amazement, as his thoughts rattled off like machine gun bullets in his head. He was feeling....a hand. A hand with warm. Form. Actual matter. The GFFA archives had said some of what they could tell about the Balroggans, but they hadn't been told much before this war and many parts of the archives were sealed off to them. Understandable, since they were very new to the game, but it had apparently held information they needed. As the words of Galladu entered his ears, he managed to nod and take a breath.

"No, they didn't. We knew about the Kythons, your culture and the battle of Mirfalk. Aside from that, nothing much. We hadn't the time to search the GFFA archives thoroughly enough, and we haven't been allowed to the secret files yet. We are rather new to the alliance after all, and......" He drifted off when he heard the final question by the man and he gave him a shocked stare. Before he could speak, he received a transmission. They didn't open a comm channel, but new orders and information came through the chip embedded in his head. The letters scrolled in his eyes and within milliseconds, he knew what they wanted him to know. So, they had begun getting help from the Dornalians to fix the media mess back home and revamping their navy? Still didn't change anything, they had too much money going into other projects. All they could send, after the revamp, would basically have to be for future battles. Which fit perfectly into the Balroggan plea. Shaking away the message, he replied.

"I do not think there is anything you can do, Mr. Galladu. The GDI have agreed to stay out for the present battle. We will not engage, nor will we seek to do so, unless first threatened or some kind of circumstance comes up that forces us to. We have decided to devote our efforts into other projects. We will most likely be returning after the month, especially with the arrival of the Chronosians. I am not a fan of war, especially after all that has happened, but I refuse to abandon innocent people to their desires. I thank you for your offer, but unless you can bring back the thousands of navy men and women who died in the battle, there is nothing you can do. I am authorized, however, to ask you a question."

He took a breath. "GDI command has heard the Dornalian side of the story, and are awaiting Masaki's tale at the moment. We have heard the Colonies side, thanks to the Woodians. However, it's not enough. We would like to know what fully happened at the Colonies that involved the Abh and the Coredians. We can't know for sure as the bloody media back home as exaggerated it for ratings and enraging the public beyond reason."


The ships barely managed to move into the docks, their systems starting to fail one by one; the Balroggans would see their weaponry had done a toll on the GDI. Great rents were torn in the ships, metal peeling back to reveal cold and vented decks. Some bodies that had not been forced out into space or were splattered across the decks would be seen. Bits of electricity and energy sizzled and jumped from the exposed wiring. The docks would keep them in place, but the repair work was going to take time. Especially with the Shield, which had the most horrific damage of all.

As the docks closed around the damaged ships, they sealed and atmosphere began to fill the huge voids until after a few minutes the pressure was equalized. Swarms of Kythons began to pour over the ships as they scanned the damages. Uploading the damages and the required parts to the industrial replicators, they began to make trips between the ship and them carrying the replacements needed to patch the hull.

As the atmosphere filled the dry-docks, a noticeable hum filled the air, the noise the Kythons made as they flew filled the background with a low thrum. It was not irritating unless you paid attention to it but it was certainly noticeable. Crew inside the ships would not hear the noise unless they were directly exposed to the atmosphere in the docks and if they were, simple ear protection would muffle it completely if it really did bother anyone.

Within the conference room, Nhur-Galladu faced Stevenson making sure to look his guest in the eye as he began to answer the GDI officer.

“To begin would take us back several years in the past, about twenty three if I remember correctly. It would take us back to a more pleasant time when I had over six billion entities living pleasantly under my rule. We occupied nearly four dozen star systems and were members of several organizations. Near the Kala-Keihm system, a battle broke out about ten light years away. A race of cybernetic enhanced humanoids were invading their sister planet, Ganoxa. Several younger races teamed up to thwart their plans. We did not actually participate but we kept an eye upon the situation in case they needed assistance or if the Cyborgs decided to migrate towards us.”

“About ten years later the survivors banded together and made an alliance to protect each other. Being the closest nation to them, they detected out signals and came to investigate. We were asked to join in and I accepted their invitation.”

While he was speaking, he contacted the replicator and commanded it to materialize a data reader and an empty data crystal on the tabletop. When it finished materializing, he picked it up and handed it to Stevenson. He then picked up the crystal and held it out with one hand. He transferred all the files he needed from the Shipmind into the crystal, which picked up a slight golden glow that gently pulsed every few seconds.

“All the information I am telling you will be in this Crystal. All pertinent files that are public record are also placed in this. Everything is true as far as the Ta’Nar knows so you can believe what you wish. This would be our side in all things.”

“You may have those and your government may use them as needed. The Truth cannot hurt us any more than the lies and half-truths told about us over the decades. Please keep them as an additional record of what happened on the day Palpatine dies and what was committed against the Ta’Nar. The Night of Rage is something we don’t speak of. The records will not go into details just mention when it happened and the fact more than six billion Childer perished that evening. It is just an effect of the events that happened. It was the result of several causes placed upon us by the Abh and the Coredians in their dishonorable actions that day. Enough is there to know why it happened, just not what or how. That is a part of us that we cannot tell more of at this time. Thirteen years have not been long enough to bury the pains.”

Nhur-Galladu trailed off as if lost in thought. He was still holding out the glowing crystal but stared off into the past with unseeing eyes. He was remembering the unforgivable. He was reliving the deaths of so many within himself. He felt the dark anger deep within himself, the desire to Hunt those responsible. The old urges to begin the Hunt called out. The Hunt was calling him.

With a shudder, he returned to the present and looked at Stevenson with sad eyes, ones that have seen way too many deaths than several lifetimes could fathom. He was a witness to everything that happened through the Link. He was there when it happened. He pushed it all down for this was neither the time nor the place for such thoughts. He took control of his thoughts and kept a steady face and looked at Stevenson.

“The whole thing is there right down to the reports I received from Advisor Ba’El, the one you might call Lord Atrox. He was the one asked by Admiral Cain to capture the Abh Infiltrators who turned out to be assisted by the Coredians. Like I said, there is nothing classified within those files.”



-----



The Ta’Nar at Jurai were quite pleased with the Abh. When they broadcast their message across supposedly secure channels, if they were including the Coredians those codes were already compromised. The Ta’Nar had obtained and maintained the most current security clearances broadcast to the Coredian fleets.

It was possible because the Black Fleet was essentially an extension of the Ta’Nar. They had complete access to the records and files because even though there was still a computer aboard the ship. It had been absorbed by the Shipmind in control of the ship. That included the contents of the mainframe as well as anything the computer would have access to with or without passwords. After all, the passwords are only to prevent unauthorized users from access the data, not the computer itself. If it could not access the data it would not be able to direct anything to the right place. Its coding needed access to function correctly.

Being possessed by an alien entity only allowed that entity, in this case the cumulative minds of the Kythons composing the individual vessels of the Black Fleet, to know what existed within the files. The Coredians would never really know how badly they were compromised. If they tried to fix the hole, the patches would become available for the entities to use. Any changes would be adapted and used without making it appear they were anything more than a piece of blackened silicon circuit boards that behaved properly.

When the Abh broadcast their message, the Ta’Nar listened. They smiled metaphysically, and then pretended to not hear a thing so the resistance would never be able to detect the level they were compromised. Even if they had to sacrifice ships, they could make more ships easy enough. They would make tactical advances based upon what the enemy displayed and await the time they would deliver the killing blow. They would display false weaknesses to make the enemy overconfident and lead them into death traps. They would bluff their weaknesses to make the enemy think they were strong. They would control the enemy like a puppeteer does his marionettes.

Soon the show would start, we only need to wait for the rest of the spectators to arrive.

The crew heard the noise, and took the steps any normal human would. Some listened, curiously lulled by it, and others listened with great interest. Most, however, still angry and bitter about the battle, turned up music or did something that would block out the sound of the Kythons.

Under the creatures touch, the hull began to resume somewhat of more a full shape. Patches were being put on over the tears and gashes, and the atmosphere was being restored to the lost parts of the ship. The bodies of those still remaining in those areas would have to be collected later; a duty the navy men and women were not looking forward to doing.

Meanwhile, Stevenson accepted the crystal, after listening to the story of how the Balroggans had come to join an unknown alliance of nations. He nodded in thanks for the crystal, but saw the nod was unseen, as Galladu's eyes were lost in thought. Stevenson held back a grim chuckle; his crew and he had been doing much of the same during the time between the end of the battle, and this moment. When he came back to the world of the living, he nodded again. "Thank you. My government will use the information as best as possible. It will be difficult to disseminate this information, considering that the public considers you as the great enemy and murderers right now. Human media is rather uncontrollable and disgusting, but its the price we pay for democracy."

(OOC: Waiting on CW to post his ship movements, and his response to the new 14 signatures outside of exodus before I respond to the thousands upon thousands of missiles and warships coming to take on my few ships.)

The two Battlegroup held position, examining the phenomena caused by The Phoenix. Their sensors were mostly trained upon the expanding wave front but enough were looking elsewhere that the sudden ambush by three fleets jumping in did not completely take them by surprise.

“Commander, several ships jumping right on top of us.”

“Emergency Uplift, all vessels.”

As the seventh and eighth Coredian fleets and the Dragon King’s began to fire at the thirty-some ships, they began to fade out of existence. While that allowed several to escape unharmed, there were some slow ones that did not get the message in time to activate their drives, namely the closest ones.

The hail of kinetic slugs riddled them and passed clean through many of them, sending the ricocheting projectiles off at crazy angles possibly toward allied ships. Eleven ships seemingly burst apart like over-ripe melons, sending a spray of ebon shards outwards in a cloud of debris enveloping the attackers very quickly. Fine silt settled on the hulls, attracted there by the minute gravitational tugs of the mass in the armor and hulls. Intakes drew in the mist-like particles and covered anything. The electromagnetic fields seemed to pull the annoying stuff directly to the electronics it was emitted from much the same way dust is attracted to circuit boards (Have you looked in your PC lately at your own dust collection?) of commercial electronics.

In T-Space, Commander Lah’Zohn watched the fresh sensor feeds of what happened in Real Space. The dust cloud that used to be eleven ships was still expanding past the enemy, although much thinner seeing as the ships had attracted most of it to themselves. Electrostatic energy in their hulls and armor would keep the stuff adhered until it was time. They had something worse than dusty hulls to occupy their attention.

Of the eleven ships that were fragmented, five were actually occupied by Childer and their Ta’Nar overlords. The other seven were drones made right before the battle at Konoha. The problem with five ships occupied is the crew was left to fight. The advantage of being a pure mind, the kinetics simply passed through them. This means there were several hundred pissed off entities making their way through the Void to the ships that were busy firing everything they had at them. Rounds and slugs passed through the vengeful Wraiths as they advanced uncomfortably fast toward their prey. Streaks of white, blue, and grey sped toward the command vessels through empty space.
"Captain Eran. We have two problems." A younger Dragon reported to the commander currently fighting the Balroggans. "The enemy have produced some kind of mist that have landed on several ships and the Mages have reported that there are spirit-like beings approaching, several hundred of them at least."

"The Balroggans are just full of surprises, eh?" The Dragon Captain sighed. "Have the mages fire anti-spirit spells on the incoming forces, should deal with them. As for the mist...assume it's a Kython Infection. Keep them off however you can."

Chaos reigned across the Juraian System as individual commanders of the Coredian Navy sought vengeance against Admiral Hallen, bringing their weapons to bear on her and her tiny fleet. To strike at the Exodus Fleet in such a manner, it was enough for them to see red. Red enough to almost ignore Lady Nightshade and her allies battering them.

"Get those commanders on the line and order them to hold the line!" I shouted to Phoenix. "I will not have the fleet torn in pieces for petty vengeance! I will have them relieved of their command fortwith if they do not comply!"

Attention allied vessels. This is Admiral Abriel of the Abh Empire. Due to the overall lack of coordination throughout this battle, I am officially taking command of the operation. All are welcome to debate this decision after the battle is over. For now, I am dealing out new orders. There will be no more dividing forces until this battle has concluded.

CG forces: You are to hunker down around the Exodus fleet and protect from all incoming fire. Wherever it goes, you go. Do not break formation to attack phantoms or stranded enemy vessels. Keep your engines hot and ready to move.

Admiral Nomura: Deploy your fighters as a screen and for anti-missle defense. That should help keep some of the flak off you for now. Balroggans are mimicking all of our signals to screw with your targeting systems. Flush out friend from foe intelligence and forget the AI. Use basic targeting and I guarantee you'll hit them. Just mind the friendly fire, your missles won't be able to discern if its you, Kython, or a flock of space dragons. Watch also for Balroggan ships to retreat to heal. This is when they are most vulnerable so unleash hell when you see it to bring them down. Oh, and kindly inform Batov to stop playing hide and seek and return to the battle at his earliest convenience.

To all: Protecting the Exodus Fleet appears to be the Coredian's main concern so that it is what we will do. Form lines of defense with your heavier vessels towards the rear for support. Keep the planet to your back and do not get surrounded. And for the love of the stars. Forget the damn two dimensional battlefield. This is space! Cover all axis. When the civilian fleet is finally ready to get the hell out of here, it will go first then we'll worry about our own escape plan. Now get off your cushioned seats and start act like professional soldiers. This battle isn't over and I will not allow us to loose while we still stand.

Between Admiral Pellaeon and Admiral Abriel, the Navy began to settle down and reorganize, forming defensive lines as suggested by the Abh Admiral, moving quickly to close the gaps caused by their former hotheadedness. And then...

The Exodus Fleet went from here, several million miles from the planetary atmosphere...to there, a couple AU away and only five minutes away from escape. I felt the large disturbance in the Force that the Godulans unleashed in teleporting (or did they call it psychoportation? Better ask Skye if I get the chance again) the fleet. I almost smiled wryly. "Leave it to the Godulans to pull our asses out of the fire one last time...*flips coms*...Commander Takamori. Don't worry about what just happened. As soon as you get clear, jump immediately! We'll follow after we deal with these Sithspawn!"

"As ordered, sir!"

At long last, the Exodus Fleet's final elements glowed a slightly blue color as their engines began to warm up for the jump to hyperspace. One by one, they disappeared, with the Rakka and Reki stations last.

Now, it was time to deal with the nasty problem of the Battle of Jurai. As I see it, we have to:

A. Kick as much ass as we can.

B. Get the hell out of here as quickly as we can.

C. Rendzevous with the Exodus Fleet as soon as we bail and hop around the universe so that the enemy don't catch them.

I flipped comms once more, creating a three-way conversation between me, Pellaeon, and Abriel. "Exodus Fleet is all away. Any thoughts as to breaking the enemy lines and getting the hell out of here?"

"The Tenetians are the weakest link here." Pellaeon noted. "If we break through them, we might have a chance, but we still have to run the gauntlet of the other enemies. Any suggestions?"

OOC: Bal, the Godulans told us that we were compromised, which is why we sent the Black Fleet away, and besides, we changed the codes after they left, so theirs is at least several days, if not a week, outdated. You'd find only screwy words and static.

I truly dislike your implication that I'd be compromised so easily.

OOC: CW, think you missed my post (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13387291&postcount=300)?

The Flak Cannons and secondaries roared in space, the thousands of Gatalin cannons firing in space, on each ship, all firing the new Ta’Nar singularity rounds, at the incoming enemy fighters. The new weapon systems proved more effective than any of the Colonial Scientist had imagined. X-Wings, the first of the Coredian wave, as they were the faster craft, blazed in the background.

Those unfortunate enough not to be directly hit, by the guns, firing ten thousand rounds per second, for each cannon, found themselves in a worse predicament. As their ships passed between the singularities, the gravity became intense, too intense, as the ships exploded, as the matter on their systems, were torn apart like a paper doll in the mouth of a pit bull.

The mood was somber, on the CIC.

Admiral Hallen looked up to the draidus, “Bow up by 4 degrees, bring us starboard 37 degrees, turn axis by 12 degrees.” she ordered, as the largest Colonial ship in the fleet positioned itself, to launch a full broadside barrage at the x-wings.

“Sir, Enemy ships are moving off to Exodus, we are detecting weapons fire at the signatures.” the officer shouted.

Hallen looked up, as Draidus began to pick up thousands of torpedoes firing in sequence at the new “battlestars.” She watched, as a carnal smile formed on her face. “Good let them shoot at shadows.” she said.

“Sir, Coredian and unknown fleet will be within range in twelve minutes.” another officer stated.

She looked up to see where the Coredian and the unknown (ND) fleet were coming from. She turned to the planning table. She held out her hand, bring us to this position along side the Ta’Nar fleet, and inform the Ta’Nar, to begin full infection protocols, and unrestricted warfare at their convince. I do not plan on this battle lasting long, or shifting the frakking dog pile.

She then turned to draidus, as a thick line appeared. “Sir multiple enemy inbound, sir we are counting. The man paused. Five thousand torpedoes.”

Hallen looked up, “What the frak.” she said, as the first wave began to make contact with the flak cannon suppression barrage. The flaks fired from the entire fleet, putting up a massive wall of small singularity shells. The system, with the new shells was 99% accurate, but the numbers were quite overwhelming. The first waves began to hit, as the torpedoes, slammed against the flaks. Explosions in the backdrop were everywhere, as ninty nine out of a hundred torpedoes aimed at the Ta’Nar and colonial fleet, exploded, or were ripped apart.

Then she watched, as roughly one hundred and fifty torpedoes out of the barrage still made it through.

She turned to the weapons officer, bring main batteries online, load surpression barrage in the port cannons and begin to fire, set to medium range.” she ordered, as she looked up nervously.

As she spoke, and the tubes loaded, the shots fired. Yellow tracer fire from the main batteries firing two shells a second blazed against the backdrop of space. The shells traveled towards their targets, the remaining torpedoes, as the shells exploded. Out of the shells came hundreds of small dense shrapnel, that began to slam into the sides of the torpedoes. The firepower from the combined fleet was intense, as more and more of the torpedoes exploded in the distance.

“It was a good thing, that the Colonies had been fighting the cylons, who were massive missile spammers for about seventy years.” Hallen said to herself, as more and more torpedoes fell from draidus. In the end, Twelve Torpedoes remained, each locking on to their target, one of the Colonial ships.

“Hallen looked up as there was not much more that could be done, without launching the alert vipers. She turned to her XO, engage ECM, and brace for impact. He turned to her and sighed, as the torpedo slammed against the multi layered Balroggan dimensional shield. The ship shook, as the purple hue of the shield slammed into place with the torpedo. The hit was hard, as her head slammed into the planning table. Lights flickered for a moment.

She grabbed her head and pulled her hand down. It was red, covered in blood. “Mother frakker.” she replied, “Damage report.”

“Sir, we were hit with some kind of near nuclear explosion. Outer shield is holding, but there is slight external damage to flight pod three.”

She turned, to draidus, “OK mother frakkers, you want to play.” she said, “Lock on to the lead unknown ship, and load the dimensional missiles. Fire at your convince.” she said.

As the missile warheads were being switched, the fate of the Colonial war effort was about to change, drastically.

A signal, uncoded, entered the system, on Colonial frequency, on full automation. The Automated Signal was simple, and could be picked up with ease.

The Colonial Government has entered Case Orange. All Colonial Vessels are to return to Colonial Space. Any and all non colonial vessels or civilain vessels are ordered to stop their movements, until escort arrives. The Colonies are under lock down. The Twelve Colonies of Kobol are under attack, repeat, Case Orange. All Colonial Vessels are to report to Colonial Space....

Soon the Battlestars fired one missile each, at the nearest ND vessel. As the missile fired, it shimmered in the backdrop of space, before vanishing, hopefully to reappear just outside the ship. It was armed with the the equivilant of a fifty megaton warhead, as it shimmered out of this dimension.

As Admiral Hallen watched the battle take place, the message came, as a man walked up to her with a piece of paper in his hands. The corners were cut off, as he handed it to her. “Sir.” he replied, as he looked at the paper. Her eyes widened in horror, as the message read out. “Case Orange.” she said, “That means Cain is missing or dead. Those frakkers.” she replied.

She turned to her com officer, “Inform Remiel, that the Colonies are under attack, and that we have been ordered to return to colonial space.” she said, as her voice filled with anger. Inform the Ta’Nar to continue with the operation, and begin to infect the Coredian side of Jurai at their leasure.” she ordered.

“Yes sir.” he replied, as the transmission went out.

“Spin up the FTL, and set course for Picon, order the rest of the operation to abort and return to the Colonies ASAP.” she yelled.

“Sir FTL is up, and ready.” She turned to her officer, her eyes looking like they are on fire. “Jump”

Moments later, the twelve battlestars vanished from Jurai.

Konoha

The Blockade still ran without incident, as the same message came. The new Commander Jackson watched and read it. He could not believe it, as his hands dropped the Coffee. The mug, fell to the steel bulkhead on the floor, as it shattered into a million pieces, and the black liquid spilled on the steel bulkheads.

He turned, “Set the ship to action stations.” he ordered, as the ship alarms came on. “The weapons unrolled out of their protected slots, as the shielding and flaks prepared themselves. “Order all Colonial Vessels to return to fleet immediately, combat landings are authorized. Prepare to jump back to the colonies.”

He then picked up the com, and sent a message to the Godulan and Ascendency. “The Colonies are under attack” was all it said.

As the Raptors screamed out of the ships of the thirteenth colony and the vipers and raptors in the planet pulled out, the flight pods began to look more like a jammed parking lot than a miltary landing. However it did not take long as the eight battlestar blockade then vanished in a flicker of light.

At Exodus, the second phase of Hallen’s plan worked well too well. The missiles, and torpedoes flew straight and true, uninhibited by any defenses. The torpedoes, encountering no resistance , flew to their target, then past them.... As the fighters came close to intercept, they could see the truth, lots of missiles spamming in the distance, Colonial Decoy missiles.

The Colonies were out of the conflict.

Darian had gone back to the Starchild, conducting affairs from there after he had witnessed the execution of Commander Ford. His anger and grief intermixed themselves. He had met a human mortal who had far out-stripped the usual expectations he had for humans. He had been honorable, good, and did his duty. He had his morals, and despite orders, he had chosen to help the people of a nation who had brought his to the brink of destruction.

And he was killed for it, as he ensured the return of the Coredian's blasted leader of Konoha! His hand tightened as his anger grew. Would the Colonials get a break from being the victim of the galaxy?! "I swear, if someone attacks the Colonies....."

At that exact moment, the message blazed into his consciousness from the new commander of the Battlestar Gorgon. He sent a quick response and sought counsel with Breanna. Her instantaneous consultation with the High Council revealed a unanimous decision.

Find out what was going on in the Colonies; if any enemies were attacking the Colonies....he had full permission to go to war.

A grim smile came to his face, as he dissipated his physical form and reestablished his possession of the ship. The seventy ship Ascendant fleet turned and then phased out, using their phase drives to blast towards Colonial space after the Colonials. All fighters and shuttlecraft had been withdrawn, and within seconds, they had disappeared from Konoha. Aside from the NPC fleets, there was no one.

The blockade was over....but the war, it seemed, had just begun.....

This is Admiral Makaryk of Evil Woody Thoughts. I have fought nine Trials of Refusal against crew who refuse to assist The Fallen. As such, I am here solely to assist in the prevention of needless death of civilian populations. I am in no mood to linger to die for Jedi who will Force Crush us anyway.
I sighed. "They'll never let us live Bailey's Fall down again."

"Thank you for your assistance, such as it is. Do what you can at this moment."

Konoha

As the Raptors screamed out of the ships of the thirteenth colony and the vipers and raptors in the planet pulled out, the flight pods began to look more like a jammed parking lot than a miltary landing. However it did not take long as the eight battlestar blockade then vanished in a flicker of light.

The Colonies were out of the conflict.

With that, Commodore Alcott heard Gracie chirp, "Now's our chance! We can take command of the blockade, and keep those fuckers down!" The Commodore looked at the options presented to him. With the Godulans, the Woodians and their puritanical morality, and a storm of others eager to take advantage of things in the area, and the ever present threat of a shitstorm coming, he decided to act. Fortunately, a good number of Haywoods and others were coming back up...with reports of moonscapes, violence, and killer robots.

He issued a loud, allcall broadcast. Getting people's attention with the opening guitar chords of Living Colour's "Cult of Personality," Alcott then began to speak as the ships of the People's Navy surrounded Konoha in a cloud of vessels.

"Attention all involved in Konoha. I am Commodore Alcott of the New Dornalian People's Navy. Since the Twelve Colonies have packed up, and there needs to be somebody here to keep that Pandora's Box from being opened, I am hereby taking command of this blockade and relief effort. I am also declaring the planet of Konoha a No Go Zone.

Means nobody goes in unless you pass People's Navy inspection before entering. Fortunately, we're going to go a little faster than our former Colonial friends. Though we ask that you do not bring any sensitive materials to the surface that may help the killer robots who just landed below.

Failure to comply means that the People's Navy will open fire on you. One warning shot. Then that's it.

So please, follow these rules. No tickee, no laundry. Is that clear?"

Konoha

A great sigh of relief seemed to permeate the Second Fleet and the three Hokage Battlegroups. The Hokage and the rest of the Council were now able to relax just a bit, even with the Dornalians declaring they'll take over the blockade.

But it was not over yet. Not by a long shot.

"Second Fleet will remain to protect the system. The Battlestar Juria and the Eighth Fleet elements that remained at Konoha are now free to attack the enemies at the Jurai system." The Hokage announced.

Privately to Alcott: "We shall assist in the blockade to ensure a speedy recovery for Konoha. Admiral Rommel will be glad to assist you."

With that, the three Hokage battlegroups and the Juria disappeared in bright flashes, aiming to support their brethren at Jurai.

But when news of the attack by Hallen came back to Konoha, the Council were horrified that the Colonials did deliberately attack the Exodus Fleet. Declaration of war was not far from their lips, and Masters Elendil and Rydo had to persuade the rest to hold off on that until they got the full story. They could not afford another mistake, after all.

"Admiral. Communications from the Cordians coming through for you."

Lafiel eased her head up slightly. "Very well put it through."

"I wonder what this could be about."

Lafiel let Jinto's side not go as she turned her attention to the large screen at the head of the flagship. It was not quite what she had expected though it was a start. "I would suggest locating and removing any and all forms of FTLi in the area. We're not going far if we can't engage FTL engines. Do that and push the Tenetians aside and we will deal with the others allowing you to make your break.

Fire every ounce of kinetic ordance you have at their center and break their lines. Push them aside and do not allow the lines to close back up. The massive volley should give you some room to manuever but don't take long or else you'll get surrounded."

I sighed. "They'll never let us live Bailey's Fall down again."

They sure wouldn't. At least until the Jedi Order stopped trying to evade responsibility for its crimes, of which Bailey's Force Crush was simply the icing on the cake. Admiral Makaryk figured it would be a good idea to notify the Coredians that they would soon be receiving prisoners. He sent a reply transmission to the Coredians.

We are transferring the nine crew who fought Trials of Refusal against participating into your custody. Force Crush them at your leisure. If the Jedi were too busy to deal with the Sith among them, then we are too busy to deal with those who dishonor themselves as well.

Meanwhile, Admiral Makaryk ordered his own fleet to burn for interception of the Exodus Fleet with all deliberate speed. "Hold all fire," he commanded, "Everything goes into engines and shields. Fire ONLY on ships that fire upon us, or the Exodus Fleet. We are not here for anything else." As he pulled up past battle reports from ship's archives regarding allied encounters against Kythons, he added, "Gauss Rifles only against anything that is remotely Balroggan. Activate expedited self-destruct protocols in case of Infection."

Meanwhile, the nine bruised and battered, mutinous officers who had defied the Admiral's orders were brought, bound, to the transporter room, whereupon techs proceeded to beam them onto Coredian ships, whether the Coredians liked it or not. Admiral Makaryk was doing nothing more than giving the Jedi Order a taste of its own medicine--shoving off problems to someone else. The difference was, that in this case, such shoving off would not result in the deaths of innocents.

The Woodian fleet raced towards Exodus Fleet, pulling a full reverse thrust burn combined with vector thrusters to turn around when the two fleets met...

Meanwhile, somewhere aboard Exodus Fleet...

Seven-year-old John Masaki could sense the battle raging on outside as he remained hidden, and cloaked, inside some random janitor's closet. He sensed the collective anguish the Godulans wrought upon themselves as they psycho-teleported the Exodus Fleet to what passed for a semi-margin of safety. And then, to complicate matters, he sensed the arrival of a fleet full of his own countrymen, who seemed just as displeased with Coredia as they did with the Black Crusade.

Not that he could blame them, after learning what the Jedi Order had done, both to the Woodians and to the Colonials. Oh, yes, he remembered telling his adopted father, Taylor Masaki, about what he sensed in the Force. Both of them were so upset by it, that they contributed to the Bailey Bounty Fund, no doubt against the wishes of the Jedi Council.

John also sensed that were it not for the civilian populations on these ships, the Woodians would not have bothered to show up at all. It would have been bad enough if only Bailey had Fallen, but the Council refused to do much of anything to rectify the problem, so Woodians, somewhat understandably, held the Council to account as well. Not to mention that someone on the Council HAD to have signed off on black-holing Caprica, or it never would have happened.

Why must it come to this? The idea of using his cloaking abilities to disappear and try life as an orphan was looking more and more tempting to John, if only to assuage his own conscience...

"Done. Admiral?" I asked.

"We'll shut down every FTLi we have in this system. That should buy us time before the enemy produces its own. I task you with the elimination of any enemy FTLi, Field Marshal." The Admiral said. "In the meantime, we should do everything we can to break through."

"Right." I nodded.

Almost immediately, our plan was put into place. FTLi systems collapsed upon the order of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, which happened to include the dimensional stabilizer. Unfortunately, that meant that the enemy could use all manner of nasty tactics against them if they so wished this time. Still, the Phoenix still had many surprises about her and the Grand Admiral knew them all...

=====

"My lady, the enemy advances upon us."

Lady Nightshade has been watching everything, gleeful that Admiral Hallen attacked the Exodus Fleet and a little disappointment that she didn't get to them first. "So they finally decide to attack. Prepare to execute Alpha Strikes once they're in range and for Coruscant's sake, watch the flanks!"

Massive fire thundered across the sky as both sides began to really fight for the first time since the battle began. Now that the Exodus Fleet was safely away, the Coredian Navy could finally cut loose and destroy their hated enemies. And so they did. Masses of fire lashed out, cutting into shields and burning devastating holes in hulls. In the midst of it all, it seems as if the Ravager and the Phoenix were to duel, seeing as they started trading fire almost from the beginning. With the power of the stabilizer relaxed, the Phoenix could now devote more power to shields or weapons, depending on Pellaeon's current preference.

It wouldn't be long before either side breaks, hopefully Daniel Masaki's side...

=====

We are transferring the nine crew who fought Trials of Refusal against participating into your custody. Force Crush them at your leisure. If the Jedi were too busy to deal with the Sith among them, then we are too busy to deal with those who dishonor themselves as well.

Almost as soon as Pellaeon recieved the notice, seven Woodian crew members (the other two had their molecules scrambled trying to get through the shields) arrived on the bridge. Pellaeon sighed. "Brig. We'll deal with you later."

Meanwhilst, on Konoha:

The Godulans had arrived planetside some time before the Colonials felt the need to terminate their blockade of the Coredian semi-capitol. That the Dornalians had so eagerly taken upon themselves the mantle of blockading the world themselves distressed the avatars only slightly, for despite their lack of... respect for Dornalian authority, they knew the Cylons needed to be contained. Already a swarm of strange metallic scarabs were roaming around the initial landing point, chirping happily and soaking up lingering radiation like a sponge.

Still, a single Avatar made its way along the debris-strewn streets towards a very important section of Konoha. It showed no fear towards the centurions roaming around, as it had no reason to do so. In fact, it was quite careful to show no emotion whatsoever towards any cylons it came into contact with, for to do so would be to show the murderous bastards the true meaning of pain, and considering the delicate situation, such would be inadvisable.

It turned on one street, then turned down another, and finally came to a well-appointed garden.

"Katrina Masaki," it began, to get the attention of the 'Presiding Empress'. "You may remember us from Terivine. We are An'Karsus. We have been sent here to relay some data to the Coredian Council. It concerns the Colonial attack upon the Civilian Exodus Fleet. Would you assist us in gaining an audience? Our standard method of simply materializing in the council chamber would likely be taken as provocative in the present political climate."

Katrina Masaki sighed. Although the pundits were already calling for war against the Colonies, the Council had decided to seek proof before declaring it. Though the Godulans lost a lot of trust after they declared for Remiel, they still retained enough to hopefully prevent it. Despite her hotheadedness, she didn't want to make another mistake. "Very well. I'll call a meeting."

*long story short, An'Karsus was allowed to speak to the Council.*

After the supposed colonial attack on the Exodus fleet and its departure from the system it was now time for the Ganoxian fleet to begin its own departure. The communications between the Cordians and the Abh were heard by Brivun. Now with the proposed plan of dropping the FTLi and punching they're way through enemy lines, Brivun now decides.

"Get the fleet to link up with the Cordian forces escaping. We'll follow them as they make their break. Tenjin I need another missile barrage ready from you."

"Already done."

"Good. Launch on my mark."

The fleet began to link with the escaping Cordian ships and now are taking fire from the Tenetian vessels."Admiral?"

"Not yet!"

More bursts were coming in from the enemy. Destroyers taking point to protect the carrier. "We need to get closer!"

"Anymore closer we will be kissing them!" Tenjin said.

"Fire! All ships divert all power to shields and engines. Manual control to turrets!" he ordered.

All missile tubes on board the Orelas lit up as 864 missiles were launched at the Tenetian ships. Brivun saw other allied vessels firing everything they got to punch through on the tactical display.

Nhur-Galladu nodded to Stevenson

“You are correct, humanity tends to take popular opinion and believe it without checking the facts clearly. It is to be expected since information is commonly hoarded and manipulated instead of given freely like with the Ta’Nar. We all share our awareness so we are constantly in communication with the others of our kind in addition to having our own private thoughts. It is like having a higher stage of hive mind but we are all individual beings participating within it. It provides constant comfort and companionship for we are never truly alone. We can be private but never feel abandoned for our brethren are but a thought away.”

The Warlord turned to the table and viewed the progress that was beginning on the repair of the ships that were enemies less than thirty minutes ago. They were for the time being considered allies.

“If you wish to allow this, you crew can take some rest aboard the repair docks in the areas away from the construction. I will order the docks to move so a facility can be set up connecting them together for the crew to relax. They have been mistreated and deserve more than I can offer.”

“Oh, I wish to inform you the ships are being repaired with suitable replacement parts. I am not substituting anything Infected nor am I accessing your computers. You will need to provide some unclassified repair diagrams and any classified areas you are welcome to fix yourself if you wish. The Replicators will be made available to your crew chiefs to create parts they need and I promise we will not take advantage of you in any way. We do not work that way. We have honor.”


-----


When the Colonials revved up their drives and returned to The 12 Colonies, the attack fleet assigned to them followed suit. Space was ripped in twain and a large wormhole appeared. The entire fleet dove into the rift and it slammed shut behind them. The battlefield was left empty, except for the thousands of missiles arriving in empty space.




OOC:

I really don’t have much to reply to but I still have to mention a couple things before everything gets crazy. The fleets I assigned to Chron will duplicate his posted actions in their own way just like they did with OG’s fleet.

Stevenson smiled thinly at Galladu when he mentioned the combined mind network the Ta'Nar had. "Yeah, well, we aren't so lucky. Although a death for you is more devastating than it is for us. And I imagine being so powerful comes at a price. You only have some many of your kind in existence, don't you?"

When he asked about the ships, the Second Officer waved a hand. "It is alright, Mr. Galladu. I will order the unclassified schematics to be given to you, and I thank you for the crew's sake. Although they will still be bitter, I am sure the sights of your technology will give them some wonder to distract them."

He opened the comm link with the ship again and ordered the schematics given, and those that didn't compromise GDI technology.

OOC: Placeholder for Alcott to take charge at Konoha and Nomura to make more amusing and angry tirades in Jurai. I'd post now, but Japanese History won't read itself! ;)

“Yes, you are correct. Having left biology long ago, there is just no way to reproduce. The tradeoff was not to be biologically limited in life span. As long as we keep our wits about us, we will remain alive and exist. Eventually time will catch up with an individual and we will morn for them but it allows us eons to practice Uplifting races.”

“We can guide other younger races up the evolutionary ladder. If nothing interferes with the Uplift, the end result could be beings like our Childer. They were humans and Artificial Sentients a few centuries ago. We started with a bunch of superstitious shamanistic human population and brought them to be Class B minds. They are the way we reproduce, through our Childer.”

“I will command the construction of a facility for your crew.”

At a word, or rather a thought from Nhur-Galladu the enclosed dry-docks began to gently move, as a matter of fact unless someone was looking outside there would be no indication they were moving. The seven units slowly moved toward a common point. In the center, several ships positioned themselves and simply fell to pieces, reverting to their Kython counterparts. A black swarm formed and swirled in place. Individual Kythons merged and a new structure began to build itself in the place of the condensing swarm until a single structure rested as the seven docks touched and then merged together into a single unit.

Atmosphere began to be generated by the replicators and Kythons scurried about setting the interior for their honored guests. The multi-story creation had a multitude of windows allowing the sights of this system to be easily viewed. The whole structure slowly rotated to allow a complete view once an hour, nothing that would cause any problem. Gravity was generated internally and it was powered by a Space Minus Tap, same as each dry-dock. There was just about every means of rest and relaxation that was possible in space. Even a water park was available on the main level, lit by the distant stars, sun, and planets. Overhead lights simulated sunlight and warmth for sunbathers. Replicators were programmed to allow the crew to order any type of food that was not harmful to them. Even alcohol was available if the Officers permitted the crew to drink on shore leave.

An'Karsus stepped through the somewhat utilitarian doors leading in to the council chamber, his movements methodical and mechanical as he almost floated towards the center of the room with silent and fluid footsteps. His gaze slid from left to right, taking in the looks of mistrust and disappointment and returning them with emotionless detachment. He took no offense to the chilly reception, felt no necessity to justify the actions of his people. What was done was done. The Godulans walked their path alone now.

But their path required diligence. It required them to 'stay on top of things'. To that end, preconceptions had to be abolished.

He stopped in the center of the room and bowed to Elendil before speaking in an eerie voice that seemed sythesized if only due to the curious inflections and precision of his speech. "We thank you for allowing us to speak in this time of great confusion. No doubt the relations between our two nations have been strained of late, and we recognize that our presence here must be a significant stress. For this we apologize.

"We come before you today to offer supplemental information regarding the hostilities at Jurai, in particular the alleged Colonial assault upon fleeing civilian vessels. Recognized, ninety-five percent probability that the council has been notified of the incident in question. Recognized, twenty-two percent probability that the council is similarly aware of the Godulan response to the unprovoked assault.

"We have had the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with Colonial military protocols as part of our effort to rebuild the Colonies in the aftermath of the atrocities that were visited upon them. Recognized, any offensive action by Colonial military assets requires authorization from superior officers or high-command to execute. Such authorization was not given by Admiral Cain or the High Command, nor were they notified of any intent to conduct such an action. The officer in charge of the Colonial fleet at Jurai, Admiral Hallen, was operating outside of established parameters by conducting the attack."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to one council member after another, returning their apprehensive glares with no emotion, but great intensity all the same.

"Are there any questions in respect to the information presented thus far?"

Konoha

Privately to Alcott: "We shall assist in the blockade to ensure a speedy recovery for Konoha. Admiral Rommel will be glad to assist you."

To this, Alcott sent a simple, secure transmission that read, "Roger that. Inform me when you're ready. I'll need to bolster the lines and speed up the relief efforts below."

As this occurred, the Dornalians moved to distribute food, medicine, and their relief supplies to the remaining settlements that had somehow survived the atomic holocaust wrought by the Cylons. Though they had been doing this already, communications were hard to initiate, as was navigation. Bombed out radioactive planets have a way of doing that.

----------

In Jurai, Admiral Nomura was startled by the rapid turn of events. The Abh took command, the unknown contacts and some of the Balroggans left as soon as they came to mess around, and now, the plan was to take down the FTLi and get out. The effects of the temporal shielding, had mitigated the Colonial fire.

As Nomura sighed, he muttered, "Can somebody tell me what the fuck Batov is doing and why the hell 12 ships blocked all that fire?" He facepalmed, showing disgust. Unusual, considering he'd normally be making more explicit references to how his men were engaging in "wasting goddamn precious bodily fluids" or other such insults. Now, he just seemed tired.

Tactical replied, "Comrade Admiral, enemy flak was singularity powered...." To that, Nomura replied, "Get me JRCCC when this is done. I want singularity flak too. No more bullshit." Looking up at the screen, he then remembered that he had to break through the lines. Thus, he then called Batov, saying on a secure channel, "Admiral, get your bunnyhopping ass over here. We need to concentrate our forces and get out. Especially since those moralfags showed up. And turn off that Goddamn Mannerheim device....."

Batov, meanwhile, simply said, "Acknowledged, Comrade Admiral." He sighed afterwards. How was such a coarse man able to command such a vessel? It was a mystery unto him, and it was one he would never figure out. He had the FTLi dropped, and then warped his forces next to Admiral Nomura's as quickly as possible, whereupon Nomura said, "Attention all units. The Exodus Fleet is out. However, the enemy is still here. He wants to hurt us. He wants to kill us. So let's kill him! Let's make him wish he never roused the Fury of the Revolution! YOU GOT ME!!??"

An all call of, "YES SIR!!!!" was heard over the speakers. Then, Nomura plugged in some music and said, "Now, let's show these fuckers we're mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore!"

With that, on all allied and enemy signals, a loud tolling of bells. 13 times, as a guitar riff began playing, as the Dornalians moved into firing positions; Nomura to support the Abh and Batov the Ganoxans. Then, Brian Johnson.

I'm a rolling thunder, a pouring rain
I'm comin' on like a hurricane!
My lightning's flashing across the sky
You're only young but you're gonna die!

I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives
Nobody's putting up a fight
I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell
I'm gonna get you, satan get you!


With that, a torrent of Demolisher Gun shots, and antimatter and singularity torpedo fire emerged upon the Tenetians, whilst the other foes got introduced to several massive volleys of EM Rifle fire and more singularities.

Lafiel and her fleet were not behind the mass movement of ships that was now taking place. Now that actions were finally going into a coercive fighting force, the Abh had to make sure everything fell into place. First came the massive missle volley that Lafiel had requested. Every ship within the Abh fleet carrying any form of projectile suddenly emptied its payload into the center of the enemy lines.

The only thing being saved were the missle cruisers. Next came the Rambirds that lobbed great bouts of ion energy to tear down the shields. With the FTLi down, they were able to use their full abilities and jump around space to up close and personal with star destroyers. Accelerating at impossible speeds, they dove right into the soft command tower sections of star destroyers at will.

Once their attacks had been carried out, the Abh charged in hard to keep the gap from closing. Laser fire ripped from ships as they advanced only worrying about ships that were in close proximity.

"Inform all vessels to keep the break from closing. Alert the allies that they need to alert us immediately when they are ready to jump out of the system."

The communications officer sent out the appropriate messages. "Away ma'am."

"Senior Gunnry officer, prepare Abriel missle cruisers 1 and 2."

"Yes ma'am."

"Inform all vessels to keep the break from closing. Alert the allies that they need to alert us immediately when they are ready to jump out of the system."

The communications officer sent out the appropriate messages. "Away ma'am."


Admiral Nomura replied as soon as he got the heads up--"Guys, I'm ready to warp out. I'm waiting on everybody else" in between dumping another volley of fire similar to last time.....

OOC:

Am I correct in assuming you are attacking Nightshade's forces directly from the front?



Edit:

I wish to know because if you are then I have no need to respond since I was ordered to guard her flanks. If you are trying to get to her fleets through me, I have to figure out who is aiming at where so I can RP the encounter correctly.

"GAE is ready for the jump! Any minute now!" Brivun said watching his battleship's shields dwindle. "Commander Randal, I need more power to shields!"

"I'm trying sir. I'll need to get the reactors out of the ASes. That will probably give you the power you need."

"Alright."

An'Karsus stepped through the somewhat utilitarian doors leading in to the council chamber, his movements methodical and mechanical as he almost floated towards the center of the room with silent and fluid footsteps. His gaze slid from left to right, taking in the looks of mistrust and disappointment and returning them with emotionless detachment. He took no offense to the chilly reception, felt no necessity to justify the actions of his people. What was done was done. The Godulans walked their path alone now.

But their path required diligence. It required them to 'stay on top of things'. To that end, preconceptions had to be abolished.

He stopped in the center of the room and bowed to Elendil before speaking in an eerie voice that seemed sythesized if only due to the curious inflections and precision of his speech. "We thank you for allowing us to speak in this time of great confusion. No doubt the relations between our two nations have been strained of late, and we recognize that our presence here must be a significant stress. For this we apologize.

"We come before you today to offer supplemental information regarding the hostilities at Jurai, in particular the alleged Colonial assault upon fleeing civilian vessels. Recognized, ninety-five percent probability that the council has been notified of the incident in question. Recognized, twenty-two percent probability that the council is similarly aware of the Godulan response to the unprovoked assault.

"We have had the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with Colonial military protocols as part of our effort to rebuild the Colonies in the aftermath of the atrocities that were visited upon them. Recognized, any offensive action by Colonial military assets requires authorization from superior officers or high-command to execute. Such authorization was not given by Admiral Cain or the High Command, nor were they notified of any intent to conduct such an action. The officer in charge of the Colonial fleet at Jurai, Admiral Hallen, was operating outside of established parameters by conducting the attack."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to one council member after another, returning their apprehensive glares with no emotion, but great intensity all the same.

"Are there any questions in respect to the information presented thus far?"
This particular Council meeting was without Daniel and the King, mainly because they're currently leading a series of runs upon Nightshade's Interdictor cruisers, but it's not likely that a vote would be necessary at this time.

Master Elendil spoke first. "Though our nations' relations remain strained at this moment, I speak for the Council when I say that I commend your efforts to prevent a war between us and the Colonies. Your knowledge and insight is always valuable, especially at this juncture. At this point, we shall stay our hand from a declaration of war on the Twelve Colonies. However, we will demand of Admiral Cain that Hallen be appropriately punished for her misdeeds."

"That still leaves out the disturbing matter of Colonial Naval forces being present at the battle at all." Katrina noted. "Especially moments after Chronosia entered the scene. I doubt this is a coincidence."

"Especially considering we know that Remiel has been pulling the strings of this conflict from the beginning." Tsunade mused. "We should look into this matter more fully."

"Will there be anything else?" Master Elendil asked the Godulan.

An'Karsus responded to each reply as it came: "Recognized, prior analysis of precedent regarding breach of protocol from a lower ranked officer under Cain typically does not end well for the lower ranked officer. We thank you for your understanding, but we suspect you need not worry about the admiral escaping her penance.

"There is little coincidence in the matter. Cain ordered Hallen to provide assistance to the Chronosian war effort. As this was not bolstered by secondary permissions to conduct aggressive actions, such assistance would normally have been limited to support and logistical aid. Their presence was not unexpected, but their commander did overstep her bounds.

"As for Remiel, it is recognized that one can say he has been 'pulling strings' in regards to this conflict for years now. Did you really think he would have given up after obsessing over a Masaki's head as a trophy for so long? He has all the support he requires to strike a deathblow ever since the Galactic Federation handled the situation at the colonies so abysmally. Recognized, it was inevitable.

"On the last note. Recognized, we do still have concerns that though you might be inclined to avoid conflict with the Colonials, the other members of your alliance might seek some form of retribution. If such is indeed the case, the assault would not end favorably. We can only assure that our presence there has developed a secondary objective that may work towards our combined benefits. Any disruption of this will remove any chance of that happening, and very likely force us to fight alongside the Imperials that recently arrived there.

"Recognized, this is something we simply will not be able to reconcile."

OOC:

Am I correct in assuming you are attacking Nightshade's forces directly from the front?



Edit:

I wish to know because if you are then I have no need to respond since I was ordered to guard her flanks. If you are trying to get to her fleets through me, I have to figure out who is aiming at where so I can RP the encounter correctly.

OOC: In that case, I was thinking we were shooting them from the front. Abh and Communistic Govts may be better sources.

OOC:

Am I correct in assuming you are attacking Nightshade's forces directly from the front?



Edit:

I wish to know because if you are then I have no need to respond since I was ordered to guard her flanks. If you are trying to get to her fleets through me, I have to figure out who is aiming at where so I can RP the encounter correctly.
OOC: You are correct in assuming so, sir.

IC:
If it was just the Coredian 1st, 6th, 7th, and 8th Fleets, Lady Nightshade's forces would have been able to deal with them, even with the Phoenix, the Coredia, the Dragon King, the Demonhunter and the three Hokage battleships in the area bring down Star Destroyers like they were pheasants. Her Ravager was built to fight such beasts all at once if necessary, and Admiral Bradley tried his best to encircle the defenders.

But fighting the combined forces of the Dornalians, the Abh, the Ganoxians and the Coredians themselves, all of whom were throwing everything in their arsenal at the Tenetian main fleet was proving to be something else indeed. Though her forces inflicted heavy damage over the course of the battle, the enemy was inflicting even heavier losses despite the Hypercannons and the fanatical belief in the New Order (she even heard whispers praying to Palpatine for divine intervention as if he was a god). Nightshade already lost an eighth of her forces since the firing escalated.

And it didn't help that the Huntarians and the Chronosians seemed to be stalled and the Colonials have left only minutes after they arrived, taking with them more allies to throw at the enemy.

"What is the status on the Interdictors?" Nightshade snapped, frightening her bridge crew.

"My lady, King Sarinon's forces are laying waste to the interdictor squadrons and several have been taken down by Daniel Masaki's fighter wings. If the Ravager's own Interdictor cells were activated..."

Lady Nightshade gave the messenger a jolt of Sith Lightning in a fit of disgust, more for the remark about the Ravager's Interdictors than the bad news he brought. "The only thing keeping this flagship from breaking apart under Admiral Pellaeon's strikes are the power needed to keep the shields from breaking down under those Yamato shots. If we use the Interdictors now, we'll surely be defeated!"

"Of course, milady. Forgive my presumptiousness!"

"Hmph. Status on the enemy forces?" She asked another underling.

"They're advancing, but in such a way that if nothing is done, they'll be making the jump to hyperspace within the next ten to twenty minutes." Sensors reported.

"Order all units to cut them off! I shall not let them pass!" Nightshade yelled.

It was a race against time as Nightshade's forces moved to try and cut the allied forces off and the Allies, spearheaded by the First Fleet and the Abh, raced towards safety...

=====

Konoha

An'Karsus responded to each reply as it came: "Recognized, prior analysis of precedent regarding breach of protocol from a lower ranked officer under Cain typically does not end well for the lower ranked officer. We thank you for your understanding, but we suspect you need not worry about the admiral escaping her penance.

"There is little coincidence in the matter. Cain ordered Hallen to provide assistance to the Chronosian war effort. As this was not bolstered by secondary permissions to conduct aggressive actions, such assistance would normally have been limited to support and logistical aid. Their presence was not unexpected, but their commander did overstep her bounds.

"As for Remiel, it is recognized that one can say he has been 'pulling strings' in regards to this conflict for years now. Did you really think he would have given up after obsessing over a Masaki's head as a trophy for so long? He has all the support he requires to strike a deathblow ever since the Galactic Federation handled the situation at the colonies so abysmally. Recognized, it was inevitable.

"On the last note. Recognized, we do still have concerns that though you might be inclined to avoid conflict with the Colonials, the other members of your alliance might seek some form of retribution. If such is indeed the case, the assault would not end favorably. We can only assure that our presence there has developed a secondary objective that may work towards our combined benefits. Any disruption of this will remove any chance of that happening, and very likely force us to fight alongside the Imperials that recently arrived there.

"Recognized, this is something we simply will not be able to reconcile."
"I see, my friend. We are committed to peace as much as possible, but your latest statement seems to indicate that Cain is indeed preparing for war against us, even if she is also a pawn in Remiel's game. While the Council are partially at fault considering our own misdeeds, make no mistake that we will commit to defending Coredian interests. Let this be official notice to you that should Cain continue to use her fleet against us, we will have no choice but to reply in kind." Master Elendil said, a mix of sadness and resolve in his voice. "I implore you to do everything in your power to prevent the slide to war. We do not wish to be the one whom people would say 'they finished what the Cylons started'. It will be terrible for all parties concerned."

And they shall be cast out into exile and scattered, even as betrayal stains the moment of triumph. And they shall be hunted unto the endings of the world, and vengeance shall be taken upon them

One cannot doubt the tenacious voice of prophecy. Remiel had lived by the gift of prescience ever since he had been reborn onto this mortal plane, his mind infused with the will and desire to slay his own daemoniacal father. As the blades had cleaved flesh, he had known that he served the will of Change as surely as Daniel Masaki had in the killing of him.

The great Chronosian guns fired at whatever prey dared to linger near them, turning their ravenous pursuit towards the Coredians and their foolish dreams of Exodus. The world was meant to be their feasting ground, to be cleansed and gifted to the Godulans...Now they fled, cowards taking to the stars. A smile crossed the features of Remiel, his flawless visage twisted by the most devine malice. Voices swirled and danced about him, the whispered praise of his subordinates, flagellated cries from warriors and shipmen alike. The bridge was a riot of sound and sensation, a thousand scents drifting across the writhing gilded deck.

"Turn the guns upon any who oppose, flay the protection from the Exodus fleet. Once they are free from this system, each of them are prey-animals. We will hunt them, kill them, drag their carcasses screaming through the stars!" A snarl escaped his lips, fingers closing about an artfully carved knife, one of many that ringed his belt between the great Runeblades. "Easy pet, little friends...You'll soon have your purpose." He raised a hand, a great claw to close about worlds and throats with ease. "Give me the Vox."

Brothers! To arms and in unity! I am the Emperor, your Warmaster, your brother in battle! The Chronosian guns pound and scourge the hated foe! Cleanse their military might and there shall be a feast of undefended flesh for you beyond these stars!

You are each my blades! Sharpened instruments of my will! KILL! CLEANSE! BURN THESE HEATHEN DOGS FROM THE STARS!

Anton stood upon the bridge, his body alive with new and ravenous sensation. His flesh pulsed and seethed with purpose, instilled within him by the touch of his divine Master. He bit his tongue, milking pain from his annointed flesh. The time drew near, he thought as he draped fresh flesh over the taut iron spikes of his armor, twisting it into new and complex arrangements, an empty face staring back from his breastplate, weeping blood.

"We do your will, Lord!" He snarled, this Lord of Pleasure made to seem a mere pauper in the presence of his Emperor. "We fight in your name, REMIEL! REMIEL! REMIEL!"

Once again the cant went up, the chant, over and over again, of Remiel's name, interspersed with the dire prayers of Chaos. Those who heard it, friend and foe, would never forget the debased words, carved into their very souls by these terrible beings of black purity, whose ships filled the void with fire and adulation.

The talk which implied this Imperius was here to kill humans was bad enough. But when she now implied going on no less than full on Jihad against all humans, as well as her own "mother," Gracie took notice. In a shocked tone, she said, "Well."

She then grew stern in tone, replying, "Well, excuse me for having a conscience. And that conscience makes me realize something. Matricide's a crime, you know. And so is wholesale murder and genocide. Do you really think you can win? The whole human race would turn against you, no matter how divided they are."

I'm not talking about humanity. I'm talking about a whole other race of people, humanity will be included though. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to doing my job. Imperius paused for a few moments, and uploaded an holoimage to send to Imperius, Oh, and why don't you save yourself some trouble by leaving this war and go save some orphans. (http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a172/Huntaer/MoralFreakcopy.jpg)


The evasive actions of the Dornalians and the Point Defenses enabled them to duck some more fire, but more hits occurred. With that, Batov's forces fired back, using a massive flurry of their own transphasics.

The Huntarian forces countered their attacks using the same methods of strikes as before. Shooting the transphasics as they entered the Fleet Shield Bubble and any ships which had the Lightning Field capability activated it as well. Some did of course survive, and any that hit ships which weren't equipped with the MLSS system, namely the weaker cruisers and Corvettes such as the Armageddon Class, Agave class, Rogue Class, Warrior Class Gunships and the Kirik Class Patrol Ships.

The Admiral growled at how the Dornalians continued to dance around their fire. Apparently, Transphasics and a few Turbolasers weren't enough to get their attention. "Attention Emperor's Warriors group, fire ALL of your weapons upon the Dornalians. Make sure that the Dornalians get a taste of the Eradicator II's Ultraturbolasers. Launch all Fighters to intercept the Dornalians."

"Fleet acknowledges order. They are targeting their weapons and fighters are being released."

The Admiral thought for a few moments, then decided it was time to launch a few Phase Torpedoes, now that the Coredian Dimensional Field thingy was taken off line. "Launch four Phase Torpedoes at their new Mao Zedong Engines, Core, and life support. I don't want it destroyed, just damage them badly enough to show me mean serious business."

"Aye sir. Torpedo's being fired."

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

The Acolyte felt the sting of the syringe, and ripped it out. He didn't feel much....at first. So ignoring the initial effects, he tried to cast his usual trick, a Force Throw of a large I-beam from the wreck to get the woman to fall down.

Then, it hit him. He couldn't do it. He tried reaching, focusing his powers. Nothing. He then got very scared, when the realization that something was interrupting his powers with a vengance. He then decided to try and bluff his way out, saying, "Soldiers, keep firing!"

With that, Cassandra loaded up her sniper with three bullets, while dodging most of the bullets thrown at her since she has the advantage of being more mobile than them. She aimed her sniper at the Acolyte's head, and fired.

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

Back at Jurai...


"Ready to fire ma'am at your word."

The battle map was a mess with Kythons floating around everywhere represented as triangles while Abh vessels, circles, were dodging them and returning fire as best they could. Another series of triangles and such were off in the distance representing the Huntaerian fleet. "Gunnry chief, we still have a number of Kython ships that have retreated from the battle to take the time to repair. I would like them out of my space. Have cruisers 2 and 3 target the Kython ships outside. Cruiser number 5 is armed with transphasic torpedoes correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Then target Huntaer fleet with Cruiser 5 and fire at will."

The scope of the missle attack came in the thousands as they blossomed from their missle cruisers and streaked off towards their assigned targets. They ignored everything from identification codes to communication waves. All that the missles cared about was reaching their assigned target and destroying it. Able to break apart into multiple warheads upon detecting defensive fire, they had the ability to be quite a headache for any defense system or pilots.

"Time til reloading has finished, 10 minutes."

"Well now we wait to and hope our ship commanders can take down enough Kythons to force them to retreat while our missles tear the Huntaerians to shreds."

Heromath moved from his command chair and the view screen and walked forward to the 3D War board which showed the position of each of the enemies fleets. He scratched his face at the sight of the Abh moving in to strike them with their missiles. "Status of fleet shield?"

"With the last few volly's from the Dornalians and the Abhs, the shields are at roughly 40%. One more round and they will collapse."

"Prepare for the fleet to break up into three smaller groups as previously discussed. Launch five Phase Torpedoes into the Abh Ship's central core, one ship per Torpedo. We shall show them the true meaning of Torpedo attacks. We don't need to spam massive amounts now with the Coredian Dimensional Field off line. Make sure they detonate once they've reached the inside of their targets"

If the Abh commander had any idea what was coming at his ships right now, he'd be asking god why the hell didn't their government equip their ships with Dimensional or Quantum technology.


Huntaer! The very name was bile in the mouths of Coredians. Every time they engage us, it appeared that they had a new toy to give us headaches and to make Vector engineers curse. Case in point: A pretty blue shield that protected an entire fleet.

At least that's what I thought when I continued to smash TIE fighters into space dust. I sighed as I contemplated what to do with these new events. The First Fleet was tied up in pounding on Nightshade's fleet. The Seventh and Eighth Fleets, as well as the Abh were engaging the Balroggans and the Sixth Fleet and the Dornalians were holding the line against Admiral Bradley's reinforcements. The GDI were knocked out of the fight (and news reports indicated that they weren't happy with the Caprica Incident) and the Ganoxians were shooting at random enemies. Essentially, we were tied up on all fronts.

I sighed and commed the fleets to issue orders. "Phoenix, concentrate the First Fleet on the Ravager! We need to knock Nightshade out of the fight! Shikamaru, King Sarinon, detach a task force to form up on the Coredia and Sarutobi Asuma and keep hammering the Balroggans! We'll use that force to hold off the Huntaerians! And lastly, get the Fifth and Ninth Fleets in ASAP! We're getting outnumbered here!"

"You sure we can hold the line, Daniel? That's a goodly number of targets to take down." Crackled Naruto, who appeared to be flying shotgun with my son.

"If you can't do it, no one can." I replied, a little more sharply than I intended. The stress of battle is beginning to get to me, but I can't stop. Not yet. Not while the Exodus ships are in danger.

The Coredia began to turn, its mighty engines pouring every joule of power out to challenge the enemy, followed by a number of other ships that began moving into position to intercept the Huntaerians. Then the First Fleet began moving into the main combat zone of the enemy fleet and it became exceedingly dangerous to fly in that no man's zone, while the Phoenix advanced with its personal task force, trusting the forces sent by Shikamaru to deal with the Balroggans who stalled at the edge of the stabilizer field. And finally, a signal was sent to the Fifth and Nineth Fleets to 'get their asses over here now'! Now it was only a matter of holding until either the Exodus Fleet finishes evacuating or they arrive, whichever comes first.

Heromath's eyes rapidly moved upon the Three Dimensional projection of the Coredia as it moved closer to his fleet. If the Coredians continued their attacks as it is, then their shield bubble may collapse in a matter of minutes. "Get that ship out of my sight! Have The Titans group pursue it with their weapons and fighters! Commence bombing runs with our new Tie Talons!"




Jurai

Battle had been joined.

Like pawns, unthinking drones, they had flocked to the Chronosian banner, driven by blood feuds and ancient allegiences. Already they gathered in their droves, fighting and dieing among the malevolent stars, feeding the ruinous Gods who claimed the worship of the Chronosian Imperium. Ten billion souls offered up their blasphemous praises to the powers of Chaos, ten billion mortals who honored the name of their fell Scion.

Only now with their allies distracting the Coredians, plunging worlds into burning war, with the fate of millions hanging in the balance, did the Chronosians make their move.

The very fabric of space ruptured, venting the pulsing matter of the Immaterium forth, surrounding the mighty Chronosian warships that had answered Remiel's call. Some simply carried men forth in the name of war, others came as great floating edifices to the dark Gods. Others were ancient, twisted craft built for the singular purpose of eternal war.

A cry rose up, broadcast across every channel that could be mustered. It was the howl of men at arms, the fury of an Astartes war-cant, the insidious whisper of countless psykers, each hurled forth in dire defiance against the Coredians and their allies. It was the chant that had been ingrained into the minds of those unlucky enough to have met the Chronosians at the battles for the Colonies, and it was the howl that would strike fear into Daniel Masaki's soul.

As the first guns began to fire, their indiscriminate assault tearing against all that would deny them progress towards the gleaming sphere of Jurai, as the first cannons launched munitions the size of buildings against the foe and fighters and boarding pods rocketed across the void, the chant took on it's clarity and purpose, it's meaning clear and echoing throughout space and time.

Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel! Remiel!

"Ave Imperator" Remiel chuckled lightly, raising his arms as he beheld the birth of conquest, the beginning of the Coredian end. He smiled, face contorted in pleasure and abject lust. This was his moment, this was the hour when vengeance was his and the greater part of his foes laid low. He did not do this for the Emperor, not for the glory of his Empire, he did this for himself, for the Imperium. His strength of arms had brought the Galactic Empire through the fiercest of storms, and now he would prove the Imperium as the ascendant, by doing what the Empire and all its might could not.

He would kill Daniel Masaki, and lay low all his works. So it had been foreseen, so to it would be.

"Sir! New contacts on scanners! They appear to be Remiel's forces!"

"No need to tell me that... I can feel him." Indeed, while the Grand Admiral himself was no Force Wielder he can feel the cold presence of Remiel De Draken. It was very close to what it was like sensing Lord Vorman in your immediate vicinity. He closed his eyes and found that while Remiel's presence was very strong, he also heard something else in his mind. The ever so quiet whispers of the Chaos God's.

Heromath opened his eyes again, "resend the message out to the Chronosians that the other so called Coredian Reinforcements are actually Dornalian Ships as discovered by our AI. Perhaps they'll have a better idea on how to handle their ships."

"Message sent sir."

OOC:
I think I'm all caught up, if not gimme a hollar on MSN. I'll be on for another hour or so. Alliance's post coming up in a few moments.

Magriel sat in the command chair of the Light Side as it rocketed through the Necrominus with the rest of his small task force of 300 Torpedo Frigates. "Weapons status of the Frigates?"

"Transphasic and Seismics Torpedoes are armed and ready to do some damage as soon as we exit and enter Jurai Space. We have readings that the Chronosians just arrived a few moments ago."

A loud groaning noise was heard throughout the ship as they exited the Necrominus, and the massive battle overhead was seen on the main viewer.

"We have arrived Councilor!"

Magriel pushed a button on his command chair, "attention fleet! Release all of your Torpedo Tubes rapid fire mode and target the Chronosian fleet!"

"There's a 30 second wait with the rapid fire mode sir! I'd suggest we fire singles at a time..."

"We need to provide cover for Exodus Tatical! Do as I say! Or it will be YOUR head on Remiel's Daemonic platter for dinner tonight!"

"Aye sir!"

With that, ninety thousand Torpedoes (45k Transphasic and 45k Seismic) were launched at Remiel's Fleet. If things weren't chaotic enough before, the Alliance just took the hand and doubled the Annie. It was spam with epic proportions. Late as usual...

OOC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xiUQ1soqQQ
Cylon missile spam at 4:40, times 1000

The Exodus Fleet went from here, several million miles from the planetary atmosphere...to there, a couple AU away and only five minutes away from escape. I felt the large disturbance in the Force that the Godulans unleashed in teleporting (or did they call it psychoportation? Better ask Skye if I get the chance again) the fleet. I almost smiled wryly. "Leave it to the Godulans to pull our asses out of the fire one last time...*flips coms*...Commander Takamori. Don't worry about what just happened. As soon as you get clear, jump immediately! We'll follow after we deal with these Sithspawn!"

"As ordered, sir!"

At long last, the Exodus Fleet's final elements glowed a slightly blue color as their engines began to warm up for the jump to hyperspace. One by one, they disappeared, with the Rakka and Reki stations last.

Now, it was time to deal with the nasty problem of the Battle of Jurai. As I see it, we have to:

A. Kick as much ass as we can.

B. Get the hell out of here as quickly as we can.

C. Rendzevous with the Exodus Fleet as soon as we bail and hop around the universe so that the enemy don't catch them..

OOC: By now I think I've given plenty of opportunity for enemies to see me and shoot me...but as I was taking a highly defensive escort posture and no one RPed so much as noticing...I think it is reasonable to RP my exit now. Especially as it has been several RL days.

Also, sorry for the messed-up post time warp, CW did not see my post when he RPed Exodus leaving, and rather than edit that post when I pointed that out, he made new ones. For IC purposes, assume this occurs moments after Exodus' departure.

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

"Admiral Makaryk! Exodus Fleet has jumped!" His chief navigator appeared to be quite eager to get out of here. Under normal circumstances, Woodians would not pass up a chance to kill Imperials, but the Coredians had been looking a lot like Imperials lately, so the Woodians were in no mood to help them at the moment, either. Apparently, the battle elsewhere distracted potential enemies from noticing the Woodians. The fact that the Woodians had not yet fired a shot probably helped escape notice, too.

"Good. Prepare for immediate departure to..." the Admiral thought for a moment "...Caligula. We shall inspect our fleet for any unwanted tracking beacons there." Oh, yes, the Coredians might not like it, but they could also go stuff themselves. "Oh, yes, and get me Captain Ishiyama on comm." Captain Ishiyama commanded one of the Romulan Warbirds that the Evil Woody Thoughts Navy had procured, and Admiral Makaryk figured that battle recordings might prove useful.

Captain Ishiyama's figure appeared in a hologram, life-sized, in the middle of the bridge. "Reporting as ordered, Admiral." The hologram saluted.

"You are to enter full cloak and stay behind as an observer. I want full battle recordings. There are sufficient potential enemies, that we have not as yet encountered, out here to make such recordings...potentially useful in the future. You are not to initiate combat. If you are attacked, initiate evasive maneuvers and only return fire if you can do it without giving away your position."

"Aff. Anything else?"

"That is all." Admiral Makaryk cut the transmission and ordered the Woodian Fleet to jump into hyperspace. There was no point in sticking the Navy's neck out for 'allies' that proved to be every bit as Dark and Evil as the Empire.

As the Woodian Fleet vanished into hyperspace, Captain Ishiyama's Warbird (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9963689&postcount=369) shimmered into invisibility and turned around to observe the battle...

We are transferring the nine crew who fought Trials of Refusal against participating into your custody. Force Crush them at your leisure. If the Jedi were too busy to deal with the Sith among them, then we are too busy to deal with those who dishonor themselves as well.
Almost as soon as Pellaeon recieved the notice, seven Woodian crew members (the other two had their molecules scrambled trying to get through the shields) arrived on the bridge. Pellaeon sighed. "Brig. We'll deal with you later."

Of the seven, six cooperated as they were escorted to the brig. (Any attempt at interrogation, however, might be another story.) The seventh, who just happened to be Major Ehrell, the same Major who had given Bailey Kipper, Fallen One, a tanto in the expectation that he commit ritual suicide in shame, simply produced another one.

He knelt, and before bridge security could even react, thrust the suicide-knife into his gut, leaving the blood of his intestines to drip all over the floor. A slow and painful death, this would be. But there, was, after all, more honor in suicide than cooperating with the Sith, er, "Jedi..."

"I see, my friend. We are committed to peace as much as possible, but your latest statement seems to indicate that Cain is indeed preparing for war against us, even if she is also a pawn in Remiel's game. While the Council are partially at fault considering our own misdeeds, make no mistake that we will commit to defending Coredian interests. Let this be official notice to you that should Cain continue to use her fleet against us, we will have no choice but to reply in kind." Master Elendil said, a mix of sadness and resolve in his voice. "I implore you to do everything in your power to prevent the slide to war. We do not wish to be the one whom people would say 'they finished what the Cylons started'. It will be terrible for all parties concerned."

An'Karsus' voice kicked up a notch, though it still remained level and perfectly enunciated to all who could hear. "And why would she not dedicate her fleets to Chronosian service? Recognized, her level of information pertains only to the fact that you abandoned the colonials in the face of Imperial assault and incited the Cylons to their massacre. Why should she not harbor some latent animosity?

"Recognize, we are doing what we can to end this hostility, but do not expect us to make the Colonials see that you are a benevolent and altruistic folk whose only thought pertains to the betterment of the universe around you. Recognize, we are doing what we can to end the animus between Cain and the remnant. Recognized, not even you can deny that our placement is ideal to facilitate reconciliation between the two parties, unless your Federation allies have been spreading lies and propaganda to the beleaguered refugees, which will make our work even more difficult than it has any right to be.

"Recognized, we will brook no disruption. Not now, not while we are making these efforts. Our path is the right one. We will succeed. Where guns and bombs have failed so utterly, only words and understanding shall win the day. The truth is on our side, and not even the oft-vaunted Death Star shall strike that down."

The ships were headed coreward at a velocity exceeding that of light by 2²⁰, meaning it would take them a little over a month to cross the galaxy. This wasn’t their terminal velocity. This wasn’t even their general cruising speed, rather, they travelled at a pace that would allow them to plan without having to worry too much about the possibility of uninvited guests. At this point, the fleet was already breaking up into three Engagement Forces, each of these consisting of around thirty ships, led by one of the massive battleships, such as the Asinsata.

Until now, they had been paused, ‘digesting’ as it were. They’d not carried out such operations in this region before, and there were precise systems that needed checking, population-flow, transit efficiency, corralling factors, air-supply, and many other things. Still, they were confident they’d now dealt with the comparatively minor population of Exante, and would thus be able to scale their techniques up to a more… industrial… level.

They were aware of things they shouldn’t, by rights, have been. And while they moved with a slowness of pace that could called dawdling, they had their motives. These mostly consisted of a strange, utterly alien, utterly ruthless practicality. Their destinations were three entirely separate planets, picked for already having been left by the Coredian ‘Exodus’ fleet, this was partly to affect those planets where the Coredian defences were weakest, and partly because they didn’t need the ‘essential’ people. Of course, this meant that they were certainly dealing with worlds where the defences were on alert, and so they would have a more difficult time of it. But then, each of these seemingly small Forces was an entire battle-fleet in its own right.

They began accelerating, far beyond the meagre speed they had been at before, to arrive, within a minute, at a trio of comparatively major and adjacent worlds, within a hundredth of a millisecond of one another. Of course, with interdiction and jamming and shields, such manoeuvring became ‘tricky’ but each of these ships was more than very experienced, and slipped into position with finesse and precision.

OOC: I've been (and still am) very busy, but I think it time for my forces to do something more. They are, of course, not at Jurai, but rather, they're now going for some larger (though not necesserly first rate) Coredian colony worlds, that they hope will be comparatively undefended with the ongoing scrap at Jurai. They're going to 'harvest' them in a broadly similar way, if they can, though this time, there will be a different strategy for dealing with the planetary shields...

"And the many gathered to meet the servants of the true Gods and the multitudes were cast down by the fire divine!" Remiel's voice snarled across the vox, reaching the ears of all who would hear him and obey "And there was a rapture and a war in the heavens and faithless burned for the pleasure of trhe Gods!" The Four Winds howled through him like the unified roar of the fleet, carnal and brutal, pestilant and malicious.

They would all suffer. It mattered not that they opposed the Emperor of a galaxy, or gathered like flies around the doomed Coredian corpse. What mattered was that the galaxies were rife with idolators, filth who bent their knee to false powers, ever denied the glory of Chaos. It was time again to set a burning within Empires, to sow canker amongst the pretenders to Order.

The sorcerous acolytes of Tzeentch gathered upon the great ships bridge, muttering portents and casting runes with a singular will, sending forth the spellwork of Chronosia. A chill wind tousled Remiels dark hair, whipping about him in riot of voices and hissed cacophany.

"Speak, servants of the Warp."

"Speak! He bids us speak, thrice-damned and blessed of the Gods! You will reap a mighty harvest, Master of Men! You will lay low the hated foe with fire and madness! Age-old enemies shall cower and be undone! Glory! Glory to Chaos! Tzeentch has guided you-guided you he has- to moments, this moment!

It is now! It is now! Victory!"

"Spare me, daemon. My victory has long been foretold. Will the servants of Change aid us here? Will the forces of the Gods come forth? My brothers and I have need of your patronage, of your power...There is prey enough for all of us."

"The Gods hear you, Emperor-Warmaster. They will aid you with their power, their greatest servants. So many of your own already bear the mark of the Daemon, the gift-thrall of possession!"

"Another volley! Kill all who stand before us men! The Gods stand with us, they shall smite out foes with glorious flame...Lay them low! Cleanse them all! I want boarding pods readied. We shall take the foe to our foe, if they would disgust us by showing their backs, Coredians through and through!"

The Chronosians returned the Huntarian assault with gusto, matching their efforts, perhaps even surpassing their efforts as the void became a killing field. Vessels splintered and broke under relentless fire, while others held firm with void shields and point-defence, great bulwarks and bastions smoulder with unholy flame. Wreathed in madness, driven forth by insatiable bloodlust, they piled on the fire, hammering back at one of many hated blood foes, their chants rising to vile rants unto the hated idolatry of force-using toadies.

"Another....Another! They have wounded our brothers, let them pay in blood! Into the Maelstrom! Into the tumult of war, my pets! FIRE!"

The Chronosians returned the Huntarian assault with gusto, matching their efforts, perhaps even surpassing their efforts as the void became a killing field. Vessels splintered and broke under relentless fire, while others held firm with void shields and point-defence, great bulwarks and bastions smoulder with unholy flame. Wreathed in madness, driven forth by insatiable bloodlust, they piled on the fire, hammering back at one of many hated blood foes, their chants rising to vile rants unto the hated idolatry of force-using toadies.

"Another....Another! They have wounded our brothers, let them pay in blood! Into the Maelstrom! Into the tumult of war, my pets! FIRE!"

The entire bridge crew could hear the constant chanting of Remiel's name, and it sent a chill throughout their bones. Some have wondered what they've gotten themselves into. Others were ready for the fight and braced themselves for the worst of the Chronosian's chaotic ways. Hell, half of the crew of the Light Side once even served along side with Remiel and Councilor Magriel during their days as Empire soldiers. Now, they were fighting against them.

Magriel sensed the crew's troubled minds, "do not give into fear!" he shouted with a booming voice, "you will not collapse under the prowess of the Warp and it's Daemonic Warriors! You have anger and hate stored within you! Use it to clear your minds! Remember your training for those of you who have served under me in the Empire! And for those of you who haven't, use your wits!"

"Incoming volley Councilor!"

"BRACE FOR IMPACT! Time till next available volley?"

"Now sir!"

The Councilor jabbed a finger out at the view screen towards the Chronosian fleet, "RETURN FIRE! Launch the fighters to meet the Chronosian boarding pods! Send their Marines into the cold depths of space!"

With that, the fleet fired another 90k volley of torpedoes, the Light Side released it's fighters from their hangars, and they charged forth to intercept any boarding pods targeted at either their fleet, or the Coredian.


"Status of 'Minus drives helm!"

"Drives are charged and ready to go for the next jump!"

"Keep 'em ready for when the Coredians leave the system! Comms, open a channel with the Phoenix!"

"Channel open sir."

"Pellaeon, this is Councilor Magriel of the Huntarian Alliance! Get your asses out of here now while you still can! We will be spamming our torpedoes at the Chronosians and the Huntarians to give you fire cover!"

I'm not talking about humanity. I'm talking about a whole other race of people, humanity will be included though. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to doing my job. Imperius paused for a few moments, and uploaded an holoimage to send to Imperius, Oh, and why don't you save yourself some trouble by leaving this war and go save some orphans. (http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a172/Huntaer/MoralFreakcopy.jpg)

Shuddering at the insult, Gracie shook her head, merely stating, "Duly noted."


With that, Cassandra loaded up her sniper with three bullets, while dodging most of the bullets thrown at her since she has the advantage of being more mobile than them. She aimed her sniper at the Acolyte's head, and fired.

The Acolyte didn't have time to figure out why his powers failed him, for the shot quickly ended his life in a single blow, rendering him brain dead. The patrol with him screamed, "Fuck! We got a man down! MAN DOWN!" With that, they continued firing into the air, attempting to fall back to their Jeep.

The Acolyte didn't have time to figure out why his powers failed him, for the shot quickly ended his life in a single blow, rendering him brain dead. The patrol with him screamed, "Fuck! We got a man down! MAN DOWN!" With that, they continued firing into the air, attempting to fall back to their Jeep.

With that, Cassandra lifted her arm towards the Dornalian's Jeep and fired several wrist rockets at it to disable their weapons and hopefully the Jeep itself. She flew around a couple more times to distract them before she threw the sniper riffle towards the ground, pulled out a pair of dual laser pistols, and let loose a salvo of lasers.

With that, Cassandra lifted her arm towards the Dornalian's Jeep and fired several wrist rockets at it to disable their weapons and hopefully the Jeep itself. She flew around a couple more times to distract them before she threw the sniper riffle towards the ground, pulled out a pair of dual laser pistols, and let loose a salvo of lasers.

The Jeep's M8 Gauss Machine gun was blown to smitheereens, and so was the front axle of the jeep. With that, the squad leader said, "SHIT!" Calling frantically on his radio, he cried out, "Mayday, mayday, this is Sergeant Thompson of Squad Alpha. All units in the area, I am under attack!" Ducking under a rock, Thompson continued as his men shot at the banshee firing at them, "We've got hostiles! They shot out my jeep! I need reinforcements! NOW!"

With that, a reply of, "Squad Alpha, this is Bravo. We're coming in. We've also called Mother Hen, she's laying some more eggs, over." Thompson then pulled out his rifle and opened fire, ducking behind more debris....

Despite the constant cries of Remiel from the Chaotic mumblers, the battle was now moving in a more favorable position. At least in the opinion of the Abh. They weren't the ones leaving behind a planet.

"Keep up the attacks and push these fools aside."

Jinto smiled. "Growing bored are we? You're beginning to sound like Admiral Spoor."

Lafiel rolled her eyes. "Please refrain from complimenting the head of the Spoor family in the presence of an Abriel. Now that we are actually thinking as a complete unit instead of individuals, our attacks are more effective. A shame this could not have happened in the beginning."

All appeared well until five ships flashed off the screen in an instant. "Communications, are we experiencing malfunctions with out equipment?"

"No admiral. We have lost contact with those ships and others are verifying their destruction."

Lafiel walked over to the communications officer station. This little riddle needed to be solved quickly. "Playback records and find any anomonally that would cause the destructions. This isn't random so they suffered an attack somehow."

The officer worked feverishly at his station trying to solve the Abriel's inquiry. Being a part of the flagship staff and crew, the officer was quite exceptional at his duties. "Located. Dimensional distortions within the reactor of one of the vessels moments before the explosion."

Lafiel tapped a fingernail to the bottom of her lip as a list of intelligence feedback ran through her mind. "The only ones, present here we know of with dimensional technology like that are the Kythons and the Huntaers. Kythons are a little more artistic than simply popping a missle inside of a ship. Senior Gunnry Officer. Bring up the Mk IIs and put five of them inside that shield zone of the Huntaers."

"Yes ma'am."

Five inky black ships of the Rambird design suddenly shimmered out of existance only to reappear moments later within the shielding that the protected the Huntaer fleet. Capital class ion bolts fired down at the ships while the five smaller versions of the Rambird darted around space trying to avoid any defensive fire and prevent another phase missle attack. They kept moving until the shields of the ship they were focused on were brought down.

"Gunnry officer, bring up Abriel Cruiser 5. Target transphasic torpedoes on the Huntaers."

The prescribed missle cruiser suddenly opened up with a thousand transphasic torpedoes armed with anti-matter warheads darting for the enemy fleet. At the same time, Shadow Cruisers and Destroyers started targeting Nightshade's fleet with their Hyperspace tap beam turrets. Energy syphoned from the energy waves within the dimension of Hyperspace were now focused on the Sith and Chaos fleets ahead of them.

(This will be my eventual withdrawal from this thread just so my end is wrapped up.)

Elder Sebastian and War Mistress Shizra had been on Konoha for far longer than the dark elf was comfortable with. This planet was still a volitile war zone with state of control shifting in the sands of uncertainty. She had come along simply to ensure that the young Elder did not do anything foolish like embark on some crusade. Seeing that her duties had been carried out accordingly, it was time to pull him away and get him safely back to Mythrandir.

"Elder I beg you, we must return to home. You have an entire Myth fleet out of the Kingdom's realm along with a great deal of our warriors. Control of this planet has finally shifted to a more favorable hand. We should take this opportunity to leave."

Sebastian was torn between staying and helping with all that he could and returning home with their forces. Finally it came down to the responsibility he had for his people and his duty to keep them safe so that they may continue to live out their lives in peace and without the fear of evil's shadow.

He hung his head for a moment, subdued, and then nodded. "Very well. Ba'el left our shuttle behind so we can depart soon."

Turning to the woman from the Core Worlds that he had been talking with since his arrival, Sebastian dipped a respective bow with his hand clasped over his heart. "I am afraid this is where we part for now. My duties to my own people draw me back home. I leave you with the open invitation to seek our aid whenever you have need of it in whatever that might be. We can shelter your people for as long as you need it.

Until then, remember the fire of the Phoenix."

Sebastian moved out the door as Shizra walked briskly as his vanguard. Their shuttle was waiting just as Ba'el had promised and the same pilot was similarly there awaiting the return of his passengers. Once the Elder and War Mistress were aboard, the shuttle broke the chains of gravity and headed for the stars where a Myth fleet headed by both Captain Shazir and Captain Raven Claw were still commanding.

The dust cloud continued to expand toward the approaching Coredian ships which were just moments before upon attack vectors to the Ta’Nar fleet. The cloud was most likely ignored seeing as there were over three dozen streaks of light heading toward the ships at the speed of thought, or damn fast in layman’s terms. At the head of each streak was the torso and face of a Childer or Ta’Nar. Their eyes were pure black and energy crackled around them as if they contained the energy of Vengeance itself.

As they approached at an alarming pace, at least as fast as high powered turbo laser blasts, they begin to zero in upon target vessels. The streaks of energy converged upon four of the vessels that were in the front of the pack when the Coredians made their massive attack. The streaks seemed to dodge to and fro to avoid the supernatural defenses the Coredians hastily tried to put together but the ranges were too short and they were too fast to get any good bead on them.

Unknown to the Coredians, the streaks were just a cover, the actual attack was made by a single squad and directed to a fifth ship. The 44 beams of energy struck their own targets and vanished. Undoubtedly the Coredians aboard would be panicking as they searched for intruders. The boarding squad really slipped through the hull of the fifth ship, entering the vessel easily enough.


-----


Aboard Nightshade’s vessel, Atrox sat in his temporary throne beside the Tenetian Lord. He felt he had achieved his goal of coming here and was observing her tactics. They were….unique. that was all he could really say about them at the moment.

“Master, the Chronosians have arrived and are attacking the defender fleet. The Exodus Fleet has left with the Civies.”

Atrox turned to the Childer that had been assigned to the flagship to act as instant communications between the different Chaos Lords. He understood what that meant instantly and stood uo and turned to address his Hostess.

“You will have to excuse me; I have other business across the battle. I believe I might have a way to get more attackers. Keep using the lines of communications we have set up so all of us know what is going on.”

Atrox seemed to become flat as a piece of paper and then turned sideways, completely vanishing from Nightshade’s ship.



-----



Across the battlefield, the 4th Fleet under the command of Admiral Wol’Fram Aboard The Hermes, the Deity class command carrier suddenly had an announced visitor.

“Admiral Wol’Fram, I have a task for you.”

The Admiral turned around and say Ba’El standing on the command bridge behind his chair. He immediately recognized the Ta’Nar and bowed in respect as he spoke to him.

“Advisor Ba’El, I was not aware you were here.”

Ba’El did not comment, instead he gestured at the holo-display showing the battlefield. The view began to tighten until it showed the front of the remaining military ships.

“I want you to attack them head on, no holds barred. Take as many ships as you can out of commission. I want them crippled and crying before we strike the final blow.”

“Yes Sir.”

“While you are doing that, I will be having a work with someone that may help out.”

Moments later, several elements of the Fourth Fleet blinked out of existence only to appear directly in front of the fleeing fleet. The entire fleet fired a massive volley of Grav Torps. Using the cover, the battleships positioned themselves until their Gravity Catapults lined up exactly. Each of the four battleships enhanced and enlarged the massive gravity lens. While the battleships were doing this, a volley of infection slugs was fired into the closest enemies in hopes of infecting the ship or crew. The frigates which did not participate in the railgun attack had achieved their positions lined up behind the combined gravity catapult. They entered it single files and was quickly accelerated to the same speed as the infection slugs. While enroute, they began to shred and fall to pieces as they switched to Kython mode for guided C-Frac shots. The defenders will not last long if they hit.



-----



Ba’El broadcast a single message to the Godular vessel still in the area the civilian fleet had been minutes ago. The message was directed through the Kython Links so it would not be intercepted.

This is Ba’El, I seek to speak with you to find out when your “Neutrality” will balance out? I have been informed of several actions being performed that benefits the Coredians. When are you going to back up your claims you made during the meeting and perform actions against the Coredians? We allowed the Civies to escape because you requested that. In turn for saving the Civies, it would only balance the scales at the end if you destroy the military that is trying to defend their exit. You would not want any of the others to think you are taking sides. That would certainly invalidate your previous claim of neutrality.

And a simple, if excessively sarcastic response came from the Godulan side of the Kython inter-link before the three vessels winked out of existence again:

Do not come to us making claims against our impartiality here, Ta'nar. Consider our actions balanced out by the fact that we are not seeking to establish some form retribution upon you for directly supporting the Cylons in their assault on Konoha. Are we not gracious?

We told Remiel and you before this battle was to commence that we would not permit any termination of civilians while we were in a position to enforce such a condition. The Military vessels would be, and still are, fair game, as they are capable of defending themselves on the field of... *snort* honorable combat. We would have thought this would allow you to keep your sights narrowed upon the aforementioned military vessels, but very apparently we were mistaken. Very apparently you would seek to condone the direct termination of innocent civilians seeking to flee the field of battle. Very apparently you would seek to destroy the people, rather than the object of Remiel's animus who yet remains in this system. To this we say 'no.' Neutral or otherwise in respect to the Coredians, we will NOT allow the civilians to die.

You have no need to worry about planetary defenses. You have no need to worry about these defenders acting out in desperation as they cannot permit you to have the planet. You have no need to worry about anything but the Coredians and their allies in their vessels that target your forces even now. This eliminates a significant amount of the handicap you would have suffered in assaulting a Coredian stronghold.

We patiently await your gratitude for these things.

OOC: There was a significant fluid-time factor in Hammer of the Gods, as at the time the Godulans were not yet aware of what was going on at Konoha. Post from second link makes no mention of the attack on Konoha, just what the Cylons did to the Colonies. You will note that in fact the Godulan Envoy arrived in the hammer of the gods thread some time prior to the start of any hostilities, but due to some relative slowdown in response, the actual conversation could not happen until later. In fact, if I recall properly, the envoy made its way to the Hammer of the Gods meeting just a short while after Skye decided to declare support for Remiel.

So that basically means I am not changing a thing, as I have no need to do so. The Godulans have lived up to their word as it was given.

On a somewhat related note, I HAD intended to have the Godulan vessels depart after the Civilian Exodus Fleet hyperjumped away from the system, but I was busy with other considerations and figured that folks could just assume the Godulan cruisers would just remain to watch the battle continue or jump out.

A quick retort followed, broadcast again over the Kython Link so none could detect it but the intended recipients. The exchange took but less than a breath, having no impact upon the battle at this time.

I see, run away from your oaths and obligations. Prove your Word is not what it used to be. You vowed your allegiance to Remiel and yet you continue to assist the Coredians. You cannot be trusted to carry out your word therefore it has been devalued.

When you decide to declare you are sitting on a fence and acting neutral, you should be sure not to favor one side against the other. It really makes you look bad in the intergalactic eyes. Run off and ignore everything. You will reap the rewards of your actions later; the Multiverse has a way of making sure it happens.

As far as taking out Coredian Strongholds, Konoha was supposed to be the heaviest guarded fortification in the nation, now in Cylon possession after six minutes. They should be honored, if it would have been myself, the planet would have been rendered inhabitable and void of life for eternity. If the Ta’Nar had been betrayed as badly as the Cylons by the Coredians, there would be no life left in their holdings. If we had been betrayed by the Coredians as badly as the Colonies, the upcoming battle would have been moot.

The damage the Cylons did to the Colonies you so brazenly call abhorrence is a direct result of Coredian policies and manipulations. The billions dead are squarely upon the shoulders you are aiding. They are responsible for directly enticing genocide attempts against the Colonies using the Cylons as their weapons. It is Karma acting when the Cylons returned the favor to the Coredians in their retribution. You are protecting the very beasts you profess to be so against. The Coredians are guilty of genocidal attempts.

If you cannot see the truth, investigate it yourself.

And another response followed, this time from Jurai itself:

We are sorry, do you have innocents fleeing from conflict? Do you happen to have anybody seeking to escape the ravages of nuclear fire? Do the Chronosians have civilians wishing to escape annihilation at the hands of an antagonistic force? What of the Huntarian Imperials?

It is easy to accuse others of partiality when their focus is on ensuring innocents live another day, and only one side of a conflict of suffering undue civilian casualties. We care not for nationality in this. Rest assured that if among you there were civilians at risk of undue termination, and we were capable of intervening in proper time, we most assuredly would do so. Even if you should spontaneously sprout innocents of your own, and find them threatened by some enemy force, we would not hesitate to assist. We do what we can, when we can, where we can.

We have even gone so far as to tell the Coredian council directly that we will not permit an assault upon the Twelve Colonies. If anybody attempts to inflict pain upon those worlds, they will have to answer to us, and we shall make them pay harshly. Does this satisfy you Ta'nar? That we have said to their face that we would not hesitate to bring righteous fury down upon the Coredians if they should attempt a direct attack upon the Colonies? Ever have our efforts been on the welfare of innocents. Ever have we sought to offer compassion where all else is death. You are not permitted to hold this against us.

We told you not to assault the innocents. You were PRESENT when we struck this condition. STILL you attempted to attack the innocents. STILL you thought to cause pain to those who could not defend themselves. And NOW you whine and snivel that we moved to intervene in this ONE situation where we were able to hold your guns away.

Do not throw challenges at us about upholding our word, Ta'nar. We have upheld EXACTLY what we said we would. You have known us long enough to understand we do not tolerate genocide of ANY kind for ANY reason. So the Coredians led the Cylons into their actions, it was still the Cylons that pulled the trigger. It was their choice to do so. It was your choice to assist them at Konoha. It was your choice to assist them in causing such massive devastation. We are being KIND enough to let this slide, much though it goes against our nature. We are being GRACIOUS enough to not hold this against you and still retain our close relationship.

Circumstance is no excuse. Manipulation is no excuse.Vengeance is no excuse. Poetic justice is no excuse. There is NO excuse for Genocide. Do not hide behind rationalization and 'mitigating factors' Ta'nar. "I was only following orders" and "I was forced into it" are not sufficient to lift the deaths of millions, nay, billions from your shoulders. That Coredian agents are responsible for their share of the carnage does not preclude us from assisting their innocents. They are, after all, innocents. They have no place in this conflict. Killing them is not justice. Killing them achieves no strategic objective. We have thus removed them from consideration.

Thank us for narrowing your target listing. Thank us for permitting you to focus solely on the military assets, rather than worry about the civilians or the planet around which this battle is taking place. Thank us for our impartiality

We await, patiently.

Of the seven, six cooperated as they were escorted to the brig. (Any attempt at interrogation, however, might be another story.) The seventh, who just happened to be Major Ehrell, the same Major who had given Bailey Kipper, Fallen One, a tanto in the expectation that he commit ritual suicide in shame, simply produced another one.

He knelt, and before bridge security could even react, thrust the suicide-knife into his gut, leaving the blood of his intestines to drip all over the floor. A slow and painful death, this would be. But there, was, after all, more honor in suicide than cooperating with the Sith, er, "Jedi..."
Pellaeon was disgusted with the man. "Take this filth out of my sight and give him a bacta soaking. I will not have this fool die on my watch."

Jedi Master Press Tilton moved forward. "I shall deal with him, Admiral."

The Force snapped like a whip, seizing the man and paralyzing his limb muscles, locking his arms to his sides and his legs together. Now, even if he wanted to, the Major couldn't fight the medics who were called in to pick him up, so long as Master Tilton, slated to become a High Council Member very soon, kept up the pressure.

Heromath's eyes rapidly moved upon the Three Dimensional projection of the Coredia as it moved closer to his fleet. If the Coredians continued their attacks as it is, then their shield bubble may collapse in a matter of minutes. "Get that ship out of my sight! Have The Titans group pursue it with their weapons and fighters! Commence bombing runs with our new Tie Talons!"
"The enemy's shields are weakening!" Gidget cried out. "However, I'm getting numerous bombers beginning attack runs and enemy capital ships breaking to engage us!"

"Get the Rogues and the escorts to cover us while we charge the Yamato Cannons!" Captain Holland ordered.

"I will require a few moments, Captain!" Kengoh replied.

"Then we will give you those minutes!"

=====

"Ok, Rogues, you heard the Captain! Keep those bombers off their asses!" Uzumaki Naruto, Jounin Shinobi of Konoha, Commander of the Rogues, ordered.

"Roger that, Lead." Kohaku, Wingleader of Third Flight replied. He was the youngest of the Rogues -at least until Travis came back- and yet he had enough experience to lead one of the three flight groups of four fighters. But today, he is to take out the enemy and keep them from the Coredia at all costs. And so he and his comrades did, speeding forward and sending searing bolts of red into the enemy ranks, with a random set of Shadowbombs shooting silently as a couple Jedi members of the Rogues unleashed them on unsuspecting enemies.

In the meantime, the capital ships that supported the Coredia unleashed vast amounts of ship-killing firepower on the enemy task force, hopefully slowing them down long enough for the Coredia to unleash its main cannons and bring down the shield.

=====

In the middle of the vast battle, the Coredians recieved a message from the Huntarian Alliance.

"Pellaeon, this is Councilor Magriel of the Huntarian Alliance! Get your asses out of here now while you still can! We will be spamming our torpedoes at the Chronosians and the Huntarians to give you fire cover!"
"Sir, message from Councilor Magriel!"

"Let's hear it!" Pellaeon heard it and ordered a reply after checking the FTL stations. "We'll be jumping in a moment!"

Suddenly, alarms began to ring out.

"Gravitational distortions up ahead! Balroggan fleet have jumped to cut us off and have unleashed their singularity torpedoes!"

Pellaeon bit his lip. "Damn it! How many of us can jump?"

"First, Seventh and Eighth can use the Jump Drive, but Sixth will be cut off an' destroyed!"

"We'll need to fix that once we get out of here..." Pellaeon growled as several ships fought desperately to remove the gravtorps by using their own, or tractor beams, or concentrating on destroying the missiles using precisely-timed laser bolts. Or that was the theory, as the reality was that some of the commanders were more or less firing wildly at them and as a result, several ships sported holes, essentially knocking them out. As the Balroggans shoved Infection-based railcannons down their throats, Pellaeon shed quiet tears for the ships that blew themselves up to deny the enemy the chance to have more ships on their side. Others opted for damning the torpedoes and ramming the enemy at full speeds to allow the rest of the fleet to escape. Brave sods, all.

He noted four large battleships increasing their gravitational power with what seems to be the Balroggan equivalent of charging up superlasers. "Looks like they're about to fire something big. This could get messy..." He said grimly.

Suddenly...

"Massive hyperspace reversion 200,000 klicks above us!" Helms reported. "Sir! It's the 9th Fleet! Admiral Horvath's hailing us! Says 'Get the hell out of here, we'll deal with these bastards. And apologies for the delay.'."

"Second reversion, 100,000 klicks from the Chronosian forces! Admiral Easton wants to know when you're getting out of here, sir!"

"Those thrice-damed sons of bitches!" Pellaeon cursed, but smiled thinly all the same. "Tell them to kick the enemy in the teeth. And yes, we'll need cover for our escape."

"Prepare to make the jump while the enemy is distracted!" Pellaeon ordered.

Duel of the Fates

The Duel of the Fates was one of the two Sovereign-class Battleships in the Coredian Navy, and the most powerful ship in the area. With its superlaser and its upgraded weapons (PPCs FTW!), it's sure to be helpful in this battle.

Admiral Horvath looked over the latest battle readings through the Phoenix's battle updates and made his decision. "All Artillery Star Destroyers, open fire on the Balroggan fleet in front of the Phoenix! The Fates will unleash an Alpha Strike on the enemy battleships, superlaser and kinetics only! Immortal Star Destroyers will overcharge their PPCs and target Battleship! All other forces, concentrate firepower on the Tenetian forces!"

From the Heavy Railcannons of the Fates, slugs the size of Tantive gunships roared out at a Battleship as the main superlaser charged up and fired a massive green bolt at the enemy, then began recycling for another shot. Those were followed up by smaller, but more intensive, bolts of blue-green destruction from the Artillery Star Destroyers and the giant, deep blue bolts of PPC destructivness that sacrificed an Immortal's cannons. Not to mention smaller Naval Gauss cannons from said Immortals. Meanwhile, the rest of the fleet opened fire with everything they had on the Tenetians, decimating a number of enemy ships. All in all, it was a deadly show of force for the Coredians.

And that's not all...

"Fifth Fleet! We have incoming boarding pods from the Chronosians!" I cried out as my Dragon Wing did everything they could to destroy the Chaos Marine pods. Already, a Star Destroyer mk III reported Chaos Marines boarding them and sent the troops to repel them. "Send all available fighters to intercept them! I order Alpha Strikes to distract Remiel! Kick him in the nuts!"

"Just what I was thinking, Marshal!" Admiral Easton replied. "Open fire with everything we have, Alpha Strike!"

As the fighters fought the Chaos, rolling masses of fire from the Fifth Fleet gave the Chronosians a terrifying fury of every last weapon in the fleet's arsenal. From the Sovereign's superlaser, to turbolasers, missiles, ion cannons, PPCs, kinetic-kill cannons and everything including the kitchen sink, it was more than enough to give Remiel something else to think about.

As I fought, the chronometer on my dashboard stated that it was now only one minute. One more minute and everyone can escape...

Pellaeon was disgusted with the man. "Take this filth out of my sight and give him a bacta soaking. I will not have this fool die on my watch."

Jedi Master Press Tilton moved forward. "I shall deal with him, Admiral."

The Force snapped like a whip, seizing the man and paralyzing his limb muscles, locking his arms to his sides and his legs together. Now, even if he wanted to, the Major couldn't fight the medics who were called in to pick him up, so long as Master Tilton, slated to become a High Council Member very soon, kept up the pressure.

Major Ehrell frantically tried to move to defend himself against any medics that would dare to interfere with his suicide. He could not, for he was paralyzed. He could tell why, too. It was one of those filthy Sith. And it didn't seem like he had a voice with which to protest, either...the Sith had stolen that, from him, too.

But this Sith could not babysit him forever. As soon as he left...oh, yes. The moment this Sith left, Major Ehrell would kill himself again. He no longer cared how. But he would NOT submit to evil Sith scum such as this one, who called himself "Jedi." No, the Jedi were no more. Fallen into Darkness.

The Major was furious. All he had wanted was death, and this Sith denied him even that, no doubt because the filthy Coredians needed slaves with which to throw more singularity bombs, as happened at Caprica, at innocents. Just fucking Force Crush me and be done with it, he thought to himself, while also thinking of myriad ways to strike himself down while the medics weren't looking. Blood continued to drip from his abdomen to the bridge floor.

What? That thought about getting Force Crushed had sounded more like an actual, coherent voice, in marked contrast to the other thoughts about how the Sith were conspiring to enslave him swirling throughout his head. Without realizing, he had just projected his thoughts into Force Telepathy.

Yes, that is right. He directed his thoughts at the Sith Lord who currently lorded over his body. You have me. Now crush it all and be done with my insolence! I will not cooperate with the Sith, and you will have to kill me!

If I wanted to Crush you, I would have done so already. Master Tilton replied, surprised that yet another Woodian knew the Force. No. You will be healed, and you will learn that not all Jedi are like Bailey Kipper. Even if I have to watch you every day for the rest of my life, I will not let you die.

He leaned close to the man's ear. "The fool was my first apprentice. To say that I'm disappointed in him is the understatement of the decade."

They soon reached the medical bay, and the medics dunked him into a bacta tube. Master Tilton also requested sedatives to be pumped into the tank to ensure that the man would be docile enough to be healed.

Oh, really? Major Ehrell shot back. If the Jedi are not like Bailey, who, then, ordered the Massacre of Caprica? I know how militaries work, and I also know that low-level functionaries do not just lay their hands on such weapons of mass destruction without the highest authorities signing the orders. So, just which Jedi Council Member signed the order to terminate millions of civilians? the Major accused.

Oh, and mark my words. The Council washed its hands of Bailey Kipper even before it could properly EVALUATE him. No psychiatric evaluation can be done in so short a time. Mark my words, he will murder again, and the Council enabled it. The Jedi Order has Fallen so far it is no better than the Sith it claims to fight...

Major Ehrell attempted to remove the oxygen mask from his face, as he had certain ideas regarding suicide opportunities. But he found that Master Tilton still held him paralyzed, the Sith bastard. No matter. He would wait until Admiral Pellaeon or the Order called him off for something else, or hell, until Master Tilton had to use the restroom. Even Jedi could only hold their bodily functions for so long...otherwise, the toxicity of their bodily wastes would eventually build up and kill them, right?

Meanwhile, the Major struggled against the effects of the sedatives. Must...not...give...in! In a strange way, being paralyzed actually helped him, because his adrenal glands produced stress hormones in reaction to being held against his will. Which acted as stimulants. Then another idea struck him. If he could resist the sedatives for long enough, perhaps the medics would overdose him on sedatives, putting him into a permanent coma?

He willed his body to produce more cortisol. This was one of those times when that torture-resistance training from the Woodian Army came in handy, he had to admit. He focused all his attention on staying awake...and how evil the Jedi had become...

Oh, really? Major Ehrell shot back. If the Jedi are not like Bailey, who, then, ordered the Massacre of Caprica? I know how militaries work, and I also know that low-level functionaries do not just lay their hands on such weapons of mass destruction without the highest authorities signing the orders. So, just which Jedi Council Member signed the order to terminate millions of civilians? the Major accused.

Oh, and mark my words. The Council washed its hands of Bailey Kipper even before it could properly EVALUATE him. No psychiatric evaluation can be done in so short a time. Mark my words, he will murder again, and the Council enabled it. The Jedi Order has Fallen so far it is no better than the Sith it claims to fight...

Major Ehrell attempted to remove the oxygen mask from his face, as he had certain ideas regarding suicide opportunities. But he found that Master Tilton still held him paralyzed, the Sith bastard. No matter. He would wait until Admiral Pellaeon or the Order called him off for something else, or hell, until Master Tilton had to use the restroom. Even Jedi could only hold their bodily functions for so long...otherwise, the toxicity of their bodily wastes would eventually build up and kill them, right?

Meanwhile, the Major struggled against the effects of the sedatives. Must...not...give...in! In a strange way, being paralyzed actually helped him, because his adrenal glands produced stress hormones in reaction to being held against his will. Which acted as stimulants. Then another idea struck him. If he could resist the sedatives for long enough, perhaps the medics would overdose him on sedatives, putting him into a permanent coma?

He willed his body to produce more cortisol. This was one of those times when that torture-resistance training from the Woodian Army came in handy, he had to admit. He focused all his attention on staying awake...and how evil the Jedi had become...
Searching his own feelings, Master Tilton knew the Major had a point, but it wasn't important at this point. What was important was keeping the man alive. After the battle, however...

"His resistance to the sedatives is considerable...it will be some time before we can extract some calm from him." A medic reported.

"I see. Increase the sedative level by 5%." Tilton ordered.

"Yes, Master." The medic punched some buttons and the sedatives began to trickle a little more strongly.

Major Ehrell could tell the dose of sedatives had just been increased. He had to fight harder to resist their effects.

Must...not...give..in! Major Ehrell became even more furious. Which lead his body to produce more cortisol and adrenaline...

...Which meant he stayed awake longer. A shame that the Sith Lord standing in front of him still held him paralyzed. Otherwise, he could have already killed himself by now...

"This is incredible! Anyone else would have been sedated by now." The medic exclaimed.

"I commend the Woodians for their training. Increase the dose to 10%." Master Tilton said.

"We're going to head into the caution zone." The medic warned.

"I will use the Force to keep him alive. We'll stop at 15%." Master Tilton said. "Do it."

And so the dose was increased yet again. This time, Master Tilton added a Force Scan on the paralyzed Major, scanning for trouble...

Must...not...surrender...to...Sith! Major Ehrell struggled against the increased dose, struggled to force his body to produce yet more cortisol, adrenaline, and any other natural stimulant he could think of. Ironically, he was running on just about pure anger on his situation now. Anger at not being allowed a peaceful, honorable death...

Then Major Ehrell felt something, something incredibly invasive. Like the Sith was...inspecting him. Messing with his body, probably to make it more docile to the effects of the sedative. That bastard. Of course, his anger at this situation only fueled his stress hormones further, helping him to stay awake longer. He wanted nothing more than to take off the stupid breathing mask and drown himself in bacta, but he still remained paralyzed by the Sith.

Get the fuck out of my body, Sith! Major Ehrell's demand came with such fury that Master Tilton would actually feel a very substantial, involuntary Force-shove backwards...

Master Tilton stepped back as the Force-push shoved him backwards. But he was determined that the man would not die. No. I swore that I would not let you die. Until you can prove that you will not die, I will not let you go. Now...go to sleep.

"Increase the dose one more time." Master Tilton ordered, then cut off the medic's protest.

And so it was. The dose reached 15%. Master Tilton pressed on with the Force, willing the man to relax...

I said. GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BODY!!111!!! Had Master Tilton just stayed out of this, the 15% dose probably would have finally overwhelmed Major Ehrell's ability to resist the sedative. But Ehrell's wrath at being poked, prodded, being forced to 'relax' by the Sith kept him going.

GET THE FUCK OUT! If the Master kept this up, Major Ehrell's adrenal glands would fail from being overwhelmed before he would slip into sleep. Oh, yes, the Sith's so-called 'relaxation' could be turned into more injury...

If only some of that 'relaxation' could be directed at his lungs, so he would stop breathing that filthy oxygen from that mask he could not remove. Still conscious solely because his anger at Master Tilton's invasion of his body kept him awake, the Major forced his adrenal glands to produce yet more natural stimulants...

The Master understood the vehemence of the Major in resisting, but it can't be helped. He must be sedated. The Master relaxed his scanning of the Major's body, but only just.

Calm. Peace. Serenity. Those three words were bombarded into Major Ehrell's mind. Calm. Peace. Serenity.

GET OUT OF MY FUCKING MIND!!!! Master Tilton's mantra of Calm, Peace, Serenity inspired anything but--Major Ehrell regarded it as nothing more than Sith Propaganda. Still unable to remove his breathing mask, due to Force-induced paralysis (the Sith bastard!), Major Ehrell forced himself to stay awake. Must...not...give...in...to...Sith!

For more than half an hour did Master Tilton need to stay by the bacta tank, and endure completely random Force-attacks that were more out of extreme reflex on Major Ehrell's part than any conscious training in the Force. But thirty-five minutes later, his adrenal glands could produce no more. They failed, and the Major did not know how to heal them enough to keep up his resistance. Ironically, had he been Sith like Master Tilton, he would.

No! I cannot give in! But adrenaline and cortisol broke down quickly, and no matter how angry Major Ehrell was, without functioning adrenal glands, the vital stimulants would not soon be replaced. I cannot give in! He held on for a few more minutes, but then drifted off to sleep as the stimulants he had produced in resisting the Sith broke down...

"The patient's adrenal glands are breaking down." The medic reported. "He's succumbing to the sedatives.

"Good. Reduce the sedatives." Master Tilton replied. He was quite winded, having to suppress the man's random Force attacks as well as hold him down telekinetically. "Monitor him. I need to recover."

"Of course, Master."

The Jedi Master moved towards a sofa and sat down, even as the ship shook around him. Here, he will meditate...

The Jeep's M8 Gauss Machine gun was blown to smitheereens, and so was the front axle of the jeep. With that, the squad leader said, "SHIT!" Calling frantically on his radio, he cried out, "Mayday, mayday, this is Sergeant Thompson of Squad Alpha. All units in the area, I am under attack!" Ducking under a rock, Thompson continued as his men shot at the banshee firing at them, "We've got hostiles! They shot out my jeep! I need reinforcements! NOW!"

With that, a reply of, "Squad Alpha, this is Bravo. We're coming in. We've also called Mother Hen, she's laying some more eggs, over." Thompson then pulled out his rifle and opened fire, ducking behind more debris....

"All right boys there's our signal! Throw your grenades at the Jeep's general area to distract their men to give our girl some cover so she can land!" With that, the nine men all threw several grenades towards the Dornalian targets.


Cassandra watched in the air as the Devil's Ops team threw their grenades toward the jeep, excellent move sarge... She withdrew two heavily sharpened Vibro-hatches from the back of her suit and deactivated her thruster pack...


Five inky black ships of the Rambird design suddenly shimmered out of existance only to reappear moments later within the shielding that the protected the Huntaer fleet. Capital class ion bolts fired down at the ships while the five smaller versions of the Rambird darted around space trying to avoid any defensive fire and prevent another phase missle attack. They kept moving until the shields of the ship they were focused on were brought down.

"Gunnry officer, bring up Abriel Cruiser 5. Target transphasic torpedoes on the Huntaers."

The prescribed missle cruiser suddenly opened up with a thousand transphasic torpedoes armed with anti-matter warheads darting for the enemy fleet. At the same time, Shadow Cruisers and Destroyers started targeting Nightshade's fleet with their Hyperspace tap beam turrets. Energy syphoned from the energy waves within the dimension of Hyperspace were now focused on the Sith and Chaos fleets ahead of them.

"SIR! The Abh have broken through our shields and fired their Capital Grade Ions and transphasics at the fleet!"

"Alert the fleet to brace for impact!" Heromath glanced at the battle map from where the Abh were, and where they are now. "That is impossible! No one can get through our fleet shields with impulse power... How'd they get in?"

"We're reading trace remnants of what appears to have been a massive build up of their FTL from their previous position just before they entered. My guess is they did a mini-jump of sorts."

"Status of the fleet?"

"We're reading numerous fluctuations in shield frequencies, probably due to the Abh's Ion Cannons. Several smaller Cruisers and Frigates have been destroyed by the Transphasic onslaught. We're reporting the destruction of several Eradicator TSD's and Titan's."

The Grand Admiral clenched a fist and trust it up towards the ceiling, cursing the Abh name. "Remind me to yell at Aelikes next time to install an FTLi for mini-jumps on the stations, if there even is a next time," he growled. "Get HEWS activated throughout the fleet for any ship who has it. Give their weapon's targeting systems a hell of a time trying to lock onto us. It should buy us some time."

"HEWS activating..."

"And get rid of those five ships which just entered! Retarget all Ultra Turbolasers and Ion Cannons! Fire back at those things!"


"The enemy's shields are weakening!" Gidget cried out. "However, I'm getting numerous bombers beginning attack runs and enemy capital ships breaking to engage us!"

"Get the Rogues and the escorts to cover us while we charge the Yamato Cannons!" Captain Holland ordered.

"I will require a few moments, Captain!" Kengoh replied.

"Then we will give you those minutes!"


Heromath glanced at the separate attacks from the Abh which were being fired at him on the 3D Holomap. "Status on the Coredians tactical."

"Sir, our sensors read a massive build up of energy in one of their cannons."

"Axial?"

"Unknown... Might be that Yamato Cannon thing."

"Ignore it. Concentrate fire on the Abh ships as previously ordered. I doubt those Yamatto cannons can do much damage to us." A mistake on Heromath's part...


"Ok, Rogues, you heard the Captain! Keep those bombers off their asses!" Uzumaki Naruto, Jounin Shinobi of Konoha, Commander of the Rogues, ordered.

"Roger that, Lead." Kohaku, Wingleader of Third Flight replied. He was the youngest of the Rogues -at least until Travis came back- and yet he had enough experience to lead one of the three flight groups of four fighters. But today, he is to take out the enemy and keep them from the Coredia at all costs. And so he and his comrades did, speeding forward and sending searing bolts of red into the enemy ranks, with a random set of Shadowbombs shooting silently as a couple Jedi members of the Rogues unleashed them on unsuspecting enemies.

In the meantime, the capital ships that supported the Coredia unleashed vast amounts of ship-killing firepower on the enemy task force, hopefully slowing them down long enough for the Coredia to unleash its main cannons and bring down the shield.

"Sir! Fighter inbound to intercept our Tie Talons! It's Rogue Squadron!"

Heromath quickly glanced on the map and saw the Rogues moving into attack the Talons. "Tell the Tie Carriers to send out Tie Darts and Reapers to intercept the Rogues. Give our bomber boys some cover." With that, the Devil's Gambit, Khorne, and Emperor's Warriors launched their fighters from their docking bays.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sir, message from Councilor Magriel!"

"Let's hear it!" Pellaeon heard it and ordered a reply after checking the FTL stations. "We'll be jumping in a moment!"

"Roger that. Get out ASAP, let us do the rest. Good hunting," with that, Magriel made a cutting motion with his hand to signal to end communications. "Weapons status?"

"We're ready for another barrage sir! And even better news. Our Hyper-X Capacitors are online and activated. We can now triple the amount of torpedoes and laser fire again."

"Nine torpedoes launched in 9 seconds per tube on each ship?"

"Aye sir."

"... What the hell are you waiting for, an invention from the Chaos Gods? Fire at the damn Chronosians!"

"All right boys there's our signal! Throw your grenades at the Jeep's general area to distract their men to give our girl some cover so she can land!" With that, the nine men all threw several grenades towards the Dornalian targets.


Cassandra watched in the air as the Devil's Ops team threw their grenades toward the jeep, excellent move sarge... She withdrew two heavily sharpened Vibro-hatches from the back of her suit and deactivated her thruster pack...


As the grenades flew at the Dornalian Red Army soldiers, the man said, "Evasive Manuevers! NOW!" Ducking behind debris, rocks, whatnot, the grenades exploded, damaging one man's leg and grazing the rest. They then returned fire with their own grenades and gauss rifles, burstfiring at the foes that seemed awfully determined to make them hurt.

Naturally, only Thompson, who was busy trying to rustle up reinforcements, wasn't occupied with survival, and noticed Cassandra making landfall....he then whipped out his railpistol and fired, as he ran behind a rock.

--------

The fire from Huntarian lines wasn't so bad normally; the Ultra Turbolasers and the other shots were shaken off by the strong armor of the Mao IVs and the heavily upgraded shielding of the Mao IIIas. The Drones, meanwhile took the blunt of the hits, and 25 fell, plus plenty of shield and hull damage was sustained all over the fleet. One or two Lin Biaos even experienced massive reductions in shields, and even the Mao IVs took some damage to their massive hulls, though it was sustainable for now.

But, then the Phase Torps came.

Slamming into the systems that the Huntarians aimed at, they exploded, causing damage to the insides. While the Mao IVs didn't suffer too badly relatively, the other ships sustained damage to systems. Nanites, repair crews and soldiers were seen running about to try to contain the fires and electrical damage that occurred, and medics were rushing to contain the casualties from the sudden lightning strike into the heart of their vessels. It was fortunate Dornalian systems were pretty hardy, and the torpedoes were relatively lowpowered. Nomura merely grumbled, "Fucking sadists. They want to toy with us.....I want Alpha Strikes and Duplex Drive Demolisher Guns on the Goddamn Fucking Huntarians, now!"

The Mao IVs focused on charging their Duplex Drive Demolishers.....and then, upon Nomura's signal, the Dornalians unleashed about 50,000 transphasic torpedoes onto the Huntarians, and many more Demolisher Gunshots, and two massive green shots from the Duplex Demolishers aimed at the Huntarians' largest vessels. Nomura then replied, "Guys, let's go!"

Place holder for the cylon action on Konoha.

Konoha

Commodore Alcott, meanwhile, became watchful as he watched the conditions over Konoha. So far, not much had occurred, and as far as he was concerned, relief efforts on the surface had been the biggest thing, along with dealing with the Killer Robots that had infected the surface. It was boring for a normal man, but for his job, he had to be vigilant. People's lives depended on him.

Then, a message from Comms.

"Commodore, I've got a message from JRCCC. It's urgent, from Commissar Baileygates."

The Commodore then said to Comms, "I'll take it in my Ready Room." Walking to his room, he then opened the laptop and recieved the message there.

"Commodore Alcott, this is Commissar of Foreign Affairs Carla Baileygates. I understand you are at Konoha right about now. I'm calling from the Initiative, and I have to ask you a favor. Is there some way you could call Katrina Masaki out there and speed her to the Initiative's version of Earth? We have to prep a little speech, the media over there is restless. Okay? Bye."

Alcott sighed. He wasn't sure about how to get into the Jedi Temple down there. Killer Robots were all over the place....he then contacted a unit on the ground, and said on a secure channel, "This is Commodore Alcott. Find a way to get to the Jedi Temple, deliver a message to Katrina Masaki that she's wanted in the Initiative, and that we will be willing to provide transport. Got it?"

OOC: Sorry everyone, but I've been quite recently ill and haven't had a chance to catch up in a few days. Gimme some time to recover, to read over stuff, and I'll craft some massive reply for massive damage

OOC: Apologies, Chron, guys, but business has come up in another thread. To wit....I'm phasing out of Jurai. Though per agreement with CW, I'm gonna do something cool at Konoha.

Also, Abh, Ganoxa, check TGs. I'd IM you, but thanks to my Drama Class, I gotta watch a production of Antigone tonight.

IC:

Batov, as he was supporting the Dornalian effort, suddenly got a headache. Stumbling for a bit, the crew was stunned at this turn of events. He then glared at them, and ordered them to keep going.

As this occurred, a message, from the Force and Divine, seemed to come into his mind. It was his second in command, Kim. And it said simply this.

"Come home."

Batov Forcemessaged her back, concentrating as hard as he could to send the message and keep the pain at bay.

"But why? I am fighting the good fight now! Justice has not yet been served!"

"There is an important matter. A very important one. The Clans of Skagura have a Shinmei School as well. They have requested an audience with you."

"Are you not handling it? Goddamnit!"

"I am. But they want to speak specifically with you. Your Manual and your story intrigues them greatly, to say the least."

"ARRGH! Alright. It pains me...but I will go."

With that, Batov sent this message to Admiral Nomura.

"Admiral. I am needed back at home. Something has happened that requires my attention--a matter of identity."

To that, Nomura could only reply, "Oh, what the--fuckdamn shitcunts! And I was just having a strategy going! JESUS!"

Batov sternly replied back, "I am needed elsewhere, Comrade Admiral, and it is too dangerous for me alone to go."

Gracie then popped in, "Besides, guys, hate to interrupt...I had a chat with the Huntarians. Seems they've got this AI....it may or may not be a copy of me, only with less charm and morals. Yeah. It may have recognzied Batov's men."

Batov then grumbled, "Then all the better to make my exit. I should fight another day; besides, our objective is won here."

With that, Admiral Nomura sighed and said, "Well, if its that friggin' important....fucking hell.....well, if you need to get home and fix this little ideological dispute of yours, that's fine. Go ahead."

With that, Batov's forces left the field of battle, Batov himself going straight home and the rest of the fleet to consolidate at other parts (OOC some Coredian world). And with that, Nomura wired the Allies on secure channels with, "All units, this is Admiral Nomura. I'm consolidating behind the Huntarian Alliance. And with that, the Dornalians warped to behind Huntarian Alliance lines as they continued their previous combats, and as they did so, made preparations to jump out for good with the words on secure channel, "All forces, prepare to make exit stage right as soon as I exit in three...two...one...."

OOC: Callin' next once everyone gets back on track.

"What is fear to a mind Chronosian? What is doubt? What is weakness? Nothing! A thousand times nothing! Our Gods brought us to the stars and set our mandate to conquer, to consume, to convert till all were privy to the light and the glory! How then can we fear, with Fate itself as the wind behind our sails!
-Attributed to Primarch Gabriel

The Chronosian fleet had moved, subtle in its machinations as it traded blows with the hated blood foes. This galaxy was rife with heathens, thick with the stink of their dissent. See how they gathered here, protecting the canker in heir midst, the ulcerated growth that yearned to be purged. They flocked and wheeled like vultures around the Coredian corpse, as though their presence could assuage the hand of fate. It was almost enough to pity them for their meagre defiance.

The fleet had spread out, leaving the ships less vulnerable to the tenacious bombardments of the Huntarians, their own volleys returned with a ferocious gusto. Certainly ships were lost, torn assunder in the devestating assaults of these cowards. They were all cowards. Even now Chronosian men fought and bled upon Coredian vessels, offering up their own souls and the damned souls of their foes to the Gods. Some took the opportunity to blow out their landing sites, exposing the innards of the Coredian ships to hard vaccuum. Others made their way to points of interest, bridges, auxillary controls, engine rooms. Anything that could hamper the Coredian war effort, by turning their guns on their fellows, or rendering them dead or inert.

The screams of the Coredian crews were broadcast for sport.

Even as the Coredian alpha strike tore into their flank, the Chronosians seemed to take no heed, merely shifting their operational doctrine once more. Gruesome blood-red ships slunk through the void like great predator sharks, their hulls gleaming with blades and the entombed glory of countless thousands of skulls. Others turned their decrepit sensor arrays towards their prey with a contained longing. Rusting, rotted hulls gleamed with the disgorged ichor of living corruption, as though the ships themselves pulsed with unholy life. The weapons that sallied forth from these ancient behemoths would flood the foes ships with devestating plagues, searing them with viral doom from the bosom of Papa Nurgle himself.

The Warp was with them. Teleport arrays disgorged warriors into what enemy vessels they could, while archaic rites brought forth the foul servants of the Gods, the very Daemons of Chaos given leave to walk the material realm and feast upon the fools who dared to oppose.

This galaxy was weak, from the puniest rebel to its mightiest ruelr, it was riven with a patheticness that brought bile to Chronosian throats. Who were they to think themselves beyond the Gods? Who were they to oppose the will of the True Faith? Remiel let a smile cross his features, even as his great ship shook under the persistance of enemy futility. He had taken all of this to be his providence, the redemption of galaxies, the subjugation of the faithless.

Even now he knew, his will would be done. It had been foretold. The Gods, the very hand of Fate, was with him.

OOC: Technically, the Alpha Strike was mine and mainly thrown at Hunt, but I suppose some hit you too, Chron. But meh.

OOC: Technically, the Alpha Strike was mine and mainly thrown at Hunt, but I suppose some hit you too, Chron. But meh.

OOC: CW used it on me too

As their seemed to be an opening in the enemy lines the Dornalians made an immediate jump out of the system. I guess its time Brivun thought.

"Make preparations for the jump to hyperspace. Return all fighters to the carrier, emergency landing."

"Yes sir. Emergency landing protocol has been sent."

Fighters began to pile into the massive carrier, if it weren't for the repulsor nets catching them they would surely crashed into the hull. The fleet turned towards the gap in the line. "On my mark in 3...2...1 mark!"

Soon the Ganoxian Expedition Fleet jumped out of Jurai.

OOC: Sorry for the short post but i have school soon.

“Yes, you are correct. Having left biology long ago, there is just no way to reproduce. The tradeoff was not to be biologically limited in life span. As long as we keep our wits about us, we will remain alive and exist. Eventually time will catch up with an individual and we will morn for them but it allows us eons to practice Uplifting races.”

“We can guide other younger races up the evolutionary ladder. If nothing interferes with the Uplift, the end result could be beings like our Childer. They were humans and Artificial Sentients a few centuries ago. We started with a bunch of superstitious shamanistic human population and brought them to be Class B minds. They are the way we reproduce, through our Childer.”

“I will command the construction of a facility for your crew.”

At a word, or rather a thought from Nhur-Galladu the enclosed dry-docks began to gently move, as a matter of fact unless someone was looking outside there would be no indication they were moving. The seven units slowly moved toward a common point. In the center, several ships positioned themselves and simply fell to pieces, reverting to their Kython counterparts. A black swarm formed and swirled in place. Individual Kythons merged and a new structure began to build itself in the place of the condensing swarm until a single structure rested as the seven docks touched and then merged together into a single unit.

Atmosphere began to be generated by the replicators and Kythons scurried about setting the interior for their honored guests. The multi-story creation had a multitude of windows allowing the sights of this system to be easily viewed. The whole structure slowly rotated to allow a complete view once an hour, nothing that would cause any problem. Gravity was generated internally and it was powered by a Space Minus Tap, same as each dry-dock. There was just about every means of rest and relaxation that was possible in space. Even a water park was available on the main level, lit by the distant stars, sun, and planets. Overhead lights simulated sunlight and warmth for sunbathers. Replicators were programmed to allow the crew to order any type of food that was not harmful to them. Even alcohol was available if the Officers permitted the crew to drink on shore leave.


The officers and crew went out onto the repair docks and began to drink and eat, while talking with each other. They were rather subdued, as they were on one hand still very angry about what had happened, and for their lost friends and family. But, the Balroggans had not destroyed them when they had the chance, and they were now repairing their ships. This was a mixed message to the GDI, and they were unsure on how they were going to take it. However, no one in the military passed up an opportunity to relax, eat, sleep, or have a smoke. So, most of the crew relaxed as best they could on the repair dock, although some shuddered when they saw the Kythons and what the dock was made out of.

Stevenson nodded. "Thank you so much for you help; I just want to get my crew home and inform those who have lost loved ones in this conflict." He leaned back and closed his eyes, his fatigue catching up with him. He could only wait now for his ships to be repaired and for the Balroggans to let them go. He did not relish the time when Amanda and himself would have to stand before the Chiefs of Staff. They would not like this one bit.

Heromath glanced at the separate attacks from the Abh which were being fired at him on the 3D Holomap. "Status on the Coredians tactical."

"Sir, our sensors read a massive build up of energy in one of their cannons."

"Axial?"

"Unknown... Might be that Yamato Cannon thing."

"Ignore it. Concentrate fire on the Abh ships as previously ordered. I doubt those Yamatto cannons can do much damage to us." A mistake on Heromath's part...
"Captain! The Yamato Cannon is ready to fire!"

"Fire and launch Shattermissiles after it!" Captain Holland ordered.

"Yes, sir!" As with every time he targeted a foe, Lt. Kengo placed the crosshairs on the weakening shields and pulled the trigger.

An intense orange blast of intense, space-bending energy sliced through the sky from the bow of the Battlestar, leaving strange rings of light at several intervals as it traveled the distance to impact on the shield. Then the Battlestar ceased firing for a moment to recover from the cannon's discharge. This was the most dangerous part of firing the Yamato Cannon, for if someone were able to exploit that momentary weakness in the Battlestar...

Then a stream of glowing yellow missiles roared out of the tubes and began running for the enemy capital ships, each one capable of tearing through shields to burrow into the hull and detonate. Of course, with Huntaerians, that may not be enough...

"Sir! Fighter inbound to intercept our Tie Talons! It's Rogue Squadron!"

Heromath quickly glanced on the map and saw the Rogues moving into attack the Talons. "Tell the Tie Carriers to send out Tie Darts and Reapers to intercept the Rogues. Give our bomber boys some cover." With that, the Devil's Gambit, Khorne, and Emperor's Warriors launched their fighters from their docking bays.
"Lead, we got company!" Kohaku cried out as he saw incoming TIE enemies on his screens.

"I see them! Coredia, get the antifighter frigates and the other squadrons to cover us!" Naruto yelled into the coms.

"Gotcha!" Gidget replied and began ordering a couple of other starfighter squadrons and three antifighter frigates to cover the Rogues as they fought against the bombers, their rapid-firing laser cannons spitting death with every microsecond.

The furball would only grow as the Coredia and her fellow capital ships tried to eliminate as many Huntaerians as possible...

=====

Fire spread throughout the sky as the Navy and its enemies battled for an eternity. Ships were sundered with unholy destruction. Crew fought against the defilement of the Chaos Marines entering their craft. As war raged across the Jurai system, the valiant defenders made their move to exeunt from the system.

The Fleets that were involved in the battle from the beginning have shrunk greatly since the battle began. From ships numbering in the hundreds, it was now less than two hundred in total, but still somehow fighting strong. Maybe it was to kill as many enemies as they could before they fall. Maybe it was the fact that the Field Marshal refused to escape until all his men and women have escaped from the deathtrap. Whatever the case, as the fleet numbers dwindled, their tenacity only increased.

It would have made for a fine last stand to fight over Jurai, worthy of the Jedi Archives. Alas, today is not that day to go down swinging.

Admiral Pellaeon felt his hundred+ years of life bear down on him. He could see that his new flagship already bore the scars of a nasty duel with the Ravager and almost believed that with all the enemies bearing down on his fleet, he would have to go down fighting. Until...

"Admiral....Admiral!" The youngster at the helm tried to get his attention.

"What is it?" He looked up, noticing the boy's eyes shining with hope. Hope? In this viperous trap?

"Hyperspace indicators on all forces report green! We're ready to jump!"

The Admiral blinked, and blinked again. Then the years seemed to fall away. "Well, what are you waiting for, boy, an invitation? Jump! Jump!"

With a shaking hand, the helmsman pulled back the lever and at last, the stars began to stretch out into starlines as the hyperdrive kicked in, followed by the remnants of the fleet at Jurai and hundreds of fighters.

"Whew!" I sighed in relief as the fleet began jumping away. With that done, I commed the members of the Starfighter Corps. "All squadrons and all allied forces, disengage and retreat! This battle is over!"

Historians would consider this battle a victory considering the simple goal of fleeing Jurai with Exodus Fleet, but I would say that it was rather phyyric if they asked me considering the losses we incurred throughout the battle. The after-action report would be interesting, to say the least.

As for me, I will definitely wait until everyone left before leaving myself. I'm just that kind of person, even if my subordinates did scream at me to retreat with them...

As the grenades flew at the Dornalian Red Army soldiers, the man said, "Evasive Manuevers! NOW!" Ducking behind debris, rocks, whatnot, the grenades exploded, damaging one man's leg and grazing the rest. They then returned fire with their own grenades and gauss rifles, burstfiring at the foes that seemed awfully determined to make them hurt.

Naturally, only Thompson, who was busy trying to rustle up reinforcements, wasn't occupied with survival, and noticed Cassandra making landfall....he then whipped out his railpistol and fired, as he ran behind a rock.

Cassandra dodged his fire, and focused her attention onto Thompson. She didn't like that radio of his... Or his face, which is enough reason for her to kill someone. Cassandra made note of his move towards the rock and threw one of her hatchets in front of his path, towards his head...


Slamming into the systems that the Huntarians aimed at, they exploded, causing damage to the insides. While the Mao IVs didn't suffer too badly relatively, the other ships sustained damage to systems. Nanites, repair crews and soldiers were seen running about to try to contain the fires and electrical damage that occurred, and medics were rushing to contain the casualties from the sudden lightning strike into the heart of their vessels. It was fortunate Dornalian systems were pretty hardy, and the torpedoes were relatively lowpowered. Nomura merely grumbled, "Fucking sadists. They want to toy with us.....I want Alpha Strikes and Duplex Drive Demolisher Guns on the Goddamn Fucking Huntarians, now!"

The Mao IVs focused on charging their Duplex Drive Demolishers.....and then, upon Nomura's signal, the Dornalians unleashed about 50,000 transphasic torpedoes onto the Huntarians, and many more Demolisher Gunshots, and two massive green shots from the Duplex Demolishers aimed at the Huntarians' largest vessels. Nomura then replied, "Guys, let's go!"

"Sir! Shield stations have collapsed completely!"

"Damn it! RETURN FULL FIRE! I want every weapon this fleet has fired upon those bastards!


With that, Batov's forces left the field of battle, Batov himself going straight home and the rest of the fleet to consolidate at other parts (OOC some Coredian world). And with that, Nomura wired the Allies on secure channels with, "All units, this is Admiral Nomura. I'm consolidating behind the Huntarian Alliance. And with that, the Dornalians warped to behind Huntarian Alliance lines as they continued their previous combats, and as they did so, made preparations to jump out for good with the words on secure channel, "All forces, prepare to make exit stage right as soon as I exit in three...two...one...."


"Admiral! The enemy is jumping into Hyperspace!"

Heromath slammed his fists onto his command chair, "damn it. Who's left?"

"The Coredia is still a viable target sir."

"Prepare to fire a volley upon them on my mark."


"Captain! The Yamato Cannon is ready to fire!"

"Fire and launch Shattermissiles after it!" Captain Holland ordered.

"Yes, sir!" As with every time he targeted a foe, Lt. Kengo placed the crosshairs on the weakening shields and pulled the trigger.

An intense orange blast of intense, space-bending energy sliced through the sky from the bow of the Battlestar, leaving strange rings of light at several intervals as it traveled the distance to impact on the shield. Then the Battlestar ceased firing for a moment to recover from the cannon's discharge. This was the most dangerous part of firing the Yamato Cannon, for if someone were able to exploit that momentary weakness in the Battlestar...

Then a stream of glowing yellow missiles roared out of the tubes and began running for the enemy capital ships, each one capable of tearing through shields to burrow into the hull and detonate. Of course, with Huntaerians, that may not be enough...

"Fire coming from the Coredian front this time! Yamato Cannon and Shattermissiles!"

"Activate the IPS and Lightning Field defenses against the Shattermissiles!"

"Impact 3... 2... 1..."

"Activate, NOW!"

With that, a glowing blue sphere erupted around nearly a thousand ships in the Empire's fleet. Those equipped with the IPS knocked out the missiles completely, while those with only the Lightning Field knocked out half, and attempted to shoot down the rest. Those which made it to their targets ended up doing serious damage to the ships due to their unusual nature. As for the Yamato Cannon, it slammed into one of the Warhammer Ships present in battle, the Hades.

"Admiral, the Hades is reporting casualties throughout the ship. It would appear that the Coredians have temporarily halted their fire."

"Order the Hades and our gunners to fire our Mini-Axial Lasers at the Coredia! Destroy them."


"Lead, we got company!" Kohaku cried out as he saw incoming TIE enemies on his screens.

"I see them! Coredia, get the antifighter frigates and the other squadrons to cover us!" Naruto yelled into the coms.

"Gotcha!" Gidget replied and began ordering a couple of other starfighter squadrons and three antifighter frigates to cover the Rogues as they fought against the bombers, their rapid-firing laser cannons spitting death with every microsecond.

The furball would only grow as the Coredia and her fellow capital ships tried to eliminate as many Huntaerians as possible...

The Rogues was being put up against the impossible odds, despite the low armor value of the Tie Darts and Tie Reapers. One squadron of Tie Darts and another Tie Reaper changed their focus on Naruto, another pair changed their course for Gidget. The rest threw themselves to the other rogues and diverted course to help give the Chronosian boarding pods some fire cover.



The fleet had spread out, leaving the ships less vulnerable to the tenacious bombardments of the Huntarians, their own volleys returned with a ferocious gusto. Certainly ships were lost, torn assunder in the devestating assaults of these cowards. They were all cowards. Even now Chronosian men fought and bled upon Coredian vessels, offering up their own souls and the damned souls of their foes to the Gods. Some took the opportunity to blow out their landing sites, exposing the innards of the Coredian ships to hard vaccuum. Others made their way to points of interest, bridges, auxillary controls, engine rooms. Anything that could hamper the Coredian war effort, by turning their guns on their fellows, or rendering them dead or inert.

Alliance...

The Enemy fire dealt serious damage to the Alliance's fleet. A strong 50 Torpedo Frigates were taken out in the last onslaught, and many more were wounded. Magriel growled, "damn their chaotic souls. Regroup our fleet to try and match their movements, it would appear they have spread out their fleet to avoid our fire. Prepare each ship to target one specified enemy ship and fire at it."

"Aye sir."

"FIRE!"

"Councilor! The Phoenix and Dornalians have just jumped to hyperspace!"

The Councilor glanced at his command chairs tactical screen, "incredible. Who's left?"

"The Abhs and the Coredia."

"Damn it. Open a channel to the Coredia"

"Channel open."

"Captain Holland! What the hell you still doing here? We're reading massive buildups in the enemy capital ships aimed right for you! Get out now!"

"Captain! Message from Councilor Magriel!"

"Let's hear it!"

"Captain Holland! What the hell you still doing here? We're reading massive buildups in the enemy capital ships aimed right for you! Get out now!"

"Enemy ship is crippled! Should we line up for another shot?" Kengo asked.

"Negative, we won't get another chance! Talho! Use our Jump Drive! Let's get out of here! Order all forces to jump as well!" Holland ordered.

"Sir, yes sir!"

A high-pitched whine sounded throughout the ship as the Jump Drive activated, then just as the enemy fired, the Battlestar Coredia disappeared in a flash of light as space folded in on itself. The fleet and the fighters followed suit, breaking off contact with the enemy and either disappearing in more flashes or racing away into hyperspace.

At last, with the Fifth and Ninth Fleets also retreating, even I decided it was time to make my exit. I pulled back the lever, saying a prayer to the Force for the broken ships and crew that were left behind and disappeared into hyperspace myself.

The battle was over.

"Enemy ship is crippled! Should we line up for another shot?" Kengo asked.

"Negative, we won't get another chance! Talho! Use our Jump Drive! Let's get out of here! Order all forces to jump as well!" Holland ordered.

"Sir, yes sir!"

A high-pitched whine sounded throughout the ship as the Jump Drive activated, then just as the enemy fired, the Battlestar Coredia disappeared in a flash of light as space folded in on itself. The fleet and the fighters followed suit, breaking off contact with the enemy and either disappearing in more flashes or racing away into hyperspace.

At last, with the Fifth and Ninth Fleets also retreating, even I decided it was time to make my exit. I pulled back the lever, saying a prayer to the Force for the broken ships and crew that were left behind and disappeared into hyperspace myself.

The battle was over.

"Sir, the Coredians have left the system!"

Magriel hollered with victory, "then get us out of the system! Engage the Necrominus drives!"

"Aye aye sir!" With that, the heavily damaged Alliance fleet jumped into the swirling blue spacial anomaly and exited the system. The only thing left on Magriel's mind now, was how they were going to be able to quickly repair these ships and make up for those ships he just lost to the Chronosians. Loosing 1/3 of the Alliance's Torpedo Frigates is a major loss for them, just as loosing a Super Command Ship is a major loss for the Empires fleet. Finding a replacement for those 100 ships will not be an easy one for the band of rebels.

Lafiel stood on the bridge of her father's ship as she watched the battle progress to its final conclusion. Already the Coredians and Huntarian Alliance had finally made their escape from Jurai. There was not much to be done about the GDI forces as even from this vantage, they seemed to be receiving hospitable care from their captors. That was all that could be asked for in a battle such as this.

"Who is left?"

Jinto took a moment filtering through the blips and the information that went along with them. "Looks like the Dornalians are still here. After that, just us and the enemy."

"Very good. Are all preparations made for the final jump?"

Lafiel's chief of staff took one final look at the glass data pad in his hand. "Looks that way. Rambirds are still attacking the Huntaer fleet while missle cruiser number 5 is firing transphasic torpedoes as fast as it can reload. Cruisers 2 and 3 are ready at your command."

The Abriel princess nodded then eased down on the railing to look at the tactical display map. "Send 2 to the right flank and 3 to the left. I want them in our firing solution once we prepare to leave and power up their jump drives. All ships are to follow suit. Prepare to make the jump to Hyperspace."

"Of course, Admiral."

All over the Abh fleet, ships prepared for a jump to hyperspace. Massive amounts of energy funneled through their vessels. Now all that was needed was for the Dornalians to head out.

All over the Abh fleet, ships prepared for a jump to hyperspace. Massive amounts of energy funneled through their vessels. Now all that was needed was for the Dornalians to head out.

Nomura then yelled out, "Time to skedaddle! Let's go, motherfuckers! Give them a present to care about, and cap those motherfuckers!"

Nomura's forces, with a clear line of sight, unleashed a final torrent of fire upon the enemy. Mostly composed of a flurry of Transphasic torpedoes, the rear line of them detonated into the shape of a middle finger as the Dornalians made their exit.

OOC: Will reply to hunt later.

“Commander, the Coredian ships are trying to escape.”

“Dammit, it would be like those cowards to run from a fight. Try to get a tracer on one of their ships before they leave. Set the timer on it to lie dormant so it will send a signal when they arrive at their destination.”

“Launching tracer but I’m not sure if it will reach them in time to clamp onto a ship. We can only hope it does.”

From the front of one of the carriers, a single object was launched which shot at blinding speeds towards the exiting Coredian ships. Only fate would know if it would work.





OOC:


Completely up to CW if he wants it to. Just have to have the option to track him present just in case he wants to use it to lead to further RPs.

Remiel let his hands ball into fists, annoyed to have lost the Coredians, annoyed to have Masaki slip through his fingers like the coward he truly was. No matter how much he had known that this would come to pass, that Fate itself had laid down this path and that now, free of Godulan coddling, the Coredians were his to freely butcher, he hated to see them flee. To see the despised blood foe go free across the stars was an insult to his honor, if Remiel De Drakan could be said to possess as common a quality as honor.

"Whoever remains...Kill them. Smite them with our full fury. In time the Coredians shall come to know our wrath and the darkest pleasures of our Lords. For now, let their allies suffer as is deserving of traitors and weaklings...Show them the consequence of siding with heathens against their betters"

The attendant-things nodded, scuttling off to broadcast the word of their profane Master. Remiel reclined lightly into his command throne, drumming his fingers with an impatient zeal against the arm rests. Time was catching up with Masaki. Fate itself would see him dead by Remiel's hands, and the beginning of the end for entire galaxies.

The fleet shuddered with the audacity of the Huntarian fleets continued attacks, shields flaring in angry flashes of energy, hulls erupting with near volcanic impact. The Chronosian ships seemed to move like predators of the deep void, their engines like the roar of beasts, the pounding of their weapons like some terrible heartbeat against dread silence, a guttural howl of deepest rage. Even as they fled, the Chronosians would punish the Huntarian's and any others who remained or attempted to flee.

Sluicing through the darkness of space, the immense projectiles they hurled and the great bolts of energy they cast forth found purchase in the enemy, any enemy, to slay more for the glory of the Gods.

This is the Warmaster. All under my command, punish these fools who dare to tempt the wrath of the Gods. Show them the meaning of pain! Show them the price of their heresy!

"That is the last of them Admiral. All allied forces are clear."

Lafiel nodded her blue head. "Just in time too it seems. It appears the Chaos hounds are a little hungry this evening."

"Forward lines are jumping now Admiral."

Whitestars at the front of the Abh lines jumped through their holes in normal space as they made their get away into Hyperspace. The rest of the Abh fleet was not far behind. Only one matter remained, a small parting gift.

As the last of the Abh ships left, the two Abriel missle cruisers that had been powering up their drives like the rest of the ships in the fleet suddenly ignited into twin suns. Instead of their reactor drives powering up for a jump to Hyperspace, they reached critical and ignited. Simultaneously, every munition stored aboard and the energy-matter converted was programmed to ignite.

The explosion would have required sunglasses to view to say the least. Once out of Jurai and on their way, it was time for Lafiel's fleet to meet up with the Coredian survivors.

Three hours, forty-two minutes after Coredian Retreat from Jurai
Medical Bay, The Phoenix
Location Currently Unknown

Major Ehrell woke up in his bacta tank, half-healed, at least physically, anyway, yet still not wishing to cooperate with Sith in any way, shape, or form. He still remembered Master Tilton attempting to rape his mind; he had probably gotten away with it, too.

Immediately upon his eyes fluttering open, he tested his freedom of movement, and found the Sith must have left, because, much to his surprise, he could move. He knew he had, at most, a few seconds before the Sith sensed his awakening, and he had to commit suicide fast. No implements for proper seppuku were available from the inside of a bacta tank, but there were other methods. Major Ehrell knew he had to be quick about it, too. Preventing himself from falling into the hands of the Sith was just as important now as it was when he had been brought on board.

Without regard for what the assorted medics would have thought, he ripped his breathing mask off of him, threw it against the inside of the bacta tank, and wasted no time inhaling as much bacta as he could. Suppressing the reflex to surface at the top of the tank, he forced himself to inhale more and more, as quickly as he could manage it without coughing and gagging and whatnot. A titanic mental struggle, his will to commit suicide versus his instincts towards self-preservation, followed, with his conscious will winning out. Some coughing was perhaps inevitable, but he managed, against what his own bodily instincts told him, to inhale more than he coughed back out. Very quickly, he found that he could not breathe at all, he was drowning his own lungs, and now he just had to wait for his body to run out of oxygen...

The medics suddenly heard gagging and beeping sounds as Major Ehrell tried to drown himself in bacta.

"Dammit! Get him out of there! We'll need to get that bacta out of his lungs!" The chief medic yelled. "And someone notify Master Tilton of this!"

The medics didn't wait for the bacta tank to drain before they hauled him onto a stretcher and began trying CPR on him to force him to cough up the bacta.

Meanwhile, Master Tilton awoke from his meditation, sensing that Major Ehrell was dying in the medical bay. He began heading down the hallways, hoping that he wouldn't be too late...

Major Ehrell proved uncooperative with CPR efforts, to say the least. When he first saw the tank draining, he clamped his mouth completely shut, to inhibit coughing. Whatever the medics were able to get out of his lungs, would have to go through the Major's nose. If, for that matter, they could even get close enough. Major Ehrell would not be denied his suicide *that* easily. The medics quickly found that they needed to beware his long reach in hand-to-hand combat.

The first medic to open the bacta tank found himself attacked with a hard chop to the juncture where chin meets neck, or at least that is where Major Ehrell intended to strike, in less than the blink of an eye. It came quickly enough and hard enough to snap a normal person's head back and paralyze him from the waist down, though the Major did not want to kill anyone. If he wished to kill people, he would have aimed his strike just a couple of inches lower.

His brain screamed for him to breathe. However, he forced himself not to exhale, as he moved to grab the next medic's wrist and fling him over to the other side of the medical bay. If there was a silver lining to this, it was that the Major would not be able to keep this up for long before succumbing to death by oxygen deprivation...

As medics and even medical droids were succumbing to Major Ehrell's violent attacks, Master Tilton managed to arrive just in time. "Move."

The surviving medics shrank back from Master Tilton as he strode upon Major Ehrell. "I will not allow you to die, Woodian, nor will I allow you to let yourself die."

With that, he rammed the heel of his palm into the solar plexus, just below under the diaphragm. Right where he knew how to force bacta out of the Major's lungs against his will...

Unfortunately for Major Ehrell, Master Tilton proved ever-so-slightly faster than he was. The blow forced his mouth open and a large quantity of bacta out of his lungs. As there wasn't enough left inside his lungs to prevent him from breathing, he gave up on the attempt, THIS TIME, and coughed up the rest. "Damn Sith. I suppose you are really desperate for slaves." He glared at the Sith Lord as he made known his disapproval.

However, strangely, the Sith had not seen fit to paralyze him this time. Though he had managed to leave one of the medics who tried to perform CPR on him paralyzed. As the Major was a combat medic himself, the thought occurred to him that he might want to rectify that little bit. He looked around for his stuff, and found his backpack in the corner of the room.

No sooner had he started walking towards it, than the backpack, which contained his medpack, flew towards him. He briefly rifled through it before extracting flash-sanitizer, a pair of gloves, bone sealant, stitches, and an injection of bacta derivative specially engineered for severed nerves. Oh, yes, and some local anesthetic. Coredians were notoriously soft; they could not stomach painful procedures one whit.

"You knew that I did not desire, nor seek, medical treatment of any kind," Major Ehrell told the paralyzed medic coldly, as he flash-sanitized the floor beside him. He carefully flipped the medic over to the sanitized area, so he could make an incision into his patient's neck, not even thinking, or bothering, to ask for a stretcher. As a combat medic, trained to operate under emergency conditions, the thought that he was in a fully functional medical bay barely occurred to him. He applied the anesthetic, muttering something about how coddled Coredians were, before cutting an incision into the neck, just where he needed to operate. He quickly injected his patient's spinal cord with the bacta derivative, applied bone sealant to the crack in the vertebrae that he had caused, and stitched the incision. The whole thing took less than ten minutes, but the localized bacta would reverse the patient's paralysis within a couple of hours.

"I do not suppose a stint in the bacta tank would hurt him," Major Ehrell remarked coldly as he got back up and put his medical kit away. "Though it would not be medically necessary, either."

Exodus Fleet, Outer Rim, Galactic Halo

It was a lonely system, actually outside of the galaxy proper. A single yellow star and a few asteroids were all that were in the system. Heck, it wasn't even graced a name, just a serial number (System #74957432 if you must know) and the only reason we knew of this place was because it was once a Rebel outpost.

At least the view was impressive. We were so far out from the rest of the galaxy that we could see it as a giant swirling mass of white and dark. Even I took some time to snap pictures of the sight, along with millions of my people. When that was over, we settled down and began licking our wounds, so to speak.

I reported to the Phoenix, landing lightly in the hangar bay. Admiral Pellaeon technically outranks me now as he's Supreme Commander of the Coredian Armed Forces and I a mere Field Marshal of the Starfighter Corps. Still, we're pretty much equals in all other respects and our relationship has long since been cemented as the Old Man and the Youngster.

"It's pretty bad, Admiral." I grumbled, walking with him as we strode through the corridiors. "We lost at least 30% of the forces that were present at the beginning, quite likely more. What's more, I've been spending the last few hours reorganizing the Starfighter Corps. It's suffered a lot of casualties. I'm probably going to have to start using the Venators, Battlestars and similar craft as forward operating bases for the time being."

"Independent action? Hmm. We haven't done that in a while." Admiral Pellaeon replied. "We're going to have to produce a supply train while we're at it."

"Yeah. Oh, and enemy casualties are just as high. Well, at least among the Tenetians." I said, almost smiling. "Operation Overlord appears to be a success. Going for quality instead of quantity in terms of our battlefleet meant that for every one of our ships killed, two or three on the enemy side were KIA. On the flip side of the coin, we became outnumbered as soon as the Huntarians and the Chronosians entered the scene, to say nothing of the Balroggans. If we didn't jump when we did, we'd be cut off and annihilated."

"I noticed. Huntarians and Chronosians we can deal with, but the Balroggans have become quite a nasty piece of work. Did you know that when Shikamaru sent a force to deal with the Balroggans coming at the Phoenix, they broke up into some kind of dust particles and we had to order them to self-destruct? If they can do even that, then we have a serious problem on our hands."

"Yeah. I don't know how Vector's going to take care of that this time around." I shook my head. "But I have hopes for Rina. If anyone could think of something, she could. So, what else is new?"

"Oh yes. During the battle, the Woodians have sent us seven of their mutinious elements. The most munitious of the lot, one Major Ehrell, I believe, even tried to kill himself. Splattered his blood all over my bridge floor!" Admiral Pellaeon spat.

I shook my head. The antics of the Woodians never fail to amaze me. "May I presume correctly that he's in the medical bay right now?"

"Yes. Master Tilton just sent him there. He even vowed never to let the Major die, for some reason I don't know. He keeps on calling the Jedi, Sith. Should just let the fool kill himself and be done with it." It's clear the Admiral didn't like Woodians, or at least this guy, and I had to hide my smile, lest he blast me as well.

"Well, sounds like an interesting person to meet." I said wryly. I decided to see how the One who Calls Jedi, Sith is doing. "I'll see you around."

I left the Admiral grumbling more about the 'wretched Woodians' and headed down a side corridor that would get me to the medical bay. As soon as I reached there, I saw quite a sight. Most of the medics were groaning and trying to pick themselves up while Master Tilton appeared to be hovering over a combat medic (I sense this must be the Woodian) using a medic pack to heal another medic.

At the same time, the medic that was being healed looked bewildered at the guy who oriignally smacked him hard enough to leave paralysis all over him was being healed. Didn't he just hurt him moments ago? The other medics had similar feelings, muttering things along the lines of 'crazy bastard'.

Master Tilton himself was intruged by the sudden change in demeanor. Perhaps there was hope for the medic after all. Could he use the ability to heal as a way to pry suicidal thoughts from the medic? He will have to see. Then he sensed a bright star arriving. Ah, there was the swaggering fighter pilot now!

"Well, something tells me that interesting things have happened today..." I said as I walked in, looking around at the damage.

"Indeed, Master Masaki." Master Tilton replied. "He tried to kill himself twice now."

"Oh? Sheesh." I shook my head again.

"Indeed. But now, he's healing another medic. Perhaps there's hope for him." The Jedi Master said. I nodded. Woodians are extremely hardcore when they need to be, but they do have a strong sense of honor...

Exodus Fleet, Outer Rim, Galactic Halo

"Oh yes. During the battle, the Woodians have sent us seven of their mutinious elements. The most munitious of the lot, one Major Ehrell, I believe, even tried to kill himself. Splattered his blood all over my bridge floor!" Admiral Pellaeon spat.

I shook my head. The antics of the Woodians never fail to amaze me. "May I presume correctly that he's in the medical bay right now?"

"Yes. Master Tilton just sent him there. He even vowed never to let the Major die, for some reason I don't know. He keeps on calling the Jedi, Sith. Should just let the fool kill himself and be done with it." It's clear the Admiral didn't like Woodians, or at least this guy, and I had to hide my smile, lest he blast me as well.

"Well, sounds like an interesting person to meet." I said wryly. I decided to see how the One who Calls Jedi, Sith is doing. "I'll see you around."

I left the Admiral grumbling more about the 'wretched Woodians' and headed down a side corridor that would get me to the medical bay. As soon as I reached there, I saw quite a sight. Most of the medics were groaning and trying to pick themselves up while Master Tilton appeared to be hovering over a combat medic (I sense this must be the Woodian) using a medic pack to heal another medic.

At the same time, the medic that was being healed looked bewildered at the guy who oriignally smacked him hard enough to leave paralysis all over him was being healed. Didn't he just hurt him moments ago? The other medics had similar feelings, muttering things along the lines of 'crazy bastard'.

Master Tilton himself was intruged by the sudden change in demeanor. Perhaps there was hope for the medic after all. Could he use the ability to heal as a way to pry suicidal thoughts from the medic? He will have to see. Then he sensed a bright star arriving. Ah, there was the swaggering fighter pilot now!

"Well, something tells me that interesting things have happened today..." I said as I walked in, looking around at the damage.

"Indeed, Master Masaki." Master Tilton replied. "He tried to kill himself twice now."

"Oh? Sheesh." I shook my head again.

"Indeed. But now, he's healing another medic. Perhaps there's hope for him." The Jedi Master said. I nodded. Woodians are extremely hardcore when they need to be, but they do have a strong sense of honor...

Major Ehrell stared coldly at the medic whom he was healing. "The injection I gave you takes approximately one hour to work, both for the bone sealant to set and for the bacta derivative to repair your spinal cord. You will gradually regain sensation in your lower body during that hour. Do not make sudden, rapid movement at all. Hell, probably best to stay comfortable where you are."

When Major Ehrell got up, he noticed the Emperor of CoreWorlds entering the room. (He did not yet know that he had abdicated in favor of his wife, not that that would have mattered to him; that little 'change' in power was little more than window-dressing to the vast majority of Woodians.) His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Well, well, if it is not Emperor Palpatine himself, Dark Lord of the Sith," he glared at Daniel, using a perfectly serious tone of voice. "Of course, I am aware of your alleged identity otherwise. I hope you enjoy the Dark Side, Sith. Your underling here seems to think I would make a useful slave, but I will not aid and abet the Sith. So just kill me and be done with it."

As Major Ehrell spoke his harsh words, I stared up at him, with a glare that could make flowers wilt. For a moment, Master Tilton was concerned that the direct attack on the ex-Emperor's personage, especially directly referencing Palpatine, would make me fry the guy or something.

Then, I broke out laughing. Major Ehrell was just too funny to contain! "Oh, that's rich! Did you really think I was Palpatine? You need your eyes checked, buddy!"

Ok, forget feeling concerned. Master Tilton just looked at me like I'm an idiot.

"I won't kill you, Major." I chuckled. "Well, if you're a danger to my people, but otherwise, no."

I had a thought and turned to Tilton. "He seems pretty sane, all things considered."

"Mmhmm. I also felt the Force flow from him." Master Tilton said. I raised my eyebrow in surprise. "Limited, but it was there."

"Hmm. Think he could be trained?" I asked.

"Don't know. I would suggest a Council meeting, though. We'll need that in order to evaluate his mental sanity anyway." Master Tilton said. Yep, he's definitely a shoo-in for the Council.

I nodded. "Agreed."

OOC: The Council meeting itself was actually RPed between CW and myself over IM, and cleaned up, well in advance.

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

Major Ehrell was not amused by the Sith Lord's display of humor. That he had sold out the Order in exchange for Dark Tactics and Raw Power was already known. His attempt to make light of the accusation fell completely flat. Major Ehrell continued to stare the Sith down; while the Dark Lord could wilt flowers with his own stare, he did not even make Ehrell flinch. Not with his burst of laughter, not with the look on his face.

Inwardly, his mind started thinking of things he wished to say to the Sith Council. It appeared they would not want to kill him, for the Major wasn't about to threaten people unrelated to the Fall of the Jedi into Darkness just to force someone to kill him. Using Innocents as suicide-by-ANBU was, after all, a War Crime. His thoughts on the matter concerned himself, and himself only; there was no need for others to die for it.

Oh, yes. This meeting would prove to be very interesting indeed.

Issus
Next Day

"The Sith? Arbiters of my mental sanity? This will go over really well," Major Ehrell groaned to Master Tilton as he jumped off a bridge into speeding traffic below. Master Tilton had just informed him that he was due to see the Jedi Council for a 'psychiatric evaluation.' Which Master Tilton happened to be transporting him to right now.

Master Tilton rolled his eyes and stopped the Major from splattering on hapless traffic below.

"Oh, yes, you must save my mind, that this Sith Council may destroy and/or enslave it." The Major makes perfectly clear his own feelings on the matter.

"You really believe we are Sith, indeed." Master Tilton said, not for the first time. "If I am Sith, I wouldn't keep on saving your life."

"Sure you would, if you thought I might make a useful slave. Sith, Fallen Jedi, what is the difference?" Major Ehrell shrugged.

"Above all things, the Sith value power. I would admit that they would view you as a useful slave, but more often than not, they'll tire of you and let you perish. I would not." Master Tilton said, for probably the thousandth time.

"And the alleged Jedi do not?" Major Ehrell sighs as they arrive at the Jedi Temple, his eyes ever open for a chance at suicide.

"A slave? No. An ally? Certainly."

"A slave. Otherwise, I do not aid and abet the Sith."

"In time, you will come to see otherwise." Master Tilton smiled kindly. "In the meantime, I will continue to watch for suicide attempts." With that, he called for chains to be placed on the Major.

"Chains? Oh, yes, more proof of my slave status, as if I needed any." Major Ehrell wasted no time in choking himself with the chains...he could be quite inventive. He wrapped the chains around his neck even harder, continuing to tighten them even after he started choking. Master Tilton waited, not doing anything quite yet. Fighting his reflexes, the Major choked and gasped as he tightened them further, this time so tight that his trachea was crushed, as if a Dark Lord had been at it. How ironic...he then passed out.

Master Tilton then loosened the chains and sent for a Jedi Healer to heal the trachea, clucking all the way about the treatments required for this particular man.

Some time later, Major Ehrell awoke, still in the Jedi Temple. "One of these days, you will be sleeping. Or sent on a mission, and if I get sent with you, I will simply find an enemy to kill me. You cannot watch me forever, Sith."

"Try me." The Master replied.

"Oh, I will." Some random Padawan in the Temple suddenly lost his lightsaber. Major Ehrell wanted death so badly that his will overrode his lack of training in the Force...A forcefield erupted out of thin air, preventing the lightsaber from reaching him. "You can be successful ten thousand times and fail once, but I will still be dead."

Master Tilton smiled as he retrieved the lightsaber. "Grade A forcefield. Only the best tools to prevent sucide are collected. One day, you will appreciate my efforts."

"I will not turn to the Dark Side, and you will be forced to kill me," Major Ehrell replied, within earshot of the Council chamber.

"I will turn you to the Light and you will one day acknowledge that." Master Tilton nodded.

"It is impossible for Darkness to drive out Darkness." The Major stepped into the Council chamber as he says this...

"But it is possible for Light to drive out Darkness." Master Elendil took over from Tilton. "I hear you tried yet again and failed."

"A shame then, that this Council, judging at least by its actions of late, is Sith." Major Ehrell reserved a harsh voice for the perceived interloper.

"Actions that haunt us to this day." A Councilor said.

"Now, you seek to enslave me. Mindrape and kill me, and be done with it."

"No." A Master said.

"And yet, though the Sith claim that such actions 'haunt' them, they will continue their Fall, as this Council appears to have reached a 'Decision of No Action' when it comes to ensuring that such atrocities do not happen again."

"Cleansing ourselves take time." Another said.

"That you may repeat your reprehensible actions, with a clear conscience this time?" the Major demanded. Already, this Council was digging itself into a hole with him. "Yes, a Sith must cleanse his conscience on a regular basis, all right." The 6'7" Major, still wearing the same battle dress military uniform that he had worn when transferred to the Jedi Order's custody, stared down each of the Councilmembers in turn. "The person who signed the Mass Murder Warrant for Caprica is still laughing it up. One of you is responsible for this War Crime."

Tsunade sighed. She's heard enough. "Enough. Singularity weapons fall under my jurisdiction. If any had cause to deliver death unto Caprica in this manner, it would be me."

"So it is you who signed the Mass Death Warrant and committed the War Crime then? The blood of innocents stains your fingers."

"No. Much as you wish it, I did not."

"Recognized, that I am a military man, and I am not stupid. Recognized, that Weapons of Mass Destruction do not deploy and detonate themselves. Recognized, that no one touches them without a direct order. Recognized, that such order had to have come from here. Further recognized, that Weapons of Mass Destruction CERTAINLY do not get up and move to heavily-populated areas without such orders." Major Ehrell fixed his glare upon Tsunade. As a military man, he did not buy any excuses. Responsibility for such atrocities had to lie here.

"Recognized that you are right. None may use these weapons without our consent. But our investigation has revealed that someone had access to them. Someone had access to steal not one, but three bombs under our noses. One had detonated. Two more remain unaccounted for." Tsunade sighed; apparently she really didn't want to deal with this either.

"Recognized, that it is this Council who had to have authorized such access." The glare deepened. "Further recognized, that more than one investigation throughout history has been converted into little more than a whitewash, and that this Sith Council has sufficient motive, as well as means, to whitewash any such investigation into the War Crime."

"Recognize that none of us have been delivered a Request to Release Superweapons. Recognize that we are prepared to open our minds to any who would wish to know if we speak the truth. We have nothing to hide." Tsunade seemed to sigh again.

"Recognized, that if this Sith Council had nothing to hide, then it would actually publish transcripts of its meetings, as the Woodian Parliament and Executive Offices do."

Master Tsunade found it hard to reply to this statement. "Recognize that we do not publish our transcripts."

"Our laws are not your laws." King Sarinon scowled.

"There is a reason why your laws are written such as they are. Your government has a *LOT* to hide from its people," Major Ehrell countered. "It certainly does not bode very well for proving Lord Elendil's notion that you are not, in fact, Sith." The Major's tone of voice strongly implied that he meant 'Lord Elendil' like he would say 'Lord Vader.'

Nevertheless, High Council meetings are almost never published as by their nature, they must remain closed. "That may be so, but our society does not reveal its secrets easily." Katrina pointed out.

"Then your investigation is doomed to fail." Major Ehrell knew a whitewash when he saw one.

"We may be open to revealing our transcripts, but many are not to be revealed beyond those authorized to investigate." Master Elendil sighed.

"And, of course, you only authorize those to investigate whom will render a result that does not implicate you. How convenient. The fox investigating the henhouse. Approximately equivalent to Darth Ebolus investigating why his coup d'etat occurred."

"Would you rather wars begin from revealing our transcripts to the public?" Master Blayden asked.

"The Council seems to start enough wars with its War Crimes already. I doubt transparency could possibly start more. Perhaps if you do not wish for such disclosures to start Wars, you should not conduct yourselves as Sith."

"Tell us. How much does Evil Woody Thoughts reveal of its meetings? Would it reveal that it intends to conduct espionage upon an enemy nation?" Tsunade scowled.

"Most of them are broadcast on live television. Even the most classified ones are declassified after ten years, and those are extremely rare. Once-in-a-century events," Major Ehrell replied. Truthfully, too, much to the amusement of the Council, or at least what could pass for amusement when this random lunatic slated for a psychiatric evaluation could just waltz in and debate the Council, as if a jury was watching.

Daniel Masaki could see it now. "Live at 11! EWT Executive meeting reveals espionage go-ahead!"

"As I said, if you did not conduct yourselves as Sith do, such secrecy would hardly be necessary."

"It seems that we are at an impasse then." Daniel said.

"Yes, indeed. For the Sith refuse to relenquish the slightest bit of power, power that an impartial investigation might strip away. I do not aid and abet the Sith. Under any circumstance."

"If you do not 'aid and abet the Sith,' then our interests align, then," Master Elendil replied.

"As I have said, you must first prove that you are not Sith. Your actions of late certainly would tend to suggest that our interests are not so aligned. I do not aid and abet the Sith--and I am the only known Woodian officer who can honestly add 'EVER' to the end of that statement." Major Ehrell then produced what looks like a yellow, plastic armband from underneath his sleeve. "This armband is my codex--my military record, more or less. It contains security footage which will be of interest to you." The Major then fiddled around with it a bit, and the thing became a holoprojector. The date on the footage, clearly timestamped, placed it less than two hours after Darth Ebolus' infamous coup. Darth Ebolus appeared to be summoning the Major, who was giving the Sith Lord the same reaction he gave to Admiral Makaryk, more recently. Ebolus then started using a Dark Tongue that Elendil would recognize as the language of Mordor as he began his attempt to mindrape the Major, whilst the holoprojector projected what seemed to be a horrifying Nazgûl scream.

Even though this was only a recording, Major Ehrell's mind instinctively raised what defenses it knew, and projected telepathic demands to the entire Council to stay the hell out of his mind. Reflexively, the Major managed some rudimentary mental barriers, that even though he was untrained, would require a bit of concerted effort on the part of one of the Councilors to break. Yet, outwardly, he remained perfectly still. Except for his lips.

Master Elendil narrowed his eyes dangerously at that bit. Few knew the Black Speech and fewer still knew how to use it.

Major Ehrell seemed to lose his voice, but mouthed a translation of the Black Speech. The translation could not be explained by normal phenomena; it could only be through the Force that he knew.

From the deepest places of hell our Lord Morgoth screams
In his dreams and visions he has seen the future how it should be
All places... burning... all... dead
All people... fighting and dieing
And his spoils of war... great, so many souls to feed on
Perhaps.. a way to return from his prison...

Master Elendil narrowed his eyes even more. For the few people who knew of the Black Speech, fewer still should have been able to translate it. Daniel Masaki found unpleasant memories of his own brief encounter with the Dark Lord surfacing; even now, he felt like a snake was attempting to burrow into his mind. All the rest of the Council could do was look on in horror. King Sarinon scowled at the demonic speech, for demons and dragons were mortal enemies.

YOU SHALL SERVE... A heavy feeling of dread and darkness permeated the room as Ebolus spoke those words in the should-have-been-extinct language of Mordor, his voice shrieking as that of a Nazgûl. But Major Ehrell abruptly stopped moving his lips, and the tape revealed why.

The Major appeared to produce a scalpel in the tape, and proceeded to attack Ebolus using Teras Kasi martial techniques. Darth Ebolus activated his lightsaber, but well before he could swing it, Major Ehrell had already knocked it out of his hand with his own left hand. Scalpel in right hand, Major Ehrell cut his cartoid artery before Darth Ebolus could call the lightsaber back to him. Having injured Ebolus enough to abort the mindrape--indeed, that scalpel wound should have killed him--Major Ehrell fled. Darth Ebolus Force-crushed an assistant mere seconds later, unable to mutter anything like "die now," as Major Ehrell managed to cause enough injury to prevent pursuit, although he did manage a rather dark-sounding scream as he literally consumed the flesh of his unfortunate assistant, which closed the gash in his cartoid artery. "I am the only known person, excluding Master Whitfield and the Masakis, whom Darth Ebolus attempted--and failed--to mindrape," Major Ehrell informed the Council gravely. "And I heard his bones crunching as I fled."

The Council were stunned, especially Lowbacca, who knew Ehrell before. Master Lowbacca winced at the last statement, recalling how Bailey did the same to the Woodian Admiral. Worse, Lowbacca knew that Ehrell had seen Bailey do it; unfortunately, that was literally the entire reason why he knew the Major in the first place. Katrina Masaki and Master Tsunade both had conflicting feelings about the matter; they might just find themselves retracting their earlier advocacy of Force Crush after seeing this pukery. Daniel shot an 'I told you so' look at both of them. Masters Elendil and Rydo were practically in shock from the unspeakable evil, whilst Master Blayden worried about any residual effects of the Dark Recording on his charges. No one actually spoke.

Major Ehrell stared down each of the Councilmembers in turn, casting each of them a cold, hard, piercing glare and holding it for a minimum of several tense seconds each. Most humans would have at least shied away from making direct eye contact, much less such a glare, at a Dragon such as King Sarinon, but not even he was spared from the Major's judgement. However, as he was still scowling about the Demonic Speech, Major Ehrell's eyes eventually moved on. It was the Major himself who broke the uncomfortable silence.

"The Wookiee would recognize me as the person who presented the tanto to Bailey, as I hoped he would take the opportunity rather than visit that fate upon others," the Major explained. "Though that is neither here nor there. I fled to the mountains outside of Great Woody City. A great many others did the same; many were cut down in the attempt. I spent the entire civil war treating those too injured to continue, while a White Lady assisted in hiding these patients in mountainside caves. Actually, she hid me, too."

"This White Lady. What do you know of her?" Elendil asked, interested. Not since the legend of Galadriel has there been such a woman.

"There were rumors amongst my patients that she blinded pursuing parties near our location. Other than that, I know little. She never revealed her name. I could never bring myself to look directly at her."

The Council mades a mental note to keep eyes and ears out for her.

"We both sensed the moment the war ended. I went down to the city to help in the search and rescue, arranging for those whom I treated at the mountain to be transported down. I have heard from many of my mountain patients since, but I have yet to hear of her. Hence, my reaction to Bailey Kipper, and my reaction to this Council's decision to release him before evaluating him. I *knew* he was an imminent danger to others. The Parliament knew it; they quickly ordered Jedi expelled to prevent *him* from entering the country. My countrymen protesting on the streets knew it. I ask why, for all of the vaunted 'Jedi Foresight,' did this Council remain oblivious?"

"We have no excuse." Daniel sighed, glaring at the others.

A vision of a Force-crushed corpse buried in snow (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13232294&postcount=91) flashed through the Major's mind. He could not possibly mistake what the vision had meant. Bailey Kipper, whom the Jedi Council had released to Perpetrate More Crimes, had just done so. He had just killed innocents. And, for that, the Council had the victim's blood on THEIR hands. "Earlier, I warned Master Tilton that the Fallen One would murder innocents. He now has." Major Ehrell scowled at the Council for not even having the fortitude to properly evaluate Bailey before releasing him to do whatever he wished.

"Our shame rises yet again." Master Elendil said.

Finally, Major Ehrell saw that the hearts of the Council are more neutral than Sith, as a Sith would be reveling in glee right about now. "You would do well to bring Bailey back into your custody then, and invoke surkai for his actions...if not to my nation as a whole, at least to the surviving family members and dependents."

"I have already berated them on Bailey Kipper." Daniel said to the Major. "Taylor Masaki will be sent to bring him back."

"And what of invoking surkai?" the Major asked. "Bringing him back helps, but to be honest, that is only half the reconciliation. It is the rite of surkai that will signal to my nation your change of heart."

"We will invoke surkai." Daniel said on their behalf as the Council only intellectually knows of it for the most part. Coredians don't have the Woodians' ingrained notion of surkai, only that it means 'forgiveness'

"And as for the business on which Master Tilton dragged me here?"

"You are Force sensitive." Master Elendil said. "It would partially explain your level of resistance to our attempts to...pacify you. You know what we ask of you next."

"And what of my mental sanity evaluation?" Major Ehrell almost laughed as he asked this. "I did attempt suicide, oh, fifty-eight times? Including three times just on my way here?" His protracted debate with the Council has helped to clear his mind.

"In light of all the evidence and your words presented before us, we declare you to be Probationary Sane. That is, we consider you sane and no longer need restraints. Still, you will be watched for some time." Tsunade said.

Major Ehrell thought for a moment. "I wish to begin training after this Council has completed its reconciliation with the Woodians. That should not take an excessively long time. In the meantime, I will begin the process to get myself on leave. I do not know if you extrapolated this from the footage I showed you...but my MOS can be best described as, 'combat medic.' Oh, and should the Council wish for assistance in its investigation of the Caprican War Crime...investigations are Evil Woody Thoughts' specialty."

"We shall officially request such an investigation." Daniel said. Katrina reluctantly nodded. "In the meantime, we shall give you leave to complete your training and for us to complete our reconcilation."

"I will inform the proper military auditors that you wish for assistance." The Major bowed to take his leave.

"May the Force be with you." Master Elendil said.

Shortly after the Coredians had arrived near the outter rim, the Abh popped out of hyperspace along side them. Lafiel sighed as the rest of her fleet came out along side the flagship of her detachment squad. They had gone into the battle with a little over one hundred ships, now the Abriel was bringing out around eighty vessels. It was a hard blow now that she would have report back to the Imperial Admiral about the losses and why they were even necessary. Still, given how greatly outnumbered they were it was not a complete waste of time. Her small squadron had taken a beating and managed to get away with a few cuts and bruises.

Lafiel moved away from the railing overlooking the tactical display map and headed over to her chair. "Communications, open a channel with the Coredian fleet."

The communications officer worked at his counsel for a moment then nodded in the affirmative. "Link open. Your on Admiral."

"This is Admiral Abriel of the Abh Empire to Coredian fleet, please respond."

Shortly after the Coredians had arrived near the outter rim, the Abh popped out of hyperspace along side them. Lafiel sighed as the rest of her fleet came out along side the flagship of her detachment squad. They had gone into the battle with a little over one hundred ships, now the Abriel was bringing out around eighty vessels. It was a hard blow now that she would have report back to the Imperial Admiral about the losses and why they were even necessary. Still, given how greatly outnumbered they were it was not a complete waste of time. Her small squadron had taken a beating and managed to get away with a few cuts and bruises.

Lafiel moved away from the railing overlooking the tactical display map and headed over to her chair. "Communications, open a channel with the Coredian fleet."

The communications officer worked at his counsel for a moment then nodded in the affirmative. "Link open. Your on Admiral."

"This is Admiral Abriel of the Abh Empire to Coredian fleet, please respond."
"Admiral Pellaeon, Admiral Abriel's on the line." Came the intercom.

"I'll take it in my stateroom." Pellaeon replied, then the link became private and secure in his stateroom. "I see you are well, Admiral Abriel. Is there something you need?"

=====

"Well. That went well." I sarcastically said after the Major left. "As if we didn't have enough problems on our plates, we had to aggravate it."

"There's no need for that tone, Daniel." Tsunade bristled.

"Ah, but there is." I replied sharply. "Master Elendil, please send out invitations as soon as you can. I intend to call the Kokkai."

"The Assembly of the Clans?" Master Elendil took a sharp breath. "That hasn't been done since..."

"My grandfather called it two decades ago to prepare the nation for total war against the Empire. I know." I nodded. "Please. I feel it is time to call the Clans."

Ah, the Assembly of the Clans. This is definitely going to be breaking news for GNN. It is a closed-door grand council of all the clans in Coredia, the biggest event that could shape the future of the nation. There are about six hundred major clans in the nation, the majority of them being human. It's one of the few things in the nation that even the Senate cannot banish. And of course, one of the many things that Woodian pundits would blast us for. Nevertheless, it something that is another tradition for Coredians, and one that would definitely bear watching.

Some facts concerning the clans:

To become a clan in Coredia, you must have one of the following criteria:

1. You must be a Founding Clan of Coredia. These are the oldest and most powerful clans in the nation. You could consider them old money, the nobility, the powers behind the throne, etc. The clans are as follows in order of power:

The Masaki (yours truly). The Hyuuga. The Ryuu (King Sarinon's clan). The Uchiha. The Uramashi. The Senju (of which Tsunade is a member). The Elendil. The Kurama. The Fuuma. The Inuzuka. The Akimichi. The Aburame, The Nara and the Uzumaki.

Of these, the most important are the Four Pillars of Konoha (Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuuga, Uchiha), the Ryuu Clan, the Uramashi Clan and the Ruling Clan, the Masakis. Not to say that the others aren't important, but the Seven Clans are by far the big names in Coredia and have the greatest media scrunity as a consequence.

2. You must have made important contributions to the well-being of the nation in business, science, the military or other areas of importance. These clans make up the majority of the Assembly and need not have to have millions of credits in their accounts to be influencial. Some examples include:

The Sandlers (political; our version of the Kennedys). The Leingods (science & business). The Pellaeons (military). The Andonuts (engineering). The Wiggums (science and engineering). The Fuuji (Jedi and military). The Evins (shipping). The Horvaths (military). The Ikari (business & science, currently military). The Edogawas (law enforcement). The Shibuyas (political and military). The Quortans (Jedi). The Shikis (Jedi). The Gatous (industry) and so on.

3. One must be sure not to include the Fallen Clans. These include the Hamdos among others who have gone over to the Dark Side. They also often include those branches and individuals who also have gone for Nightshade or the Empire for various reasons.

And so, Master Elendil began sending out invitations to all the clan heads for the Kokkai...

After the expeditionary fleet had conducted a series of microjumps to avoid being tracked to New Ganoxa, the Forellia detached and headed for the rendezvous point for coordination and planning with the Coredians. The ship came out of hyperspace over the outer rim world. General Grenzer walked out of the elevator after resting a bit, and met with Admiral Brivun.

"So we're finally here? Took you long enough."

"Hey this place is far from that last jump! Anyways you needed the rest." he joked.

"Whats that suppose to mean!?"

"Nothing. Anyways lets get this started." he chuckled.

"Don't change the sub --!"

"This is the GAS Forellia. Admiral Brivun speaking, requesting permission to speak with Cordian Supreme Commander."

"Admiral, the Ganoxians are calling in as well." The Phoenix's comms officer said.

"I'll take it." Admiral Pellaeon replied, then switched from the Abh to the Ganoxians. "Admiral Brivun. I am pleased to see you have survived! What is it?"

"We wish to convene with you on our next course of action."

"Also the Council has sent us to follow up on your status and would offer its support towars your people," Grenzer said in the background coming into view of the camera.

Admiral Nomura's troops reassembled nearby the others, phasing in after a few moments. The "Coredian Reinforcements" of Fleet Allosaurus would take a little longer, as they had jumped to other coordinates; they would arrive soon. Detecting the Coredians and Abh in the area, he sent messages saying,

"This is Admiral Nomura. I'm alive. My boys are alive. My motherfucking loli of a computer is still alive. Those Acolyte volunteers are still alive. And I wanna know if any of your boys are still alive. Because I have a hankering to make some strategy, over."

"Admiral Pellaeon, Admiral Abriel's on the line." Came the intercom.

"I'll take it in my stateroom." Pellaeon replied, then the link became private and secure in his stateroom. "I see you are well, Admiral Abriel. Is there something you need?"

The Communications Officer switched the comm link up through both visual and sound to display the return message for the Admiral. "Online now ma'am."

"I do not require anything Admiral, I would however like to hear on what your next plans are. Exactly where do you intend on going?"

Cassandra dodged his fire, and focused her attention onto Thompson. She didn't like that radio of his... Or his face, which is enough reason for her to kill someone. Cassandra made note of his move towards the rock and threw one of her hatchets in front of his path, towards his head...

OOC: Wrapping up Hunt's assault on New kazakhstan.

IC:

Thompson's skull was cleaved in two by the hatchet, and he fell to the ground convulsing. The squad, by now confused and frantically trying to protect themselves, was extremely distressed to see their commander cut down rather gruesomely.

"Fucking bitch!"

One of them ran out with his rifle, spraying her with bullets. The others said, "NO! Jablonski, don't!"