Colony World 05
"What is this test?"
The Captain proceeded to the communications console, and told the officer there to call upon the 4th Fleet. He had a idea of what it might be.

Equestrian Space
"Denied. Query was about the test, there was never any agreement to your test. You will not be allowed to build stations in Equestrian Space."
However the Princesses have considered your offer, and the test shall begin. Accepted."

Equestrian Space (Sylve)

"Sir, we've detected a convergence point of the Triarian Collective, Abh and the Equestrians, a cosmopolitan meal for loot." An officer aboard the "recovered" Samani-Class Corvette Inton reported to the Shipmaster. The Sazkarjhit pirate looked through the viewscreen to see the ships standing off from one another. "How close are we to the action?" He asked.

"They're about 20,000 kilometers away; just in range to fire."

"Hm...All right. Swoop in and deploy a volley of EMP Mines, once they're out activate the Electromagnetic Dispersal Cloak and prepare the HyperJump Engine for warp."

"Aye, sir."

Inton lowered its cloak power and increase engine output; a risky maneuver that goes from being slight light distortion to a barely-translucent shape of the black stealth ship. The underside bay eased open as it maneuvered above the ships and released five blue-and-silver spheres.

Within seconds the spheres flared brilliantly, sending out pulses of EMP energy in all directions, hitting the ships in several waves.

Colony World 0-5
"Evacuation procedures shall begin, less then a day will be needed to fully evacuate the largest continent."

Scans of the largest continent would reveal that for the most part it was uninhabited. In fact 05 was a volcanic world, and the Equestrians were slowly using various pieces of technology to terraform it. The only settlement on the largest continent was a small town at its most southern point, with a few scattered robo-mining operations and then research posts across the main continent. It seemed the small settlement had already been evacuated, with ships just hopping across to gather up the robots or researchers at the outposts.

Syvle Pirate
"You are a threat, but one that is easily dealt with."

It didn't take long for the Equestrian fleet to enter battle ready states, as the EMP didn't affect there magical power cores. The Dreadnought didn't seem to be moving or firing however, but it shield was operational. Similarly to the way they dealt with the lead Sazkarjhia ship, they sent stealthed bombers to take out the main Syvle ship, along with balefire megaspells and concentrated fire.

Equestrian Space

There was an intense flash that at first surrounded the ship, but by then it was too late. The HyperJump Engine fired three glowing beams that formed a triangular portal into Slipspace. Within moments the pirate stealth ship disappeared as fast as they came.

The Shipmaster cursed under his breath, seeing that the hit-and-run attack had little effect on the fleet. He turned to his astrogation officer and ordered a return to the Sylve dock out on Equestrian fringe space.

Equestrian Fringe Space-Operation Praedonum Forsit
In the cold vacuum of space a stealthed Equestrian ship approached the last major Syvle base in Equestrian Space. The ship, if weren't stealthed, it would reveal that it had the logo of the Equestrian Intelligence Agency. Inside the small craft were 4 ghosts, one of who was piloting the ship. There mission was simple, get in the station and disable communications, any ships or shuttles docked with the station, and the station defenses. Then with the help of the 5th fleet, they would seize control of the station and interrogate any Syvle personnel. The ship proceeded forward, heading for the station.

Equestrian Fringe Space (Sazkarjhia)

SAF 045, another one of the designated hunter-killer fleets, was patrolling fringe space when their long-range sensors detected a large amount of Equestrian vessels congregation around one point. Despite the fate of Graced in the Dawn and the rest of SAF 071, they detected a space station not too far away bearing a non-Equestrian identifier. They made a short jump to the station, which bore the reed, sword and spear insignia of the Sylve Faction. Short range sensors detected a smaller ship near the station, and activity was detected inside the main structure.

A group of Deep Space Insertion Commandos were launched to latch onto the station and collect data to determine who was on it, and ships raised arms to prepare for an assault on the structure.

Real Space, Sol
The first of the Chaos forces to arrive were the NightLords. The 30 blue and black ships pocketed the outskirts of the system. The Nightfall, flagship of the fleet moved toward the defenders in system.

The communications cultist keyed the vox for his master.

"Greetings defenders of the universe." Finch said mockingly on an open channel.

"The Nightlords, have come to your aid. Be glad the God's favor this systems and this universe."

Warp Space, Sol
The entities converged within the warp as the storm begin to brew. The bloodshed grew near enough that many of them could taste it.

Real Space, Sol
A small orb of what appeared to be liquid space formed, smaller then an adult man it writhed and swirled inside itself. Phasing in and out of real space. Any scanner that picked it up would think it some sort of fault in the machinery.

I.S.S. Victory, Marzon High Orbit, Heim System

Today was to be a good day.

Grand Admiral Tarkis watched with pride as the First Expedition Fleet assembled on his screen. Consisting of a Light squadron and three Escort squadrons (a total of seventy five ships), the Admiral was sure that it would be able to protect itself and deal with any aggressor it came across. The Savior-class Destroyer alone would probably frighten off any pirates regardless, but the accompanying colonial support and defense ships would be needed. It was, after all, technically a mission of exploration and expansion. Finding suitable planets for colonization that weren’t ruined during the War in Heaven was hard enough; finding one that wasn’t inhabited was even harder.

In any case, the Admiral sat down at his desk and signaled the lead ship of the 1st Exploration Fleet, the [/i]I.S.S. Liberation[/i]. The new commanding officer of the mission answered, and the admiral noted the man’s respectful demeanor. While the Admiral was an older man a generation beyond the new commanding officer, Tarkis still demanded obedience and had an aura of command none would dare question. “Greetings, Captain Shepard. Oh, no need for formality, this is a private call. How have the shake-down runs been treating your new ship?”

I.S.S. Liberation , Marzon High Orbit, Heim System

Captain Shepard nearly had a heart attack when the encrypted signal appeared on his screen, but he calmed himself down quietly, standing up from his to desk to walk over to the wall-mounted screen. Damn, who was calling at a time like this? He was due to leave with the fleet in twenty standard minutes. Examining the screen, the Captain paused when he saw who it was from. The Grand Admiral? He had already been briefed, and this unannounced call made him nervous. What if there was a problem? Well, only way to find out, he supposed. He activated the console, opening the channel. When Grand Admiral Tarkis appeared, he saluted as per protocol and out of respect. “Grand Admiral, sir, good to see you. What can I do for you, sir?” Shepard asked tentatively, still worried about what this was all about. When the Grand Admiral replied so bluntly and friendly, it caught the man off-guard. He had to stop himself from freezing up. “Oh, right, of course sir. The shake-down tests are all green, we’re set to go. I’m surprised they funded another Savior-class instead of pulling a mothball, in all honestly.”

The old Admiral chuckled-Chuckled!-on the view screen. Tarkis never laughed in any of the meetings or vids he had seen, but this was a private feed. “Yes yes, of course. The Navy loves getting more ships, Captain, you should know that. They moaned about “retrofitting costs” and “ruining a relic of the past” to get that new bucket built. You’re lucky the Council agreed. But I’m afraid this isn’t quite a casual call.” Tarkis paused for a moment, the old kind man on the screen giving Shepard a serious look. “You are well aware the gravitas of your positon and responsibilities, correct, Captain?”

Shepard nodded, answering quickly. “Of course, sir. To find new terrestrial planets and expand the Empire.”

The Grand Admiral nodded once in agreement. “And on the subject of First Contacts with near-Marzons?”

“If they are friendly and roughly our level, offer diplomatic relations once we sort out the language problem.” Shepard replied, having said this several times during previous meetings.

“And non-Marzons?” The Admiral asked, leaning forward.

“Avoid out-right hostilities, sir.” It was a simple policy, but Shepard knew it was more difficult than that.

The Admiral nodded silently in agreement, before speaking again. “Excellent. Once you leave our space, Captain, as the only official representative of the Marzon Empire and the Emperor, you have total authority within the fleet and on any new colony you establish as you are aware. You are given the Lord Imperators blessing to do what is necessary to survive and thrive. But be warned, Captain, your actions may have… Unintended consequences if they go against prior objectives. Good luck, Captain. Hope to hear from you soon.” With that, the Admiral disconnected the channel, leaving Captain Shepard to his own thoughts for a few moments. The burden was on his shoulders now, and the future of the Empire lay with him. He sighed, wondering how on Marzon he ended up with all of this responsibility. All well, he supposed, someone had to do it.

Ten minutes later, the First Expidition Fleet launched into sub-space, to the cheering of the Navy-men’s families and citizens of the Empire over the broad-band communications. They would be in range of the Imperial broadcasts for a week before they finally ceased.

((----Snip----))

Equestrian Fringe Space
"Detecting a Sazkarjhian fleet approaching the station."
"Call High Command, they could damage the entire operation."

Message to Sazkarjhia
"Withdraw your fleet from Fringe Space immediately! We will call you in when we are ready to initiate the attack but we have agents aboard the station! You could damage the entire operation!."

Equestrian Fringe Space
"You are in our space, where are laws and authority apply! We will deal with the pirates as they wish, as they have been plaguing our trade, killing our civilians, and destroying our property. If you wish to cooperate with the capture of the station fine! But we will interrogate the Syvle and try them on our laws. They will still be plenty of fighting to be done when our ancients are done with there mission but you need to wait! Cooperate with us, or not, but this mission shall proceed forward under Equestria's plan."

Equestrian Fringe Space

"We will continue forward, this matter has been discussed to death."

Equestrian Space
Interestingly, the warship seemed unaffected by the EMP blast. It's plasma engines activated, trailing their trademark argon plasma behind them. The ship turned around, and a single message was sent to everyone else in the area.
"This vessel departs for Sol. The line must be held."

Sol System
The approaching gravity lens distortion grew in size rapidly as it sped towards the system, until it finally disappeared in a blinding flash of blue light originating from the warp radiation and particles. When the glare faded away, nearly the entire Lakfakalle warship fleet appeared. The Starfire took point, but it was barely recognizable. Being large in size due to its formerly primitive propulsion technology, the LCF had replaced the hydrogen-oxygen engines with the newer plasma drives, and used the extra space to add weapons.

They used that space well.

The Starfire now boasted a large central antiproton weapon, the Variable Pulse Lance, able to fire bursts of any width and height. It also carried eight turreted antiproton streamers, complimented by high-power shield breakers. The ship now had effective broadside capability, its coilguns having been replaced by shield breakers and antiproton burst cannons. However, the placement of the antiproton streamers differed radically from other vessels. Rather than being located in triangular pods on the fore and aft of the ship, they were set on turrets reminiscent of those used on ancient sea vessels. What's more, it had no visible warp rings, instead using projected rings.

Most other ships were either newly built ships of the latest class, or ships retrofitted to the most recent class (the Nikolien Class). This class had the usual four antiproton streamers, but also carried the same Variable Pulse Lance that the Starfire had. In addition, it had twelve shield breakers set up for broadside attack. In addition to those vessels was a transport vessel carrying some recaptured nanobots left over from the Ceramus war, having been reprogrammed to construct stations. Finally, there were three Freidsmekalre War Carriers, each with a full complement of ninety Pelia-class fighters.

A flurry of radio transmissions swept through the fleet, with each and every ship reporting a successful jump. An FTL communication was sent to the other ships in the system. A Delphan, most likely Fairlan, appeared on the screen of anyone watching the message. Instead of the usual uniform worn by LCF personnel, everyone visible was wearing black, pressurized nanofiber armor.

"Admiral Fairlan Miklan of the Imperial Star Forces reporting for the defense of Sol. All fleet warships have reported successful jumps, we are fully prepared to assist. Our construction vessel will begin work on antiproton collection facilities around the star of this system. This system is vital to the survival of all beings in this universe, and perhaps even the multiverse itself. You are not fighting for the defense of your enemies or allies, you are fighting for the defense of everything that was, is, and will be. This system cannot be lost. We will be victorious."
The flag of the star forces was displayed as the transmission ended.

Sol System
"The line will be held, we will prevail as the Equestrians always have. Für die Prinzessin und Equestria! Für die Lakefalle Cooperative Federation! Für die Milchstraße!"
The Equestrian ships proceeded to march further back, orbiting Mars. A few shuttles were seen launched down to the surface.

Mars, Abh Nations
A Equestrian approached the nearest Abh Official
"We must evacuate all Civilians right now! Chaos has arrived in the system, and they tend to corrupt everything they touch. They will enslave and torture other sentients for pleasure."

Syvle Station
"Objectives changed teams 01 and 02. Sazkarjhit are on approach, take with you the provided balefire megaspell. Attach a teleport talisman to the high ranking syvle officer, get him aboard your ship, and then detonate the spell when its near the main reactor of that station. If Sazkarjhia will not cooperate with us, then we shall prevent them from accomplishing there own goals."

The teams found a way in, and proceeded to move forward. Team 01 proceeded forward with the balefire megaspell and were doing minor unnoticeable scans or searching for a map to find the main reactor, Team 02 was heading for the command center, bent on finding the commander of the station.

Sylve Station, Equestrian Fringe Space

"Equestrians are moving in, looks like a quiet approach isn't going to work. Breach one of the airlocks and make your way through, let nothing--Sylve nor Equestrians--get in your way. Find the stationmaster, subdue him, and prep him for recovery." the Fleetmaster ordered his Commandos.

"Aye, sir" the team leader responded. He made a hand signal for his demolitions expert to come to him, who let go, using thrusts to latch onto another section of the station, and activate his magnetic boots and gloves to get a firm grip. He made another leap to one of the airlock hatches, placed a high-power breaching charge, then hopped back. After about half a minute it exploded violently, ejecting yellow chlorinous atmosphere into the vacuum of space.

"All units, move in." the leader ordered, green checks for his teammates lit up on his visor's heads-up display.

They pulled out specially-modified Type 4 Cyclonic Accelerator Rifles and flew into the hatch, quickly dispatching Sylve security personnel in the way. They shot and blasted their way through several bulkheads until they were in the main center of the station. Equestrian soldiers were there.

They raised their rifles, 1st Officer Ryna'dum, the team's explosives expert, had two plasma grenades in her hands.

The team leader activated the speaker and microphone on his suit, "Stand back. We're taking over this operation. Hostilities and empty threats from you will not be enough to stop us from getting where we want; with Equestrian bodies on the deck or not."

Syvle Station, Equestrian Fringe Space
"There trying to get us to reveal ourselves I guess... Pointless" spoke the first Ghost in team one to the second one.
"Proceed forward, we know where the main reactor is." said the 2nd Ghost. Team one, headed forward, avoiding all Sazkarjhit, whether affiliated with Syvle or Sazkarjhia, and headed for the main reactor.