Moon A-3

The two derelict ships didn't activate at all, but the one that was clearly infected quickly moved to its task above the planet and lowered down towards it, breaching its atmosphere and hovering down. The growth sacks on its under side burst, sending out many dozens of spore forks which fell to the surface, and releasing the murky green mist into the air, which quickly thinned ti the point of invisibility and scattered on the wind. The remaining growth pods on its sides remained intact, presumably either unmatured or simply waiting for the right moment. The segment doors in the biomass opened to reveal the ships interior, and a dozen battle forms, or possibly thinker forms, leapt out to the planet below. Following them were more spore forms, which dropped down to the planet below.

The two ships from outpost A-5 entered the system from the far edge, gliding towards the planet. The invasion had begun, backup had come for the ship that was infecting the planet.

Elsewhere

Bide our time in wait, set the scene and position the Bishop, offer the Pawn, let them take the bait. They do not expect us to watch and wait, they don't know our cunning, our methods.
Their eyes of light shall die, Wight knights spread our plague
Maybe then we can upgrade the sensors...

Planet N-1
(Classified as the outermost, "N" planet, in the first colonized solar system, "1"))

As the planet was infected, the three closest cities, out of the five total, all had alarms going off and panic ensuing. Due to distance, there was not a chance of anyone being infected, yet, even with windstreams and the like, and evacuations were in order. Due to their wary nature, every building was more bunker than skyscraper, and the evacuation facility had both underground tunnels and a domed airlock that could hold an entire ship inside. The passengers would be disinfected, loaded aboard the transport in the dome, which was also disinfected. Once airlocks on the transport is sealed, the dome opens, they take off, the dome closes as another transport comes back, sprayed with disinfectant, and more passengers are disinfected, checked, and boarded.

Besides that, only two cargo ships were in orbit, witnessing the deployment. Wary, one approached, broadcasting live to the other ship, which was in turn broadcasting back to the inner planets. As it approached, another ship appeared: the Explorer that had only recently departed. Apparently they had turned around; the ships can be remotely controlled.

A cargo ship and an Explorer ship closed on the derelicts, both beginning to send frantic messages in a variety of known languages- everything from binary to religious gibberish, especially as the Explorers' crew woke up and returned to their duties, much to their surprise and frustration.

Planet N-1

The parasites didn't seem heavily interested in trying to assault the cities as of yet (the gas clouds might get a few once they arrive, but the hive was more interested in biomass) and instead set about converting the tree's and wild life

The infected ship that had deployed the forces continued to glide forwards... And released another form. These pterodactyl like creatures were at least twice the size of an average "hunter" soldier, and they possessed a corrosive spit. Four of them were released, and they set off towards the transport that was evacuating people, eager to reach it and try to bring it down

The infected ship turned its attention towards the cargo ship and explorer and glided towards them, trying to take position between them, presumably in an attempt to broadside them both.
The other two ships glided forwards to engage the other cargo ship, eager to destroy it before it could prove any sort of nuisance to the infections spread. The derelict ships remained perfectly still, performing no functions at all but to sit there, drifting in the weightlessness of space...

*accidental post*

Mandalore, 150 lightyears from Sol

Mandalor the Ultimate, Ruler of The Children of Mandalore stood over the other man. His brilliant Red Cloak and Golden Beskar'gam shown brightly.

Kneeling with his arms tied was Mandalor the Pretender. A traitor to all of Mandalore.

With one swift stroke the pretenders body slumped forth. His head lifted high into the Air above the masses of cheering warriors.

Mandalor the Ultimate, Sole Ruler of all of Mandalore.

The Civil war had ended. The time of the Mandalorians had come.

Sol
"Thank you, Captain. You have no idea how important this is to my mission. I owe you a favor."

Fergus turned to Basil, a businesslike look on his face.

"Of course, I understand." He walked off the bridge with Basil, then turned to him just after the door closed.

"I must correct you, though. I'm not a citizen of the United Terran Federation. Just a military operative, officially listed as being on loan from an unknown nation. It's kind of complicated, I'll explain it at the meeting. Oh yes, I think I owe you something."

He made an incredibly subtle flick of his fingers towards the bridge, and a pulse of blue energy went straight though the bridge door. Moaning could be heard from the inside, along with excited screams of "They're alive!".

"I can't revive anyone, but I can heal major wounds, and anger leads to bad aim. No child ever deserved to hear that their daddy wasn't coming home."

Earth
Upon seeing the aliens, all hell broke loose in the human ranks. Friends turned on each other, some ran, some just stared up at the sky as if they expected something. Even though the Iscandarians were using non-lethal weaponry, there were thousands of human casualties, all from friendly fire. Terrorist forces also entered the fight, apparently assisting the aliens while yelling fanatical and... colorful phrases. Then more terrorists came in,a nd began firing on everyone. It was complete chaos as members of all human forces just started firing at anything that moved.

Sol
"You know, I was prepared to do that my-self, I will explain more when we arrive in my office." spoke Basil, as they traversed further down the corridor. The other crew of the ship only looked at Fergus blankly, as if judging him. Basil hurried Fergus, taking him into a room. The room was darkened, and scattered across were old candles. With a snap of his finger Basil lit them, blue flames jumping to life. Basil motioned for Fergus to take a seat at a chair facing what was Basil's desk.

"Fergus, what you did back there is what we refer to magic. We thought is was unique to us, and the Gamilas. However to find you with it changes many things. Its what is likely been enhancing your abilities, and what allowed you to heal like that. However healing is very upper-level magic, few are capable of doing it. You seemed to have done it without any training or knowledge of your abilities. In our religion our goddess is the Eternal Mother, also known as Faust. The Immortals, who are extremely powerful with magic and are thought to be gifted by the Eternal Mother. I being the High Archmage, which denotes me as one of the most powerful mages, can feel a signature on them that links them to the Eternal Mother. While that signature is much weaker on you I can still sense it. You have been gifted by her in some way. Have you heard any voices before? Strange dreams? Names that you do not no where they come from, but you use as if they mean something?"

Earth
Iscandarians are dropping in more loads, focusing on trying to prevent the humans from killing each other.

Alas Prime

Two holes were ripped in Slipspace as a couple of Darbor-Class Heavy Frigates lurched forward, making headway to the capital of the system. Inside the bay of the lead of the two warships, PNS Salvation of the Pious, an Outreach-Class Diplomat Vessel carrying a Sazkarjhit foreign emissary, changed its bearings and increased reactor output, making good distances for a ship of its size.

Once obtaining the proper clearance, the long vessels slowly encircled the planet before shutting off engines and drifting lazily into high orbit above Prime. The white, T-shaped Outreach-Class launched out of a side bay and maneuvered towards the station. Aboard it was Ambassador Buryna Yran'kum, with her was a small outfit of People's Army Political Affairs Security ((A forerunner to the OGVS)), soldiers, armed with older Type-2 Medium-Long Range Assault Weapons. Slung under her arm was a small holotank, its input already set to establish a connection with the Vesselage. Luckily, Alas Prime isn't out of contact range with Sazkarjhit government-clearance communications traffic.

The ship docked, and the Ambassador stepped out with her garrison. Anyone who saw the Sazkarjhit would have been surprised at the new alien species, but also intimidated. The soldiers were all nearly seven feet tall, creating loud, heavy rhythm with each synchronized step. Their helmets only revealed a yellow-tinted faceplate, colored so because of the combat Heads-Up Display and the poisonous chlorine glass cycling through the suit. All the soldiers had different colored bands running across the armor, colors like bronze, black, blue, white, red, orange, and so on. The lead soldier's armor had bands of silver and black, overlapping each other in sort of a braid.In front of the platoon was a similar suit of armor, but was much shorter, pushing perhaps 6'2". This one, rather than striping, had a star on her front and back, in three separate bands of silver, bronze and blue. Her faceplate was clear, showing off an orange reptilian face, with glossy black eyes and a yellow, dual-stripe pattern running down the middle of her face.

She bowed her head, and offered her hand out in greeting. She began speaking; assuming that the translation magic from before was still in effect.

"I bid you a formal 'hello'. I am Ambassador Yran'kum, an emissary representing the Religious Union of Karboria, the planet of Sazkar Major, and the Glorous Nation of Sazkarjhia."

Space, Mandalore
The Exploration fleet entered Hyperspace and sped towards the unnamed system.

Ancient Taung datacores marked its location and spoke of a primitive race that had once been the Mandalorians own.

This world would serve excellently for the expansion purposes.

Sol, Space(near Saturn)
The Exploration ship "Sarens Hope" exited Hyperspace within the unnamed system setting course for the previous inhabited world.

Sol
"Yes, I've heard voices, had dreams, and remembered names. There was one named Lahnha, you wouldn't know her. She was a citizen on my homeworld. She taught me who I was, why I was on Earth. She said I had been chosen along with nineteen others to bring salvation to the humans. None of the humans have these powers, it is unique to the twenty of us that were chosen. She never mentioned us being gifted though, she always said it was natural, she said it was a part of my soul. I have dreamed of a jungle, no deadly gases in the air, no concrete towers, it was beautiful. It was my home. As for names, the entire rank system of my squadron is based around a non-human language. Speaking of language, what kind of translation technology do you have? It's incredibly, everything you say is in English to me."

Sol
"I do know of Lahnha, she is referenced in ancient texts as an agent of Faust. Also the world you speak of... It describes Alas Prime perfectly, or as it was refereed to in ancient texts Gliese. Which if I believe your fighter squadron is called the Wings of Gliese? Also you speak of the 20..."

Basil flipped around his desk for a minute, before pulling out a old book that was extremely dusty. that had on it the Book of Prophecies.

"While most prophecies in this book are thought to have pasted or be non-sense I remember reading one that spoke of 20. Ah here it is." Basil cleared his throat, before concentrating on the book, and reading aloud something from it.

"In a era where the Children of Faust sail through stars and stardust, 20 will rise, the first 19 being of a different race. The 20th a Child of Faust, but trapped in and unknown body, feeling as if he is not in the right body. His abilities being powerful, as he is gifted by Faust. He shall with the other 19 and a child of a Immortal become some of the greatest heroes the universe as seen. Also Fergus, I haven't been speaking English, I did not even turn on the translation spells. Think of all I have said to you Fergus, what are you truly?"

A low chorus of humming and what could be mistaken for chanting resounded throughout the vast hall, darkly lit and grey. Several Ethereals, both Sisters and Matrons, were kneeling before a disk in a circle, which levitated a good two meters above them. it was unnaturally black, and seemed to be more of a void than an actual physical object, dark energy swirling disturbingly amongst its texture. The humming grew louder, as many thick appendages of darkness shaped like claws extended from it's center, and slowly reached for one of the Sisters. It did not resist as it was grabbed, and lifted towards the disk. It was pulled inside, and let out a short screech, which ended as abruptly as it had started. While horrifyingly painful, this was one of the few ways an Ethereal could truly die, and be Released, but only when She demanded it. The humming ceased, and all stood up, to be addressed by the Goddess.

The Disk spoke in their consciousness, and whispered in many voices, Her voice taking a tight grip on their minds, forcing them to listen:

"Your sacrifice has pleased me greatly, and I offer you the knowledge you seek...
This world holds the first piece of My Being, and must be retrieved. Failure will anger Me greatly...
Smite the Humans found here in My name, and show them that I am to be feared and worshiped...
Their pathetic existence, like all these wretched species, offends Me, and all will be forced to kneel at My feet, and despair...
Now go forth, and spread the Gospel of Govra, Queen and Maker of the End..."

---

Two Ethereal Ships, shaped similarly to headless humanoid torsos and with many floating and orbiting panels, warped on the very edge of the mysterious planet's sphere of influence, and kept their energy signatures low, to lessen the chances of detection. It was believed Humans could be found here, as well as the Heart, and it was important to not alert them to their presence. If these creatures did indeed possess this Piece of Being, they may attempt to take it off world, and that would be unacceptable. So a small strike team was chosen, and three Matrons. each carrying six Sisters, left the ship, and began to descend towards the planet, attempting to mask their signatures. These scouts would retrieve the Piece, and when they returned, their mission would be complete.

Uncharted Planet, Unknown sector

The terra forming was swift. What was once a desolate wasteland of black ash and thunder was now a Goldilocks planet of sorts, the binary star shining enough light to warm the planet while they calmed the volcanic landscape. The sunrise poked over the horizon and cast a dance of violet, orange, and yellow to move through the sky. Each color sliding, flipping, and combining into the most photogenic picture in the galaxy. Many words could be used to describe what was shown but Captain Speciosa chose only one. Beautiful.

However, they could not save the sparse life that had started before the planets reckoning. To make up for their lateness, a dozen drop pods rained from the heavens before landing in the sea as they released their microscopic cargo. Give them a couple millennia and see what else comes from the oceans. Moving out of the planets atmosphere, the fleet of ships went deeper into space before preparing for jump.

Captain Speciosa was heading towards a place she had visited many, many eons ago. Back to when she and the rest of the Vistitas had less pure intentions for the galaxy. With a shiver, she remembered how she had glassed the planet. Destroying so much and leaving so little. If life had survived than she would see to it that it continued to do so, if not than it was her duty to give it back. Soon after her personal deceleration, the jump was made and the universe moved around them.

What could have been minutes, years, or decades passed by as the Salus and its entourage of Perdito moved between this dimension and another. The brilliant colors of the universe surrounded the fleet and all was peaceful. Reentry into real space was a slight jolt as the sensory overload withdrew and instead of the overwhelming lights of the in between the sensors of Captain Speciosa picked up the little blue orb, and apparently they were not alone in this visit.

Ignoring the other ships, The Salus was moved over the ocean and released its cargo of probes to scan the planet while the Perdito took a defensive position around it.

Outpost A-5 interior

"Castled may stand but they don't last forever!"

The Iscandarian woke up from his sleep with a start, groaning slightly and rubbing his head slowly before lying back down. He let out and sigh and rolled over to sleep again and as he did the worm form dropped onto the side of his head and slithered in through his ear. The Iscandarian shivered a little, jolting up again I shock before falling back down as the worm reached hos brain. The Oscandarian stood up and crossed the room, opening the door into the hallway. Another Iscandarian stood there, and the two looked at eached other for a moment before continuing, being joined by more infected. They used several of the captured bodies to quickly construct another pure form

Outpost A-5 Bridge

The door to the bidge opened, and one Iscandarian flew through the door with such force that when he hit the nearby terminal it exploded into sparks. Through the door came a lumbering 6'6 pure form, with two small tendrils hanging loosely from ots "mouth". Its left arm ended in what appeared to be a blade, while its right arm ended it a large, powerful hand. It gave out what appeared to be a roar, and from its mouth it spewed put several spore forms which rushed forwards onto the bridge. The bulky creature darted forwards and swung its blade arm at one of the Iscardians, and four of the infected Iscardians darted onto the bridge, carrying rifles and opening fire on the uninfected. One deliberately shot the communications... There was a munching sound from below the floor...
A deep voice echoed through the minds of the Iscardians on Outpost A-5's command center, almost tauntingly
"Your castle has fallen. Embrace us and meet your god..."

Planet N-1, Orbit
As one ship moved to divide the Explorer and the cargo ship, efforts to contact the intruders were given up, and they fired upon the vessel now labelled as a hostile. In short order, the Explorer reached extreme engagement range, and the two beam cannons mounted on the front lashed out. Typical firing arrangement; the beams would fire a short distance away from the target, and then it would sweep directly across the ship to the opposite side. With two cannons, it was more of a scissor-fire.

As the Explorer closed into optimum firing distance, the ship slowed its advanced, and two large boxes, larger than a school bus, extended from the surface of one of the plates of armor. The boxes sat for a moment, and then a torrent of missiles launched, launching a rain of armor-piercing and high explosives, alternatively. The missiles would fire for seven seconds out of their launch bays, split into two parts, in which the missile will maneuver away from its other half and away from other missiles, and reactivate when close to the target, jetting forward.

As the Explorer did so, the cargo ship un-latched from half of its segmented payload, 'dropping' about six of the dozen containers that were connected to its "spine," and slowly pulled up and turned away. The containers continued on the same course, heading towards the two eager ships as the cargo ship readjusted course away from them, away from the planet, and began accelerating to escape.

(Don't take control of the containers, please, goodies inside I wish to reveal.)

WilsonTurner said
As one ship moved to divide the Explorer and the cargo ship, efforts to contact the intruders were given up, and they fired upon the vessel now labelled as a hostile. In short order, the Explorer reached extreme engagement range, and the two beam cannons mounted on the front lashed out. Typical firing arrangement; the beams would fire a short distance away from the target, and then it would sweep directly across the ship to the opposite side. With two cannons, it was more of a scissor-fire.As the Explorer closed into optimum firing distance, the ship slowed its advanced, and two large boxes, larger than a school bus, extended from the surface of one of the plates of armor. The boxes sat for a moment, and then a torrent of missiles launched, launching a rain of armor-piercing and high explosives, alternatively. The missiles would fire for seven seconds out of their launch bays, split into two parts, in which the missile will maneuver away from its other half and away from other missiles, and reactivate when close to the target, jetting forward. As the Explorer did so, the cargo ship un-latched from half of its segmented payload, 'dropping' about six of the dozen containers that were connected to its "spine," and slowly pulled up and turned away. The containers continued on the same course, heading towards the two eager ships as the cargo ship readjusted course away from them, away from the planet, and began accelerating to escape.(Don't take control of the containers, please, goodies inside I wish to reveal.)

The ship fired its weaponry at the explorer and cargo ship, firing all weapons on either side. It wasn't in optimal position, but it may be close enough to achieve the stratergy. The growth pods on the side burst, releasing the green gas and spore forms, which floated towards the two ships. The plan was to drop the shields of either ship so that it could be boarded by the spore forms. The beams hit the shields, which died and allowed the ship to be split in half. Tendrils of biomass reached out to connect and keep the half's of the ship together as explosions sprung up across the ship and the engine died. The ship slowly drifted forwards towards the center of the two enemy ships, twiling onto its side..

The two derelict ships sprung to life and engaged the explorer and cargo ship from the other side, aiming to catch them by surprise and break its shields and punch a hole into it to allow boarding. The two ships spread out to go to either side of the two hostile ships in the hopes that the explorer would be unable to use its beams on both of them this was.

The other ship engaged the fleeing cargo ship, firing on it and engaging it quickly. On the planet the parasite began to spread and build its forces up to increase their power.

Near Alpha Centauri, roughly 10 light-years away from Sol

Spherical, lustrous pangs of radiance rang out amongst the collection of hostile starcraft as the survivors of the vul'kruun's nuclear missile swarms detonated their payloads, completely vaporizing an ill-fated few while instantly depressurizing, buckling and deforming the internal and external forms of others. The warped and white-hot hulks of a scarce assemblage of the enemy's enduring spacecraft involuntary vented their atmospheres, great jets of diffused plasma seeping from cracks and fissures sprinkled along their outer hulls, while secondary explosions spontaneously fired off in rapid succession, ripping great slabs and fragments of alloy from their main masses and sending them perpetually surging into the expanse of the void.

Their magazines empty, a number of vul'kruun vessels departed the fray, activating their faster-than-light engines and vanishing with blinding flashes of light, while the remaining elements of the squadron were subjected to a daunting volume of high-powered gamma ray laser return fire distributed by some of the enemy's larger and more heavily-armored starcraft. Sheer mass and the rolling of their cigarette-shaped bodies were the saving grace of an exclusive few, while others were unable to generate enough centrifugal force to spin their bulks quickly enough--an unfortunate byproduct from the resulting damaging of a few of their reaction control systems. Some of the compartments of these vessel ruptured; the reactor of one vessel sustained sever damage from a penetrating beam of radiation, forcing its parent ship to quickly eject it into space. Six vul'kruun star crawlers died while four others, battered and wounded, fled the scene.

A second and third salvo of missiles sped from the location of the sparse few remaining Retribution starcraft before they too departed. Beam-based point-defense turrets ensured that few of the deadly projectiles made contact, but several missile buses saw their taxi work result in the obliteration of one of the enemy's larger vessels: a final act of vengeance enacted upon the oppressor, the aggressor and the tyrant. With the vul'kruun driven off, the enemy ships collected themselves and opened wormhole pathways to their predetermined destinations of choice.

Sol
Fergus simply stared for what seemed like an eternity, and tears began to fall from his eyes. He took a few moment to regain his composure, then spoke in a monotone voice.

"The Council trusts me. Bring me to Earth, if I tell them that I'm one of you, then they'll stand down their forces. There is, however, the problem of your appearance. You take the form of mythical creatures from a religion with thousands of violent fanatics. We have been trying to deal with them for some time, but victory can only come from their complete extermination. As long as one exists, they will indoctrinate more. Once the treaty is signed, will you help us take them down?"

Saturn Orbit, Sol
Detecting the vessel entering the system, the 5th Sol Defense Fleet made a burn for the intruder. A few hours later, the fleet emerged right behind the vessel. A warning shot was fired from the command vessel, a stream of molten metal traveling at 90% of light speed. A message was sent as well, coming directly from the fleet's Admiral.

"This is Admiral Seòras of the United Terran Federation Fifth Fleet. You will pull into orbit of the ringed gas giant and submit to inspection. Failure to comply will be considered a declaration of allegiance to the invaders, and your vessel will be destroyed."

Paris, France. UTF Capital City
"So that's what you were doing with all those resources!"

The Councilman in charge of the Wings of Gliese stood on a catwalk, staring out at a vast underground hangar occupied by a three-hundred meter spacecraft. It was bristling with odd weapons, and lacked any sort of launch system. On each side of the bow the words "Försvarere av Humanity" could be seen. The ten weapons turrets protruded from all sides of the stark-white hull, each one had the appearance of a normal Naval cannon. Countless windows covered the hull, sparks visible through them as workers completed welding the internal fixtures in place. Two heavily armed guards accompanied him, holding prototype laser rifles.

"That name is in Gliesean, sir." Said a man in a lab coat bearing the seal of the Wings of Gliese. "It means 'Defender of Humanity'. It seemed appropriate."

"What are those weapons? I've never seen them."

"She is, Sir. The weapons are Near-Lightspeed Argon Plasma Enhanced Kinetic Impact Accelerators. We like to call them Shock Cannons. They fire bursts of argon plasma at speeds up to twice that of a standard railgun using highly advanced mass accelerator technology."

"And this ship has ten of them?"

"Yes, but that isn't the strongest weapon on the vessel. It is equipped with a Tachyon Bombardment Lance. I won't go into details, but it fires a beam of FTL tachyon particles siphoned from the ship's drive core. In the simulations, this thing destroyed Australia with a single shot from orbit."

"The Drive Core? Then wouldn't it fire argon plasma? Wait... you didn't..."

"Yes we did. The Försvarere av Humanity is capable of faster than light travel. The Drive Core produces tachyon particles as a by-product of negative mass/energy creation. It's cruising speed is 1000c."

"Negative energy? I thought that was limited at 10c, you know, like the messages."

"Not if you have this much of the stuff. Sir, she's not fully furnished, but we've set up temporary bunks. We're asking permission to launch her, Earth needs this ship or else we're all dead... or worse. The aliens seem to be using non-lethal weapons. Either they are having mercy, or they want test subjects and slaves. As is our policy here, we must assume the worst."

"Do you know if these weapons will work against their shields?"

"Our fighters opened a hole in their shields using a coordinated assault with all ammunition used. This ship should be able to take them straight down. Unfortunately, we have no idea how to create anything but a plasma window shield, and that would be completely useless against directed energy weapons, as well as other plasma devices. We feel like simple armor is the only choice. Please, this ship is our only chance."

"If you believe it, then the launch is authorized. Your actions will have to be publicized though, are you sure humanity is ready?"

"You'll have to be."

Sol, Saturn's Orbit
Captain Robert sneered as the Admiral addressed him.

Pausing a moment to let the Admiral finish he pushed the comlink activation key.

"You will not make demands of us again Admiral. Ask politely and you will be treated in kind. My name is Captain Robert of Clan Ashfield of Mandalore." The captain paused a moment before continuing.

"Out of respect for our common ancestry we agree to your search, but should you disrespect me or my people again I will not hesitate to kill you." Ashfield said coldly across the line.

The Vessel came to halt and powered it's down its shields for boarding.

The Captain himself accompanied the Security force assembling in the Hanger.

Planet N1, Orbit
The Explorer, after firing another beam at the weakened ship, began turning to fire on the other two ships, slowly reaching extreme combat range. Shortly after the Explorer turning on the other ships, the first salvo of missiles reached the first enemy ship. First, one couldn't see anything; then there was just a sudden burst of little yellow engines, all lighting up at once all around the first attacking ship, and easily over two hundred missiles the size of a car's axle slammed into the ship, either piercing or just exploding in great blue flames.

And as the Explorer turned to the other approaching ships, the Valkian cargo-ship activated its sublight drive, and disappeared, shortly before enemy ships reached extreme engagement range.

Planet N-1, 'Teraden' City
As the four large pterodactyl creatures approached, the very few anti-air slash anti-orbit emplacements surrounding the city opened fire. The rounds were more to target any kind of Valkian, and were almost like veritable artillery rounds that exploded into a very large flak-like burst of Swarm missiles, which were like shoe-sized high-explosive missiles. Three emplacements were able to fire on the pterodactyls, and the emplacements each fired two of the rounds at the pterodactyls. As the black-smoke-trailed rounds neared the pterodactyls, each of the rounds exploded, disbursing half a dozen of the small Swarm missiles to take on the pterodactyls. Due to a lack of any war, it is unknown whether the ground-defense actually WORKS; while the Explorers' weaponry has undergone extensive tests, the city defense emplacements were never really tested.