"Even the great warriors of the North had to learn how to walk."
-Prophet of Urania Luca Leuscrybh

Imperial High Command, Shōrino'ba
The room was illuminated by an accurately colored hologram, the lights off to allow for the best viewing. It displayed a Roman Sicily-Class Frigate, which was identified as am "Alien destroyer" in the hologram. Four people sat around the circular table from which the hologram was being projected, three of them were the members of the High Command, and the fourth was wearing the iconic white and gold uniform of the Spaceborne Navy. A circular patch on her right shoulder (a relic from the early days of space exploration) displayed three chevrons and one star, identifying that she was a Deca-Commander. Her hair was a light blue, and trimmed into a bob cut, which was the traditional style for women in the Spaceborne Navy. Her ears were exceptionally long, with their points being about five inches from her head.

"This is an alien destroyer that I found while on watch in the Tala'rii system." Began the woman, reaching out to the hologram and touching it, zooming in on a large gash on the ship's hull. "As you can see, it was heavily damaged. Our scans showed no remaining lifesigns, so we came up alongside the ship. Two of my officers and I performed an EVA, and managed to cut through the docking port here."

Tapping what felt like a solid screen due to the repulsor beams used in tactile holograms, the woman focused the image back to it's original position, but now showed the interior of the vessel.

"Their design philosophy appears to be similar to ours, and the bridge was easily located. We recovered an alien computer core, which-as we suspected-runs on binary. Utilizing this basic similarity, we were able to access it's contents, and downloaded the entire contents onto our ship's computer. We can't understand the language, but we did manage to find multiple interesting images."

Swiping to the left and tapping the air, she ordered the hologram to display the image of some kind of exoskeleton.

"This is what we believe to be an enemy combat exoskeleton, similar to our Semarri-Types. However, there is a major oddity."

She tapped the hologram once more, revealing a complex system of electrodes and electrical wires running through it.

"That is a system that seems to be made to detect muscular movements, in short, the aliens do not use a neural link."

Everyone stared at the hologram with a confused look, but only one of them spoke: a dark-haired, dull-eared old man.

"Why do they not use neural interfaces?" He asked quizzically, one eyebrow raised.

"They do not have any method of interfacing, we recovered a corpse, and it had no seniichi."

At that point, everyone's mouth dropped open. They had been prepared to face even the most horrible monster, but they never expected that their enemy would be unable to naturally interface with computers. The Abh had only invented computers because their seniichi (natural silicon chips suspended at the end of a chain-like structure, growing from the back of the neck) resembled them, inspiring the inventor to create the first computer. It was believed that all species with computer technology could interface with it, but apparently, this was not true.

"There's more. Those who are equipped with these exoskeletons are genetically modified soldiers, meant to be stronger than any enemy. Astoundingly, these soldiers are just as strong as our own, despite being meant to be their elite. We found a file on their normal genetic makeup, and it turns out that they can't even bear three standard gravity units. They don't look frail, though. An average alien looks almost exactly the same as us, though their hair is oddly colored and their ears are round and flush to their skull. Our muscle density is much higher than theirs, with their bodies being pathetically inefficient. Apparently, if one of them eats too much, then a mass forms all around their body that can potentially kill them, just like animals do here. A civilized species should have evolved to have an adaptive metabolism, redirecting it towards muscle growth like us. In short, they are animals in the skin of a person."

"You mean we are genetically superior?" Said a woman with piercing red eyes that took all the attention away from her light blue hair and slightly drooping ears. Since the Abh had never encountered a civil rights problem based on genetics, nobody had any idea of the gravity of such a statement.

"Yes, we are extremely superior. It seems like we are simply better than the aliens in every way, physically and morally."

"Thank you for your service, Deca-Commander Na'brel." Said the same woman, bowing in respect.

"Anything for the Empire, Admiral Arluth." She replied, bowing in the same fashion. The lights turned back on as the hologram dissipated, and she walked out of the room with a businesslike composure. The moment the door closed, a loud exhale could be heard even inside of the conference room.

"That girl's going to make a good Empress." Said Admiral Arluth, clearly impressed by the Deca-Commander's ability to hide her nervousness."

Outpost 12, Abh Fringe Space
"You have got to be kidding me!" Yelled Baron Socal as his ship shook around him "The last territory that my family owns is under attack by aliens! And I'm the only person in my family!"

His ship was a Ryouta-Class Battleship, the only vessel he actually owned. The other four ships in his battlegroup were all mercenaries, mercenaries that he could only pay in room and board. The Socal house had always been small, but now it was just pathetic. Five ships going up against an alien strike force of ten didn't bode well, and soon the palace of the Socal house would be the captain's quarters of his ship.

Streams of antiproton particles leapt between the two fleets at relativistic speeds, smashing up against their respective shields. The first ship to go down was a Guyoka-Class Destroyer, which was anhilliated completely when its shield systems overloaded in the middle of an antiproton volley. The Baron's Ryouta-Class fired two antimatter torpedoes from it's railguns, one of which took down the shields of an enemy Sardinia Frigate. With it's hull exposed, the second torpedo hit, causing a massive detonation of all of its remaining missiles. The debris further impacted a Sicily Frigate, causing a localized shield hole and punching into the ships hull, causing a breach.

Desperately, the Baron sent a distress call. Though it was usually seen as a cowardly act, reinforcements were always sent, to do otherwise would be dishonorable (something much, much worse than being cowardly). The Romans would hear it, but not understand it, as neither species had been able to translate the other's language. To do so would take cooperation, something neither was willing to give.

"This is Baron Socal to any Imperial vessels! We're outnumbered two to one at Outpost 12, please send assistance!"

Fleet Nova of the Korwrath Confederacy was the largest of the Capital Fleets with a total of four hundred and thirty four ships and about little under half of that being warships. This fleet was currently in a high orbit around the fourth planet of the Kali System which appeared to be a lush planet with a single large ocean dominating most of the planet and several large cities dotting the surface. If you looked closely at the surface of the planet from space you could see that most of the cities were billowing with large clouds of black smoke as they slowly burned to the ground. The fleets twenty heavy cruisers were the closest ships to the planet as they hung in slow orbit with streams of dropships coming and going as they carried troops to and from the front lines of the battle for the planet.

Grand Admiral Nak Ro stood on the bridge of one of the Capital ships with one screen on the wall displaying the faces of the other two Grand Admirals as they listened to the report of one of their field commanders. "Yes sir, it seems as though the local resistance is starting to let up. We should have this battle one in another day or two, one thing I do need to add is that this planet's atmosphere does not seem to be favorable to our kind and it may take a week or longer to terraform this planet."

"Thank you Commander. You are dismissed for now." The screen showing the White helmet turned off and was replaced with a display of the planet. Nak Ro turned his attention back to the other two Grand Admirals who had each been given their own screens now. "Well gentlemen, it looks like we may be here for a while."

One of the Admirals who was the oldest of the three and had a large scar on his face that seemed to be cause to why he had lost one of his right eyes, did not seem to be please by the answer. "That is to long to stay in one place. Even more so since we just attacked one of the colony worlds of these people, we do not know their capabilities and that is what worries me the most."

"We need the resources of this planet to fuel our colonization efforts across the galaxy." Nak Ro responded as he paced back and forth on the bridge as he weighted the odds of them staying in orbit.

"The resources of this planet are trivial at best compared to what the asteroid can pump out in a day or mining." The Third Admiral chimed in. "But with that being said the civilians are growing weary and need a planet to colonize. It has been a decade since our last land fall attempt and this would do good for morale."

"It looks like we are at an agreement than, with a vote of two to one we shall remain in orbit until the colonization the planet now dubbed Vertigo is complete" With that final announcement the screens were shut off and Nak Ro slumped into his chair as he watched the live feed of the Korwrath army as it matched through every city on the planet simultaneously while the broken hulls of enemy ships got caught in the gravity of the planet and created small meteor showers as they broke and burned up in the atmosphere.

Task Force Odin, Expeditionary Fleet Arracus, 28th Expansion Front, Unknown system
Fleet Sovereign Rhone Fredgar looked around the room at his command, men and women he had worked with for a century since the inception of Expeditionary Fleet Arracus, officially designated the 16th Sentinel Fleet. Pride infused him every time he gazed upon the efficiency of his force, the speed with which it advanced through the galaxy, system by system, scanning every detail meticulously so that nothing would be lost. But being the 16th irked him to no avail ever since the first decade of his command had passed: the Dasius dreadnought saw its first action with the 17th Sentinel Fleet, first of the Fleets to receive the new class of ship. From the demonstrations he had seen, the vessel was a marvel, strange, unique, deadly. Unlike its predecessors, the Altar Troop Carrier and the Cantarin battlecruiser, the Dasius did not utilize the distinctive art form design of older vessels. Rather, it resembled a knife, sleek, jagged, ridges running along the splayed back. Veins of blue light ran along the Dasius, in contrast to the red of the Cantarin and the white of the Altar. It did not look like a Sakari vessel yet it was, and he wanted it. All fleets after the 17th had been provided with several of the dreadnoughts and requisitioning dreadnoughts for integration into older fleets had been given priority to the age of the fleet rather than the size or combat record. This Rhone did not agree with. The Dasius vessels should have been provided to fleets such as his, ones that had consistently proven their ability to overcome the odds.

Whatever his complaints about the distribution of the Dasius he was glad that the two new atmospheric craft and the troop transport had been given to all fleets. His men were as of yet still accustoming themselves to the Hronathi drop-ship and Orbast flyer, vehicle types that had not commonly been used during the older eras. The Zeuros Troop Transport was a boon however. As large as a small starship, it could ferry several thousand troops at a time to the surface, hidden by some newly developed cloaking technology of which details were not provided to him. The most astounding part of the craft, apart from the fact that it resembled the Dasius in aesthetics, was the inclusion of a time dilator mechanism. Such a thing had never been done before yet those who had flown the craft through combat lauded its capabilities. With it he had won this unknown planet.

That thought reminded him of where the fleet currently operated, specifically his task force. While Fleet Sovereign of all ships in Arracus, a large majority of the other task groups operated independently from his supervision. Such was the way if they wanted to cover the galaxy in as fast a way as possible. If the full weight of the group was brought into a single system then the Morval Doctrine would not be completed for millenia upon millenia. Task Force Odin itself had just recently finished operating in this planet, hence the celebrations among the vessels, some even docked together so that the crews could mingle, a rare event as most members of the Volus stayed on their ships for decades without ever setting foot upon earth. Not to say that ships did not have parks with vegetation and small animals to accommodate the biological need for other biological forms. Simply that due to the size of the ships it was impossible for any one crewman to know the entirety of the crew.

One of the bridge crew approached, an Admiral Aspirant by the rank insignia stitched onto his uniform, a silver thread t-shaped symbol resting under eight blue pips. Underneath the chest rank insignia was also a small gold thread pentacle, marking his abilities as a psionic or mage. For whatever reason command had decided not to include those designations on the marking. Bowing to the man in respect for his talents, Rhone intoned, "It is a pleasure to meet you, prodetan. You honor me with your presence."

The Aspirant saluted, right arm tucked behind his back while the left rested against the left side of his chest, bowing low. His fellow Sakari's features were different from his own, ear more rounded and skin a darker hue of blue, almost black, irises shining as rubies. His initiation must have taken place in quite different setting. "No need to address me as so, Sovereign Rhone. I am simply Aspirant Lomar Huldn. I came to converse with you over the planet below us."

Nodding gravely, Rhone motioned for Lomar to follow him to the data display table, a colored holographic projection that responded to tactile movements or thought connections via the neuro chip. Several others stood around it, managing separate pieces of information necessary for fleet survival, from logistics to the management of the troops still on the planet. With one thought pulse Rhone formulated a view of the planet in front of him and Lomar, displaying the celestial body in all its minutiae, a live transmission formed from the sensor displays across the fleet and assembled by the ship AI programs. Turning back to Lomar, he questioned, "What is it you wish to discuss?"

Lomar fidgeted, face betraying his nervousness. Something obviously troubled him yet to a point that he would bring the thought to a Fleet Sovereign. Hopefully the matter pertained to an important decision rather than some petty personal maneuvering. All such as those were immediately expelled from the Dominar Milita and handed over to the Judicatus Corsys. What happened to them no one knew but for the good of all it had to be done. No one ever questioned those decisions. Drawing in a breath, Lomar spoke, "Sovereign Rhone, why do we do this? What is the purpose of cataloging the galaxy and destroying it in the process? What if Morval is wrong?"

That last word rang in the small space and all those near ceased speaking, staring at Lomar. Darting glances, he peered behind him as a fellow crew member fainted, turning back to find the barrel of a Fell pistol stuck to his temple. "Heresy," uttered Rhone before pulling the trigger. Energy shot out, consuming Lomar's head, leaving the Sakari's body to fall ungraciously to the floor. All conversation on the bridge ceased, hundreds upon hundreds of eyes looking at him on the balcony of the strategic center. Kicking the corpse off the edge of the terrace, he holstered his pistol before projecting his voice over the speakers, "My friends, that corpse on the floor was a heretic. Where there is one there are others. I place this fleet under Inquisition. Cleanse the planet and purge the records. We shall not bear shame back to our brothers and sisters."

A scant hour later, the only remaining object in the void of space in that area was a planet wreathed in fire, shattering into rubble as the memory of the Expeditionary Fleet's failure was cleansed.

---

Concilan Palace, Allaris, the Orthos System

Marek Sen scanned over the reports coming in from the Tenth Expansion front, troubling in their nature yet fascinating for the same reason. Vermilion robes contrasted with his pale blue skin, billowing out over his thin frame. Smaller than most Sakari, his dark hair was also an oddity as most Sakari had blonde or white hair. Seated around a svet-table with the other twenty-eight members of the Concilan Dominitatus, he was the oldest among them at three hundred years old. An age considered ancient by most other Sakari, Marek prided himself in reaching the age without replacing biological functions for mechanical ones and without gene therapy. A good life he had lived, one hundred years of it on the Concilan.

A representative of the oldest, and therefore most centered, principality of the Dominion, Marek nevertheless addressed the needs of the entire Dominion before his own interests. Pursuing self-betterment was promoted heavily but ambition and greed in the face of doing good for others was taboo those who displayed such traits were...rehabilitated.

"What are we facing?" called out a voice, Looking up, he located the speaker. Yliss Ruma, one of the younger members of the Concilan. Fitting, considering she represented one of the younger principalities. Her voice was one of the most out-spoken on all matters, offering comment and recommendation on all decisions even where she knew nothing but cursory official information. Albino with pink eyes and silver hair, she stood out wherever she went. Nothing stopped the woman and almost nothing slowed her.

"I believe that would best be answered by one with first-hand experience. High Seer, if you would," uttered Elamian Threman, a senior Conciliar much as Marek. The aforementioned High Seer, Al'za Kail, stood from her chair and walked into the middle of the room, svet-table making room for her automatically.

"They are completely foreign, both to us and to the galaxy, if not dimension according to our scientists. Resembling biological creatures it surprised us to find they resembled energy beings more than anything else. With only one body to work off of and with no other knowledge of how they work, advances have been slow. A scout ship recovered the corpse while reconnoitering a far area of the galaxy and returned immediately. Given the circumstances, I pardoned their decision. The system the body was found in was dead, planets consumed and star gone. If not for the faint signatures of remaining radiation, our pilots would never have known anything was there. These beings, if the system means anything, will hamper the Morval Doctrine. It is my recommendation we assemble the Golhamnd Fleet and accelerate the development of Project Gideon. Our mission cannot be allowed to fail."

All remained pensively silent, tumbling options throughout their heads in light of this revelation and the recommendation. In the corner of the room a shadowy figure stood, stepping out into the light. Clad in sanguine armor with golden streaks, the man stood taller than any in the room by several feet. A cloak of pure white flared behind him. Most prominent were the two massive wings extending behind him, pure white feathers gleaming softly. Stopping at the table, he looked at Al'za Kail consideringly. Smiling softly, he nodded. "You shall have your wish, Al'za. I command it."

Far above the planet at the Seraphim shipyards, one hundred ships pulled out and hovered above the planet as the High Seer ascended. Receiving her, they turned and disappeared into the distance, pursuing a goal. Morval's goal. Victory.

An Illixian convoy was making its way towards one of the new colonies that had been set up near the edge of Illixian territory. The convoy consisted of a dozen cargo ships ready to take the ore back to the home world to be refined, and another dozen warships for protection. Eight Vol’tak Class Carriers each with hundreds of fighters, and four smaller Yowon Class Frigates to provide additional firepower or even act as shields for the other vessels if needed.

The convoy was under the command of Captain Ferak, a Gundok and a veteran soldier. Ferak was expecting an easy and uneventful run, however things did not go as expected. A transmission came from one of the other carriers, Welk, captained by a Drogan named Idliss. “Sir, Idliss spoke, we are detecting an…unusual signal. It appears to be a distress signal, but it is alien.”

Ferak paused. The Illixians had known that other species existed since their enslavement, but this was the first time meeting another species since they overthrew their previous masters. “Has it been translated fully yet?” Ferak asked.

“No, sir,” Idliss replied. “But, we are still working on it, and as I said it does appear to be asking for help. What are your orders?”

Ferak thought for a moment. Meeting another species could be great for the Queendom, it could open new trade routes and possibly provide them with a valuable ally, or it could lead to war and enslavement. Something the Illixians wanted to avoid at all costs. “Captain Idliss, take your ship and Captain Jok’tal and investigate the signal. Do not provide aid until you can verify the situation. We should be fine even with two less carriers.”

“Understood sir,” Idliss said, saluting.

Colony Unknown to Illixia

“We have arrived sir,” the navigator informed Idliss.

“Good, can we send a message in their language yet?” Idliss asked his communications officer.

“Not quite sir, we are still trying to understand their language, but I think we can still get out point across, that we want to help. Shall I try sir?”

“Yes,” Idliss said as we watched the outnumbered ships try to defend themselves. “I think they will need all the help they can get.”

“The message is sent sir.” The officer confirmed.

“Good, now order all fighters prepped and arm all weapons. And inform Captain Jok’tal that we will engage as soon as we receive confirmation from the defenders that they will not engage us.”

A red light lit up on one of the junior officers displays on the Capital ship indicating a proximity warning as someone came into range of the fleet. "Grand Admiral, its appears that two large ships are approaching at a slow speed. We did intercept a transmission between them and the planet surface, that could mean that they are allies." Nak Ro stood up from his chair and was handed a handheld display that showed the two warships on it. "All frigates get into phalanx position between the fleet and those ships. I want all the light cruisers to get into position behind the Frigates and have all fighter squadrons on the ready top sortie at a moments notice."

There was flurry of movement as officers scrambled around the bridge as orders were issued to all ships in the fleet and battle stations were taken. The lights on the bridge dimmed as a display of the two ships took up the main screen. A second screen showed seventy-six light frigates easing into a loose formation were there sloped formal armor would be able to deflect most shots away from the fleet but still enough room in between for the cruisers to fire and fighters to get through. On a third and fourth screen appeared the faces of the other two Grand Admirals as they discussed how to proceed with this unforeseen threat.

In the end, the Admirals decided to send a warning to the ships before just opening fire on them. "Attention unidentified ships. You have entered the space of the Korwrath Confederacy. If you do not halt and state your intentions, you will be deemed an enemy of war and be dealt with accordingly." The message was send to the ships in burst transmissions in every known language to the Korwrath hoping that one of the languages would be recognized.

After a moment the message from the attackers was translated, albeit very loosely.

“This is Captain Idliss of the carrier Welk from the Grand Illixian Queendom, we wish to provide aid to the planet that you are currently attacking. What is the reason for your attack?” Idliss spoke. “We do not want to engage in hostilities if it can avoided, however we will return fire if attacked.”

“Do you think our translator can relay the full message?” the hologram of Jok’tal asked.

“I do not know, but we can only hope.” Idliss replied.

“Well, I’ll send word to the nearest fleet and have them on standby. If it comes to a fight we’ll need reinforcements.” Jok’tal said.

“Agreed, but for now let’s see how they react to our message. If they can understand it.” Idliss said.

Iillixa- Illixian Home world

“You called my Queen?” asked Caroc as he kneeled before the throne. He was of the Hokar subspecies and was dressed in a uniform that showed his rank was Rear Admiral.

“Yes,” the Queen spoke. “Caroc you have been a faithful commander for many years and I have an important task for you. Recently there have been reports of ships of unknown origins just beyond the border of my Queendom. We do not know who these beings are or what they want, but I would like for you to take a fleet and investigate some of these sightings.

“It will be done my Queen.” Caroc said as he stood. “I will have a fleet ready to go within the hour.”

“Thank you my friend, and remember be cautious. We do not know what they are capable of.” The Queen said.

The message was played out on the bridge in the closest translation that they could get to understand what it had said. The main theme of the message was able to get across and one thing that Korwrath did not like was for someone to threaten them. "We have claimed this planet in the name of the Korwrath Confederacy. This planet is needed for its vast amount of mineral deposits and raw material. If you find the need to launch an attack against us, do be warned that you will be starting a war that will result in the conquering of your people." Nak Ro finished the message with this threat making sure they were aware of what they were getting into.

After the message was sent Nak turned back to the other two Admirals. " I think we should give Fleet Solution a call and let them know we are colonizing a planet with a large amount of minerals. They may be able to find more uses for these minerals than we would be able to find.." The three of them came to an agreement and the message was sent to the scientific fleet of the Korwrath.

Fleet Solution- Void of Space

Floating out in the void between solar systems was one of the smallest fleets for the Korwrath but one of the most valuable with most scientists and R&D technicians living in this fleet. This was also one of the two fleets that had a shipyard traveling with the fleet so that the technicians were able to develop and test new modal ships as well as repair damaged ships from all the fleets, because of this the fleet's military might was mainly made up of light frigates and experimental warships that were still in the prototype phases. On the bridge of one of the Capital ships stood a young Admiral of just forty-eight who was enjoying the peace and quiet that came when the fleet was in between systems. "Grand Admiral Vo, we are receiving a message from Fleet Nova. They are saying that they found a mineral rich planet with the possibility of new mineral types that could be used toward research. Priority code Kore."

Vo took a display tablet from a junior officer and read over the report that had been received with the message before giving a large sigh. "Send a message to the other Grand Admirals. I need to call this to a vote before we decide to waste a FTL jump to this planet with another Fleet already in orbit." Vo didn't want his one hundred and eighty-three ships jumping into a system that already housed the largest Fleet, but he didn't have much of a choice if the vote was in favor of jumping.

The Moonlight Castle stood atop the great Lunar Mountain, overlooking the capital city of Moonfall. The planet Arcadia was not a hospitable planet to those not born from its constant storms and long nights, but for the Roa'marii who populated it, Arcadia was the most holy planet in existence. The Moonlight Castle standing above the storms atop the tallest mountain the planet had to offer was the home of the gods, the Nightmare Emperor himself ruling from his iron throne, watching all those under his command. The halls of this castle were sacred, each civilian dreaming of walking through them, the moon's pale glow lighting the way as they came to a stop before the throne. Now, with the full moon shining through the glass ceiling, a single man in crimson robes knelt in a puddle of moonlight before the throne hidden in the shadows. Then, rising from his throne, the Nightmare Emperor rose, striding forth to stand before the kneeling man.

The Emperor's pitch black hair shone with the silver glow of the moon above, his skin shining as the moon shone on his pale face, perfectly sculpted. The Emperor wore a suit of black armor engraved all over with symbols of the past, reminders of past wars well fought, the seals of fallen nations commemorated eternally as the worthy adversaries they were. A cloak of dark blue cloth hung behind him as a black steel crown sat atop his head, a single purple gem embedded in the center. The Nightmare Emperor stared down at the man before him before a slight smirk showed on his face and he spoke.

"General Peltis, it is always good to see you once more. While your visits are always welcome, it seems you have some news for me."

"Yes emperor, I'm afraid my visit is not merely a social one. I have received news from the Kingdom of Val'rati near the galaxy's edge. They have picked up a number of transmissions recently from an as of yet unidentified nation. We were unable to fully translate their language, but it would seem they are in conflict with another group of similar power to their own. I've spoken to Jer'rahd already and if you will it we shall send a small fleet to attempt contact with one or both of these new nations."

The Nightmare Emperor spent a few seconds to contemplate this before responding. "This could be a good opportunity to open new trade routes. I want you and Jer'rahd to initiate first contact. Be prepared for hostilities. If they are engaged in some sort of conflict, you may well be mistaken for an enemy of theirs. Go now and rest from your journey. You will leave at first light to meet with Jer'rahd in Battlefleet Alpha."

"Thank you emperor."

Rhe'deri Peltis stood up and began walking back through the halls of the castle towards a set of rooms put aside for the five Immortal Generals like himself. The Emperor stood in the throne room before he raised his head to the moon, it's light gleaming on his face, the stars beyond hiding untold beings soon to be discovered.

“They dare to threaten us!” Jok’tal said indigently. “We should show them the might of our fleet!”

“What fleet are you referring to captain? The one that isn’t here?” Idliss asked. “We cannot risk starting a war against an enemy we know nothing about.”

“Prepare a new message.” Idliss said. “Inform the…Korwrath is that correct? Inform them that there are other, inhabited planets that they can use to harvest. We can guide them if need be. That way we can prevent bloodshed.”

“We cannot simply let them take our resources!” Jok’tal said. “They belong to the Queendom!”

“You forget, this is the edge of territory,” Idliss explained. “It is only natural for there to be disputed claims on these smaller worlds. What’s important is preventing unnecessary violence. They do not seem malicious, simply in need of supplies and resources, and perhaps allies. If we can I would like to attempt to establish a diplomatic relation with them, it could benefit us both.”

“And if they refuse?” Jok’tal asked.

“Then we will attempt to avoid each other, and if that is not possible…then I suppose a war is inevitable, but let’s not jump to that conclusion yet. Tell them that I would like permission to speak with them in person, on their terms.”

Bokas- Illixian Colony

Captain Ferak oversaw the cargo ships being loaded with the valuable ore. The Illixians called Guthold and when properly refined made excellent armor for their ships, it was extremely strong and could even withstand concentrated laser fire without shields, only briefly of course, but it was still invaluable. So, seven of the cargo ships were fully loaded and prepped to go, all in all things were going smoothly, except that he had yet to hear back from either Idliss or Jok’tal.

“Sir, a message from Rear Admiral Caroc.” The communications officer informed Ferak.

“Patch it through.” Ferak said as the hologram of the Admiral appeared before him. “To what do I owe the honor of this call Admiral?”

“I have been sent on a mission from the Queen herself. I am taking a fleet to investigate reports of alien activity at our borders, while going over the intel your report came up and since it was the most recent I thought I would start there.” Caroc explained.

“I understand sir, but there is little else I can provide you with.” Ferak said.

“What of the two ships you sent? Have they reported back?” Caroc asked.

“No sir, and that troubles me.” Ferak said.

“What can you tell about the ships that were sent?”

“Not much to say, both ships were standard Vol’tak Carriers, fully armed and no reported problems. They were the Welk and the Zunde, they were captained by Idliss and Jok’tal, two very capable Drogans.” Ferak explained.

“Can you tell me more about the captains? Did they have problems with one another?” Caroc asked.

“If they did I would not have brought them, sir. Idliss is cautious, but very reliable. Jok’tal is a bit more aggressive, but he thinks quickly and can adapt to most situations.”

“I see,” Caroc said. “Very, well I will investigate their destination and see if I can find them. I will inform you if I find anything.”

“Thank you sir,” Ferak said. “Good luck. And one more thing.”

“Yes captain?”

“If someone did kill my men, please return the favor.” Ferak said.

“If we have been attacked I will use whatever force necessary to defend the Queen and her territory. Travel safely captain.”

Outpost 12, Roman Fleet
“One ship down ma'am!” shouted a Roman Officer as the bridge crew of the Lombardy-Class Battleship watched as the ship exploded from the sheer amount of antimatter contained within. The Roman’s bridge was however unlike other races, they rather center there their bridge in the middle of the ship rather than the back or front of the ship, they also did not have a single window on their ships, preferring to use various cameras embedded in points around the hull to watch over everything.

Imperator Aurora “Dawn of Victory” Benerice, captain of the Lombardy-Class which she had yet to name and commander of this particular battle group, shifted in her seat, thinking out her next move. Her nickname had been granted to her do to her early success throughout her career in the Roman Navy, and she had won most of the early battles against the Abh. Like most Romus Humans she had that mediterranean skin that the old Romans had held from living along that sea. Her hair was a deep shape of brown and her eyes glowed green. The uniform she wore was the standard black stretch suit with a badge indicating her rank. Shifting forward as she observed a map of sorts indicating the locations of the enemy ships and her own ships she planned her next move. She would not let these aliens get the best of her.

“Remaining Sardinia-Classes! V formation and fire your entire payload of anti-matter missiles, Tyrol-Classes, join the formation and fire at the other ships with maximum charged antiproton streamers! We will deal with the new contact after we finish them off.” she shouted out into the comms, the deepness of her voice almost strange for a female. The ships quickly moved into formation, and carried out the actions as ordered by the Imperator.

After she watched the ships finish their orders, she began speaking to her nearby weapons officer.

“Normally the particle cannon takes time to charge correct?” asked Aurora.

“Yes it does, about 5 minutes to be exact.” responded the officer. Aurora seem displeased at the answer.

“What if we dropped all shields and powered down all other weapons? Would that lower the charge time?” inquired Aurora yet again.

“Yes it would, about 5 seconds, but that is madness! We would be sitting ducks! 5 seconds is enough for the enemy to do some serious damage!” screamed the officer.

“Do not question your superiors. Drop shields and power down all weapons, maximum charge to the particle beam.” spoke Aurora, as the crew did it but very unwillingly. After about 5 seconds she pressed a large blue button.

In that moment a giant blue beam streaked across space towards the small outpost. It was massive compared to the size of other beams used by the New Roman Empire, and the beam impacted.

New Roman Outer Space, Colony World A-01
The sleepy New Roman colony was one of the two frontier systems of the NRE, the other 18 being considered fully developed core worlds. The A-01 had a few defensives stations as well as a battle group which was currently under the command of Imperator Ettore. The alien ships arrived in the system, as they detected a flurry of comms traffic across the NRE’s network. The battle group positioned The battleship in the group of ships sent a message, encoded in a binary system so as the aliens could translate it easily.

“This Imperator Ettore of the New Roman Empire. Please state your intentions and identity.”

((if this is not clear this is in response to the ships you sent out Zadubadabu))

As the small expedition force arrived at the nearest source of the new alien transmissions, they found what appeared to be a frontier system still under development. A series of messages were quickly sent out as the fleet began to move into a defensive formation in case of attack. The messages stated "Unknown force, this is expedition fleet alpha of the United New Roa'marii Empire. We have received transmissions and wish for peaceful contact. We will, however, not hesitate to use force if required." The response came soon enough as the group of Xenos ships in the system quickly turned to face the expedition fleet along with sending a lightly encoded message. As the message was translated, two men stood on the bridge, both gazing at the xenos lines looking for a weakness.

"They are likely just a small garrison force. I'm sure we could take them out should it come to that. Sta'falia left us a few squads of Valkyrie to use should a fight break out." General Peltis observed as the larger man beside him listened. Immortal General Jer'rahd Kaisur stood tall, his heavily muscled form covered by a simple suit of black armor. His right gauntlet glowed with a faint green energy and the double bladed sword sheathed to his back similarly gave off a pale blue glow. Jer'rahd's face was covered in small scars, the largest running through his left eye down to the cheekbone. Jer'rahd's eyes both glowed ever so slightly, the right a natural green color and the left a blood red. He took a minute before responding.

"I know we can win this should it come to fighting, but we need to try a diplomatic approach first. You're the ambassador, I say you take one of those rings of yours once their language is translated more and go introduce us."

"It may not be so simple. From what we have, they are wary of us. Their formation clearly shows that much. I agree on the diplomatic approach. Very well, I'll go aboard their lead vessel as a sign of peace. Send these xenos a message saying so. We will be meeting "

A message was sent and before waiting for a response, the lead ship began to move forward, another moving to close the gap left by it. The ship stopped halfway between the two fleets and waited for the xenos response to their request. A friendly meeting was offered, a chance to forge an alliance between the two nations. Meanwhile, all eyes watched the enemy fleet, waiting for a sign to know whether this meant war or whether it meant diplomacy.

Colony World A-01
The Imperator breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the aliens message. When he heard their offer for a friendly meeting the Imperator sent a message to High Command back on New Rome for temporary diplomatic authority so he could confirm any deals or treaties the Roa'marii wanted with the NRE. After being granted authority he began typing on the console next to his Captain's chair, sending another message.

"We are opening our docking ports, also included with this message is a translation matrix for easier communication, we request that you also compile and send us one of these."

Much like the previous message it was encoded in binary for easy translation. The battleship in the front of the group opened up a small docking hatch through which a few shuttles could enter.