Far in the inner core of the Galaxy of Andromeda lay the remnants of many great powers of ancient quality. There may drift derelicts of past history, maybe even a lost planet, forgotten by past Empires and let to rest, what they hold now, only destiny would dare tell. However, amongst these derelicts of times long since forgotten, millenia past, lay the foundation, no, rather, the pillars of Arcane balance in the Andromeda galaxy: The Well of Arcanum.

A powerful tool of the arcane, intensifying and acting as the sole center of magical geography in the galaxy, the Well of Arcanum still holds many secrets. It's tenders, the willful race of ancients who have lived through the history of this very galaxy thanks only to their affinities, they now hold extensive archives of information. Spanning the distance of four entire sectors, each with well developed planets and central governmental structures, it was a power with seemingly perfect order. As through the eyes of the observer, one may witness the swift speed of which sub-FTL ships travelled between planets. Suddenly, a small fleet of spacecraft made their way past one of the inner sector worlds, they were ever changing in nature.

One of the ships' frontal beam relocated, shifting back through the center, and ending up at the very rear, whatever reason it had, these ships of war, armed with weapons of unknown caliber, seemed to defy the laws of this galaxy, as well as the next. All this was made known, great Mageos', Astropaths, guiding and looking through the cosmos through the sub-dimensional arcanum. The great Mageos, powerful spellbenders, arcanum weavers, what say you.

One such individual was aboard one of these five patrol vessels, Krubak Mahn, newly appointed Astro-Mageos of the vessel Pillar of Vashjik. The Pillar of Vashjik, a warrior of the Pijkar class, and also veteran of nearly ten thousand years. The vessel was the final ship produced from Kharnac's personal drydock on Shakkur, the capital planet of the Humbarr-sector.

It's weapons had reached stagnation, unfired for nearly a thousand years, and the crew aboard it, were almost all veterans of at least the same lenght. Standing as the prime capital class warship of the sector, it held almost constant activity on patrol missions, but it also held a renewable ground force of roughly 30 000 Subjects of Kadrak Umbrah. Warriors of the surface.

Much like this particular patrol, there were another journeying the boarders of the Kuyann-sector, but also hundred more, all seeing to it that the Theocracy stands guarded. This patrol scheme has been supposedly perfectly planned out, each miniscule detail, explained through a hundred words and a hundred thoughts, as to how they should be performed. Every inch changed between ship modules is perfectly elaborated into the grand scheme, and every milimeter of the planets changed location is deeply calculated and incorporated.

The system stands as Quadrant Complex, commanded over by the Great Forgers' construct, an A.I. of arcane and technological origin, going by the same name. It's elaborate thinking and lightning like precision and processing is second to none within the boarders of the Theocracy. Quadrant Complex, not only does it stand with incredible authority, it also holds semi-sentience, thanks only to its direct connection with the Well of Arcanum.

However, even though their precise planning, thought out tactical analysis of charted space, they still stand in certain disarray. With the disappearance of all of their Progenitors, the Pantheic people stand on the very verge of chaos. Without any clear resupply chain of ships, the Great Forgers very shoulders are ever tense, uncertain to their own outcome. On the homeworld, the supreme capital planet of Gátoor, the gateway, the leaders of the Theocracy, the Great Forgers, are conversing extensively with their Gods and deities from the other side of the Well.

''The pillars of our foundation has yet been crippled, an age has blown past, what beings will guide us?''

''Certainly, a hundred years have blown past, but it stands only as a simple flash before our own spans, these events will linger on past maybe even a hundred thousand years, if not more!''

''Krygg, almighty speaker of God, can you not request an audience with The Lord? Surely, with his utmost knowledge and immortal span, he will be able to guide us into a new Age of Enlightenment!''

The chamber, the council, The Creed. This was the way of the Theocracy, guided by beings unbound by the world, living inbetween existence and inexistence, these Great Forgers, stood as the speakers for their people before these deities. A massive hall was where they amassed, these Great Forgers, a massive hall which laid mostly empty, the most dominant structure being the Well of Arcanum, which seemed to dominate the center of the Creed. The hall was dimly lit, the only illumination came from the realm of Arcanum, which was displayed through the Well. In this view, one might lay sight on the dim gaze of a being which lie beyond any known species, this being was Krygg, a Voldreic.

The Voldreic, beings who drift between the space of existence and inexistence, they are unbound by the universes laws and are therefore worshipped, by the Theocracy, as deities in their own right. However, out of these Voldreic, there was one being who stood dominant above the uncountable others, this was Furnyak, God.

Krygg, glancing towers the pantheo Alpharus, and then off into the void behind him, shuddered. Suddenly an echoing and shaking voice sprang forth from the Well and its raw power shook the entire central Creed.

''Furnyak stands unchackled, he does not heed to those inferior. Find someone worthy, and I will create an audience... I cannot guarantee your own well being, however...''

The voice lingered on, with it were visible arcane spells, this being, Krygg, literally speaks through the arcane. This skill was one of the many reasons that the Theocracy have worshipped them for over a million years.

Admiral Jargen gazed up into the ceiling, the glare of the bright lights shining into his eyes. He sighed and gazed downwards, suspended in his carrier, bored out of his mind. The past few days has been tiring for the admiral. Talking with the aliens and giving reparations for the short but brutal battle between the "Roa'marii" fleet and the Corrupted fleet.

To be honest, politics wasn't his thing. His duty is to serve and protect the Democracies, not meddle with the politicians and argue over the highest and lowest of things. Talking with the diplomats weren't the best of things.

He let out a small sigh. They have given him 7 Democracies days to choose to join the United Roa'marii Empire. 'Today is the last day. The president...'

Knock.

Jargen span around and walked towards the door, and opened the door. The giant Nightmare Emperor looked at home expectantly. He has been expecting this. Letting out a calming sigh, he led him into the room.

"The president has ordered me to agree to your proposition. Your blood will be our blood. Your wars shall be our wars. Your losses will be mourned as much as our losses. The blood of your enemies shall run. They shall be crushed under our United feet." He looked up into the Emperors eyes.



I looked at the fleet in front of me, a swarm of ships that could threaten my crews life and my life. I opened the line. "I greet you in the name of the Democracies. I shall be honest with you." I paused, mincing my words. "We are stuck. We have landed lightyears from our borders and for some reason, our ftl drives do not work in your borders. You have just met one of the most infamous enemies of my country. We are stuck here. We are stranded. I offer, as the highest ranking officer of this fleet, an alliance. Your blood will be our blood. Your wars shall be our wars. Your losses will be mourned as much as our losses. The blood of your enemies shall run. They shall be crushed under our United feet."

I wait.

((This is so shit. I am so sorry. As I said, we are throwing a party. I made this on the way. Right now, I am just posting this in the bathroom quickly before going. I am so sorry))

Fires burned softly against the backdrop of the night, illuminating scattered areas that had not seen destruction. In several cases the fires roared to stupendous heights, traveling hundreds of feet into the air as they consumed the fuel provided to them, spreading ever slowly. Rubble lay strewn about the concourse, shattered and cracked from the impact of the fall which had been facilitated by the personnel of the 43rd Expeditionary Fleet, Fleet Theros. Thousands of infantry strode through the wreckage of the once mighty hill, sifting through the wreckage in hopes of finding their prize: a magical resonance which matched no known signatures. Unable to utilize any form of scanning technique due to the interference, it was left to the hands and eyes of the Sakari to find the item.

Five ships broke through the cloud cover, repulsor engines flaring brightly as they decelerated from the atmospheric entry. Of small size, they were rarely-seen Netori-class frigates, used primarily for rapid troop deployment in large numbers, scouting missions, or in-atmosphere support. Already touched down were two Cantarin battlecruisers, although they had not disgorged their full load of troops onto the ground. Settling slowly, the three frigates ceased their movement, a small rubble accompanying the stop. Admiral Vostach watched the proceedings from atmosphere, gaining direct visual data from the psy-network, enabling him to observe in real-time unimpeded.

One of the bridge crew of his ship, a Dasius dreadnought named Sin and Damnation, approached him, bowing shortly before proceeding into her report.

“Two groups of unknown vessels have been detected by the passive sensors. I do not believe they have detected us for they lie on the opposite side of this planet, but measures should be taken in some form to either contact them or ensure our victory should the need arise,” she spoke. Vostach considered the situation carefully. Doctrine indicated that if any civilization were encountered weak enough to be overcome, they should be overcome immediately. If not, care should be taken to establish relations with the group, friendly ties that would enable victory in the future. It seemed it would be the second option.

“Very well. Crew, take us to the groupings. Fleet Theros, remain here until further notice.” With the order given, the Sin and Damnation pulled away from the fleet and hurtled over the planet, moving towards the grouping of ships in the distance. Waiting for approximately 30 seconds, he then transmitted a radio message towards both fleets, “This is the Sin and Damnation of the C’ran Dominion. May we request information as to your presence here?”


Anointed Sovereign Herath Kissoreg cleared her mind slowly, breaths drawing in and out in an ever slower rhythm, preparing herself for what was about to come. All across the fleet the same action was repeated by each individual, an almost holy ritual which was only conducted on the rarest occasions of great import, signaling a change which was to follow. Normally the process would require approval from members of the Council yet her position as Anointed Sovereign of a Corenai fleet afforded her powers beyond almost anyone but Morval himself, an embodiment of C’ran. Silence reigned over the normally quiet corridors of each vessel, shadows flying as lights dimmed to near nothingness. Floating through the psychic network was a simple “word” bearing the weight of millions of minds behind it.
Begin.
Suffusing into the system, Herath’s mind touched the connection which linked the entirety of the fleet, a psychic consciousness stronger than almost any force in the galaxy. Her hands rested against the pulsating cord of power, thrumming slowly, vibrantly. A mind within her world existed, millions of points of lights floating in the darkness, threads of lighting connecting to the cord. Eyes gleamed with euphoria as she sank into the flow, becoming one. She gasped heavily. It’s beautiful, she thought, a tear leaking from her eyes. Every being in the fleet acted as an extension of her, was her. Oneness in many. Many in one.
Eyes snapped open in unison, the Sakari awakening simultaneously. Each was now bonded to the other, an unbreakable meld stronger than even the previous psychic network. It was no longer a network but a oneness, each Sakari an extension of the central consciousness, and Herath was closest of all.
The ships adjusted into a spherical formation, the unarmed civilian transports moving inside under the armed escorts and militarized civilian vessels for protection. Soon they would reach their destination, marking the beginning of the Corenai in their area of the galaxy. No, not the galaxy, their galaxy. Under C’ran would Andromeda unify, a peace to last the ages.
Shudders rippled in space as near 1800 ships exited from Anti-Space, a massive burst of energy detectable by any nearby. Turning its gaze outwards, the sensors of the fleet, both psychic and physical, located the presence of magical signatures in the solar distance, ones not seen before. Never before had a magical race been encountered by the Sakari yet already they found one of extreme strength on their first exit. Herath pondered, milliseconds passing slowly to her mind. A verdict was reached one that would change the fate of C’ran forever.
“Communications officer, contact the unknowns mentally. Tell them that we have returned.”


Corenai Fleet Sedari rode the winds of space proudly, personal blessing of Morval having been granted before their departure to the assembly point at Gateway Shrassen. The largest of the fleets at over two thousand strong, Sedari represented the greatest presence which C’ran would project into the galaxy. Containing a higher presence of civilian ships than the other two Corenai fleets, Sedari was designed for one purpose only: expansion. With fury they would spread throughout the stars, terraforming and colonizing every available world encountered, seeding others with species from the Great Record. The Age of Learning was past. Now came the Age of Rising. The countless species lost to the fires of war propagated by C’ran would return under C’ran’s rule, born again into a world of peace and prosperity, able to rise as they would under the supervision of the Sakari species.

To enact such a reseeding, special vessels had been sent along with each fleet, several kilometers in length and equipped to simulate a plethora of environments relating to the ones on which the species assigned to a habitat had been found. Already the restructuring had begun on the ship, gene-crafters shaping the codes of organisms into forms that would spawn life while others utilized magic and psionic energies for those creatures which did not have a DNA structure. Thousands of species in the process of rebuilding, a hope for C'ran and the rest of the galaxy.

Anointed Sovereign Rhone Fredgar sat pensively in his chair on the bridge of the flagship, the Heart of Nerothian. Out of all others in Task Force Odin of Expeditionary Fleet Arracus, he had been the sole survivor. No reason was given, no comfort or recompense. Simply a sparing from the blade of death. A hand arresting itself on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts. Looking up, he saw the face of one of the Commissars, concern wrought on the female Sakari's face.

"Anointed, we are nearing. It is time for you to take command," her voice drawled, a low-pitched sound not often heard from a Sakari throat.

Rhone stared at her wearily before nodding. He had a duty to those with him, a duty much greater than before. He would lead them into ascendance. Accessing the psychic network, he notified everyone to brace seconds before the ships exited Anti-Space. Sensor systems immediately detected emissions from further in the system indicative of a space-faring civilization. Having formed into a spherical formation before leaving, the fleet was already prepared for any action which the others might take.

"Adjust the course," he commanded. "Make for the nearest planet and station us there." And so the fleet moved out.

---

Inquisitor Boreal Autrich stepped out from his transports, lev-drives thrumming softly. Sheets of rain slashed across the surface of the planet, massive storms stretching thousands of miles in all directions that blotted out sections of the planet for weeks on end. Lightning flashed from the sky, erupting as a counter-fire system eliminated the power of the strike, drawing the bolt's energy into a series of capacitors so as to convert the destructive beams into useful resources. Protected by an EVA suit designed for harsh environments, Boreal waited patiently as the visor system quickly adapted to the area before him, affording a view that cut through the rain as if the obstacle did not exist. Faint etches of semi-clear material slid across the screen, water on the visor not fully eliminated from view as the droplets were too close to be filtered efficiently by the detector systems.

Striding forward, the lights of Domus Regulag greeted him. Domus Regulag stood as the single largest inhabited space on the planet, a circular area several hundred kilometers in diameter. Built painstakingly through the pounding of the storm, the city lay hidden to those that did not know of its existence, the planet's storms hiding any signatures from the regions under the barrage of rain. Gargantuan doors of metal and plasma lay situated around the outside, the only entrances excepting teleportation, although that was only used under the most dire circumstances. Entrance directly into the city was not possible as significant manipulation of the dome would result in a breach at the location, an event which took hours to fix and further days to repair the damaged buildings around the collapse. As such, all ships landed at specialized ports designed to protect the vessels from the effects of the massive thunderheads.

Nearing the doors, a smaller entrance opened at the side, a plasma gate extending out from the wall to shield the area from the torrent. Just before stepping under, Boreal released a blast of psychic energy, driving all moisture away from his clothing and body. Dried to a large extent, he stepped through the door, greeted by several Watchmen. The EVA suit melted away from him as the metal folded, allowing him to advance unimpeded.

"Greetings Inquisitor Autrich. If we had been informed of your arrival, a more suitable entrance would have been prepared. Forgive me, my lord," explained one of the Watchmen, bowing low along with his companions.

"No matter. Is Gubernator Halos in the vicinity?"

"Nay. We may, however, request a tele-link to the palace. Shall we do so?"

"Immediately."

The entire conversation took under a second, the contact with the palace a similar time. A device in the corner of the room, silver prisms on the ground ringing a floating sphere, began to glow blue, indicating the teleportation system's readiness. Boreal ducked into the ring, exhaling briefly before he flashed off into the palace. Inhaling to replace the oxygen which he had lost during transport, the sight of the Gubernator himself greeted him.

"Greetings Inquisitor. What brings you to Verascky, if I may be so bold?" asked the Sakari serenely.

"I bear tidings from Allaris. Is the Anointed of Verascky currently in the palace?" responded Boreal, intent on furthering the orders of the mysterious servant under the capital of C'ran.

"He is so, yes. Shall we take you to him?"

"Please do so," came the final response from the Inquisitor, indicating his unwillingness to speak further. A small frown furrowed his brows as he thought as to what he was about to do. It did not seem right but so must it be.

Roman Colony World A-01 - Capital

The Builder raised his arms slightly and the storage device slowly floated upward. Lacking the means to interface with the device readily, he let one of his escorts come up, and keep it in his shadowy hands. "Thank you fairly for this. Please do know, that we will be disassembling this device, and will not be able to return it to you, I apologize in advance. Now without further ado: Hardlight."

The Builder again, put both his hands forward and the white-blue light returned, inching larger every few seconds. "Hardlight is merely light but with enough energy-density to become solid." Now a sphere, once again, the Seighis with the empty hand hovered forward and shaped the light. First the sphere bent into a cylindrical shape, then smaller panels manifested near it and started to attach onto the shape. Now a number of screws dug into it and secured the panels.

"This is an engine that will enable you to harness hardlight, but to a small degree, such as creating tools and weapons fit for only hands." The Hardlight engine remained translucent and blue-white in color. Though the details could be made out. "Do with it as your people wish. You may need to disassemble it and study it to be able to efficiently produce it." The hardlight-engine floated toward the governor slowly. "Thank you much for this diplomatic engagement, governor, I am sure your knowledge would be invaluable to us." He paused. Then he floated over to beside the table and extended his right limb forward. "Do you shake?" There was a bit of laugh in his voice.

Heiwa no tochi, Space
If the Roman soldiers held any suspicions or signs of worry at the Collective’s forces, they did not show it. Each soldier held their ground, not flinching, not even shifting in the slightest. It was clear to the Collective that the Roman Army expected nothing less than total discipline out of it’s soldiers. As the Collective’s forces entered the door to the hangar opened and out stepped a female. Soldiers saluted her as she passed by, and unlike the suits or power armor they wore
her outfit was more ornate, it appeared to be a suit of power armor but unlike the soldiers it was silver instead of black, and had golden trimming. Her brown hair flowed down behind her as her green eyes stared down the Triarian before her. She commanded an air of authority.

One of the more notable things to the Triarian was while it was clear she had made no attempts to use it, she had a vast psionic power within her, as well as two other mysterious forces the Triarii had yet to identify. Her mental barriers were also appeared to be extremely strong, as would to be expected of someone of her station.

She began to speak.

“Welcome to my command ship Collective, I am Aurora vi Italia, 2nd heir to the throne of the New Roman Empire and the Emperor’s personnel military commander.” spoke Aurora, pulling a small metal device out of her pocket. Putting it down on the ground a holographic projection of a unknown planet came up.

“This is Kibō-hosh, the planet I intend to attack next with your assistance. We Romans already suffered a defeat here, and we shall not again. The main reason for our lost was the fact that they are a warrior race. Most of their “citizens” are armed and even if the weapons are outdated they still pose a threat. We lost too many forces in the first battle, but we can support your ground forces with deployments of our more elites forces as well a mechanized forces. Space should not be a concern, as you have brought 200 ships with you, and we have 200 ships with us. Combined that with the fact that your technology is clearly superior to the Abh we should be able to take space easily. Beyond that they did deploy multiple antimatter missiles against our space fleet, these were designed to kill cities. While I doubt they have more we recommend bring anti missile countermeasures just incase. Any other questions?”

Heiwa no tochi, Ground
“If you decided to even try to tear my arm off, you would be dead before you could.” said the Roman, picking himself up off the ground. He was clearly the commander, and the abh was now surrounded by a squad of rather angry Bellator.

“Leave now, and continue about your business one” spat the Commander at the Abh, in a clearly insulting tone.

Arcadia, Statue Garden
“Unfortunately as much as I like to see how far Lelouch has progressed I must attend to my duties back on New Rome. Please inform Lelouch that his father is thinking of him, and please tell Nox that I thank him for this chance to visit.”

And with the Emperor headed off, returning to his Dreadnought and then New Rome.

Arcadia, Training Camp Lar'varis
Lelouch what as around him the two who were assigned to train summoned various magical constructs, vague humanoids made of entirely of magical energy. They had taught him various spells and then wanted to test him, to see how he would do, to see how well he had mastered his abilities. To see how powerful he was.

He did not disappoint.

As the first wave of the constructs descended on Lelouch, he wiped them away with a mere flick of his wrist, all of them be ignited. He withdrew the blade that had been given as gift to the Romans from the Roa’marii, he taken it do to his abilities. He used it as a spear, using a levitation spell to throw it into a construct, destroying it. The blade quickly flew back into his hand, as he sheathed it.

“Before I never thought I would be able to take the Abh head on, but with these abilities…” thought Lelouch, as he summoned a lightning bolt from the sky, it crackling down on another group of constructs.

“I shall make the Abh pay for what they did.”

Lelouch watched as the number of constructs grew larger and larger, surrounding him in a circle. He watched as they began pressing towards him. However Lelouch no longer saw the magical constructs as hardened shells of magical energy, he imagined them as Abh. His arms outstretched he began summoning a vast amount of magical energy to him. It swarmed in a huge cloud, as he smashed his fist down into the ground. Smoke and dust filled the air, clouding the vision of the General Blu'deri Escal and the Prime Magus. When it had finally cleared Lelouch was left with a huge black spot surrounding him, almost like a explosion, and none of the magical constructs left. Lelouch was harmed, but what was even more marvelous was that Lelouch had not cast a spell. He had manipulated the energy directly, instead of casting a spell to shape the energy.

Lelouch stepped up towards his two mentors.

“I do not think fighting magical constructs will get me anywhere anymore. I need a real challenge to test my abilities.”

Roman Colony World A-01
Klaus paused for a minute as he marveled at the machine. He gladly shaked the Builder’s hand, as a few guards carried the device off elsewhere, Klaus quickly saying something to them.

“Thank you, I am sure the New Roman Empire will appreciate this for centuries to come.” spoke Klaus.

New Rome, Magical University
Llyod tipped his glasses forward slightly as he bent forwards, observing the Roa’marii who had asked him the question.

“You are in a Roman Development lab, having come from the United Roa’marii Empire to assist in the discovery of a magical artifact. How odd that you would seem to suddenly forget that.” commented Lloyd, with a slightly creepy tone of curiosity in his tone. Llyod began stepping forward as he explained how they had come across the artifact and what little research they did have on it. However both Roman and Roa’marii gasped in shock, as a strange white orb descended down from the artifact. It magical signature was strong, broadcasting a wave that could be felt across New Rome.

The ball floated downs towards Sca'reti, beckoning to her almost to touch it. Everyone except Llyod just watched, waiting to see what would happen.

New Rome, Knightmare Frame Development Labs
Shortly after Nina had begun observing the projects and making sure everything was running smoothly, Llyod had sent in a message saying that he forgot to mention the testing of a new Knightmare Frame had begun today, and that he would like Nina to be there to make sure nothing horrible happens and that all protocols for testing are followed.

Nina had made her way to the Knightmare Frame Wing of the Lab, which had been constructed shortly after the project began. Besides actual development itself orders had been issued from command to especially train groups of soldiers for Knightmare Frame combat, rather than just relegating the task to the Space Marines. Several model chairs and such had been set up and acted as simulators. While not the best as they were not the VR of some nations, the Romans had managed to set them up to the point where they were sufficient to test for the abilities of a pilot. Nina ignored these, skipping straight to the heart of the Knightmare Frame Wing.

Nina watched the new Knightmare Frame model being placed alongside the old model, the old model had been named the Ganymede, while the new model was named the Berliner. The Ganymedes seemed much more bulky with their huge blue legs and arms, compared to the sleek black Berliners. The old Ganymedes also only possessed a antiproton streamer and railgun on each arm, while the Berliners had clearly been built much more deadly. While like the Ganymedes they had a railgun on each arm, instead of a regular antiproton streamer a dual-beam one had been placed. In addition to the float system that allowed the Knightmare Frames to fly, a artillery like device had been placed on their backs. Odd spear-like devices had also been placed on the hips and wrists of the Berliners, 4 in total. Special scanners had also been placed on the front, called fact-o-spheres by the development team, allowing the Berliners to get a much more detailed view of the battlefield. Special wheel like devices had also been placed on the legs, giving the Berliners a much greater degree of mobility on ground.

A member of the development team stepped up to Nina. Nina turned towards them and squeaked out a Hello, as he began to strike up a conservation.

“The massive amount of development we have put into the Berliner model is thanks to you Nina, without your advanced Yggdrasil Drive which effectively doubled the output of the drive we could not have done it. Also in addition to the new systems we were also able to increased the speed of the float system and the shield strength.” said the development team member.

“It all looks great...but wasn’t there more planned functionality? I remember submitting a design that almost tripled the output original Yggdrasil Drive.” quietly commented Nina, watching as the researchers prepped for the test.

“While that is true the drive is expensive to manufacture and will not work with mass-production frames like the Berliner. Llyod said he would reserve them for specialized commander versions of the Berliner and unique frames for Elite pilots.” responded the researcher.

“I see…” finished Nina, as the test began.

As the test began it was clear that the Berliner was superior. It outperformed the Ganymede in all aspects, moving faster and gathering data faster, as well as beating it in the weapons and combat test. The purpose of the spears-like devices were revealed, they were attached to the Berliner by a long carbon nanotube rope, and acted as piercing weapon as well as a device that allowed them to scale walls or mountains if needed. The artillery piece on the back fired off bombs, which the development team member told Nina were called chaos bombs. They exploded into a shower of plasma, causing a lot of trouble. At the end of the test the Berliner was declared superior, and the team celebrated.

“I have nothing to say beyond to begin mass-producing the Berliners. With the sakuradite from Area 1 we will be able to construct hundreds...the Abh will fall easily.” commented Nina, leaving to attend to other business in the labs.

Ashes to Ashes
A short while after the Triarii sent their message a message was received from a small base on the surface, which scans by the Triarii revealed had a huge underground section and was surrounded by a environmental shield.

“Coordinates transmitted. Please note that due to security concerns the base is enforcing a radio-silence policy wherein no message are to be transmitted by comms systems outside of the system, messages may only be transmitted in-system. If information must be revealed to your main governmental body, a courier ship can be provided or you may supply your own.”

Super Dreadnought Bitter Work, 2nd Fleet of Recalcitrant Justice Flagship
High orbit of Luga IX, Luga system, Chelonian Dominion.

The night sky of Luga IX was alight with actinic fire as giants clashed high above. Orbital fortresses, weapon satellites, and a squadron of beleaguered light cruisers found themselves in a doomed battle against the forces of the 2nd fleet of Recalcitrant Justice. From his crash couch aboard the Bitter Work Dominator Brosh-Vataga saw the battle, or massacre, unfold in real time and felt a deep melancholy. His duty was an unfortunate one, but it was needed to preserve the rule of law. The planetary branch of the Ministry of State had incited a revolt against Dominion authority on Luga IX 180 hours prior, they claimed that the current Vaata-Kreg was leading the Dominion towards disaster and that their only hope of survival was to break away from the Home Office on Chelona and start anew. It was unfortunate that their words had gotten such traction and that they had managed to sway all orbital defense forces. If they had remained loyal then perhaps the Dominator would not have been needed. Many innocents would die for their transgressions, but that was the way it had to be.

The Bitter Work shuddered as another volley of missiles left their Gauss launchers. The battle had lasted a little less than an hour, most of it spent maneuvering into firing positions. 2nd Fleet had more than one hundred combat ships at her disposal, but even without the massive numerical advantage space war always favors the attacker over the defender. The rebel cruisers had been turned into pincushions by invisible beams of coherent radiation from dozens of sources, and weapon satellites were little more than disposable missile clusters, without ammunition they were no longer a threat. The orbital forts had fared slightly better, two of them had miraculously managed to survive the first volley of fire from 2nd Fleet in fighting condition. This was not to last of course, the latest spread from the Bitter Work and the other warships in the fleet put an end to their fruitless rebellion.

As the dust settled, the part of these operations that Dominator Brosh-Vataga hated the most was set to begin. The rebellious leaders would have to be made example of. Were this a normal insurrection they could have simply sent down ground forces to wrench the capitol from the traitor's hands and keep the infrastructure intact. Unfortunately the Luga system was home to one of the Dominion's precious antimatter worlds and letting any potential traitors stand with something so important on the line simply would not stand. For the sake of the Dominion, Luga IX would have to be made example of. Bitter Work would handle the duty of purification alone as it was only right that the flagship alone be the one to put the world to the sword.

Brosh-Vataga motioned for his comm officer to patch him into Luga IX's public broadcast network. The people deserved to know the crimes for which they to be punished. Clearing his throat, Brosh-Vataga began, "Citizens of Luga IX, your planetary leadership has been found guilty of the most heinous of crimes. They have deceived you through their lies into rising against the rightful authority of the Dominion and for their crimes I am afraid you must all suffer. Those loyal few of you who spoke out against these traitorous vermin and alerted us take heart, you shall be martyrs to the cause of peace and security of our glorious Dominion. For those who stood in open opposition know this; your names will be forgotten, your fleeting accomplishments shall be stricken from history, all that will remain of you and your legacy shall be glass and ash. You threatened that which is most precious to the Dominion and for that there will be no recourse, no mercy, no hope for you and your ilk. Make peace with your gods for you will find none with me." The Dominator severed the connection to Luga IX and nodded to his tactical officer as he sank back into his crash couch.

A trio of massive warheads began to descend onto Luga IX from the belly of the Bitter Work. As they entered the atmosphere they began to divert course from one another to focus on their respective targets. At a height of 100km the trio began to unfurl and split apart. Each weapon unleashed a total of sixty self-guiding submunitions from their bodies down towards the surface of Luga IX. Each submunition was a 2MT fusion warhead, their simple targeting AIs were programmed for continental denial. Primary targets were population centers, followed by arable land, and finishing with military bases as the lowest target priority. As the emissaries of death fell their simple AIs came to a consensus on target placement and which bombs were to fall where. The simplicity and smoothness of the operation was beautiful in a way that was lost on the terrified citizens of Luga IX and the traitor soldiers who remained at their posts waiting for an enemy that would never come even as the bombs found their mark.

Luga IX had been a garden world with a population of 4 billion pre-rebellion. After Rebellion it was estimated that 180 thousand had survived the initial attack, but would not survive the next year without outside assistance. Assistance the Dominion had no intention of sending.

The Golden System of New Rome
The Line
Situation: Assemble, Coagulate, Clamp

There was a silence for a prolonged period of time before the Collective ships responded. A deep, vocoded voice grated through the communications channel. The Collective thrived on it's image as a single, omnipotent force. It generated fear in its foes and served as a basic form of psychological warfare. It was a 'Collective' and this image was vital to it's strategy. It was clear to the Abh even from this short message that the Collective had a very detached view of the situation and certainly weren't joining the Romans for any moral reasons or convictions.
"The Collective has chosen the course of action best suited to advancing its own aims. This is one is Fleet Master Gaius Cornicen, shipmaster of the Dux. Identify yourselves."

Heiwa no tochi, Space
Roman Capital Ship
Situation: Inquire, Negotiate, Plan

The numerous collective personnel all slammed their right fists against their chestplates the moment the Princess introduced herself to them, which caused a loud crashing noise as fists smashed against armoured chests. Fleet Master Tiberius Corvus nodded slowly and approached the hologram, examining it before speaking. Quickly, the opaque black peeled back on his visor, making it transparent from the outside. It revealed his thick grey skin and noseless face with its small, tightly drawn mouth and large, glossy black eyes that reflected her face in them. There was a thin trim of orange around them and when he blinked this thin orange iris closed into the center of his eyes in a spiral before his eyelids would close sideways. These eyes slowly ran up and down Aurora's body, examining her and her armour intently

"Greetings Aurora vi Italia, this one is honoured to meet a specimen such as yourself. I do not believe their citizens shall be a problem. I have watched my Hara-ka associates..." He gestured to the Synth Soldiers surrounding him "...smash their way through the concrete buildings of the humans and turn their enemies into bloody pulps." He moved slowly forwards and away from his cohort "Besides that, there is a way to make their wish to resist completely... irrelevant. You see, the sentient mind is a tinderbox of electrical charges most can only begin to understand. Now, most brains are but receivers, but some are... advanced, sending and receiving charges as they choose.."

He moved forwards towards the hologram and took a small dull grey device from his side and held it out. The hologram of a strange alien device appeared. It had a circular base with three pentagon indents, two of which were filled by two large cylinders and the third of which was clearly designed for an occupant, perhaps the devices controller. From this base rose a spire of metal with several metal tubes moving up from the base and connecting to the various parts of the spire and on the top it split into two prongs. "This is the Psionic Beacon. With it, we Triarii can send any message we want. We will construct this device everywhere. In the end the Abh will be ours. Mind, body, and if you like, soul."

He adjusted himself and moved even closer towards the hologram, placing his own metal projector inside the holographic planet. There was a flash and a few moments later he withdrew the grey lump of metal, which began to project the same hologram into the air above his hands. Several areas of the planet began to glow green and a single small area pulsed with red

"We will begin the Psychic invasion by erecting the beacons in these green lit areas. Once the network is fully erected it will allow us dominance of every mind on the planet." All lights faded from the planet except the small, pulsing red one...

"What is to be done with the planet once we own their minds?" He inquired as he withdrew the device and swiped his fingers down the cold metal to disable it, before placing it back onto his utility belt and looking up to the Princess again.

Ashes to Ashes
Secrets of the Ancients
Situation: Midnight, Investigate, Establish

The Indespectus ship turned silently and glided towards the small base, slowly setting its self down. The Spectre team disembarked with a large group of Argutus scientists in tow. The contrasting black armour of the Spectres on the white of the background scenery was stark, as were the alien weaponry they were carrying with them. The hulking black armoured Hara-Ka drifted slowly to the side to reveal Postuma and Manfred Little, who were quite clearly the two commanders of the operation.
"Get those scientists into the structure!" Manfred barked as two Hara-Ka quickly herded the Argutus out of the cold and into the base.
"Manfred, get me an evaluation of the perimeter defences." Postuma ordered and the transhuman quickly spun to face her before slamming his fist against his chest. He spun on his heel again and gestured to the hara-ka, marching towards them and yelling out orders. Postuma sans her escourts now proceeded further towards the base, sighing heavily. as she did. She realised this would be a long, glorified guard duty and she would rather be performing other duties. These assignments were usually safe but also uneventful. She had no doubt that the discoveries made her would be useful in the future of the Romans and the Collective and the names of the researchers would almost certainly be recorded and glorified after the fact, buy for a Spectre such as her these assignments were a waste of her skills. More Spectres would likely be brought in over time, hopefully with pieces of media for when they were off duty, otherwise this could drag out for a long, long time coming...

"We have reports of multiple ships entering real space in our vicinity! It must be hundreds, thousands!" This line was uttered in one for or another dozens of times on the command deck of the TCS "Invictus", a Legate class Dreadnought and flagship of the Cardian defence fleet. Baron Jullaran did not only get these frantic reports from his own bridge but also from all the other ships in his fleet. Slowly he also got requests from other the barons living on Cardia what was going on. In all honesty, he didnt know. Last time he checked the war for the fringe world colony with the Draconians was over and resulted in victory, though at a heavy cost of life. Duchess Azazel had been victorious in conquering the planet and right after that the higher ups brokered a peace agreement with the Draconians. But now... Would the Draconians have betrayed them?

"My lord, we are being hailed by the unknown fleet!" One of the junior communications officers yelled in panic. "What should I do sir!?" Jullaran thought the exact same thing... What should he do. If only the Duchess was there to guide them, she would know perfectly what to do. He was but a mere baron who got his position just by birth right... No, that wasnt true. The Duchess gave him this position, that meant that she trusted him. But what could he do against this?

As he was contemplating things were far less chaotic on the surface. Cardia was probably the worst world to encounter next to Tallarn itself. For Cardia was the gateway to the Confederacy... Cardia was the fortress to protect the Confederacy against invaders. All of the citizens were trained from birth to fight and die for the Confederacy. It supplied over half of the Army's troops and even more of it's commanders. Even the children were to be used to defend the planet, be it as couriers or saboteurs. At this very moment, the moment that the orbital fleet was doubting, the people of Cardia reported in to their assigned posts. The surface-to-orbit weaponry was pointed up in the skies. Tanks and troopcarriers were rolling through the streets and the airforce was preparing to launch. If an invasion were to come, the Cardians were ready.

Ofcourse... that was the theory. But this was the first time any alien force entered Confederate space in centuries. The people on the surface were unprepaired for this and the mobilisation went alot slower then expected. At the moment Jullaran made his decision only 5% of the population was under arms... And half of those were part of active the Planet Defence Force.

After half a minute of thinking someone else hailed the "Invictus". After a brief exchange of words the other end of the line broke it's contact and Jullaran knew what to do.

"Get me in direct control with their commander! Meanwhile, make sure that the fleet will be protecting the defence stations. If any battle were to occur they would prove vital to the defence of the planet." The comms officer responded and asked what the hailing message should be. Jullaran responded with: "That they are on Cardia, souvreign Confederate space and that they are transgressing! We will allow them to state their business, if it's not to our liking then they have half an hour to leave. If they wont accept that offer then we will show them how we Cardians deal with intruders!"

And with that message the Cardian Defence Fleet responded.

IR1211 (5 years prior to current events)
1st Imperial Morte Expeditionary Fleet
At Blume Vier

"We've reached Blume Vier, Sir! Our ships on the front are approximately 500 skm (space kilometers) from the planet's surface." Oberleutnant Braun said. "Exit warp, take up defensive formation! Leutnant Kranke, relay my order the transport vessels to begin their landing procedure!" Kampführer Sterbstahl said."Understood""Aye, Sir. Reducing warp field." In spite of recent turn of event the 1st Imperial Morte Expeditionary Fleet reached their destination without suffering any loses. Now, the only issue was how the large fleet of unknown aliens would react? So far the situation was far too ambiguous for Sterbstahl's liking. Regardless, the fleet has their psychic wave absorbers on full combat status, knowing that the aliens surely won't try to use their mental powers again.

54th Exploration Fleet, Unknown System

I looked at the fleet in front of me, a swarm of ships that could threaten my crews life and my life. I opened the line. "I greet you in the name of the Democracies. I shall be honest with you." I paused, mincing my words. "We are stuck. We have landed lightyears from our borders and for some reason, our ftl drives do not work in your borders. You have just met one of the most infamous enemies of my country. We are stuck here. We are stranded. I offer, as the highest ranking officer of this fleet, an alliance. Your blood will be our blood. Your wars shall be our wars. Your losses will be mourned as much as our losses. The blood of your enemies shall run. They shall be crushed under our United feet."

I wait.

"Sir, I pick up a new message coming from that fleet. Accompanying psychic wave detected." Leutnant Kranke said. "Status? Nature of attack?" Sterbstahl asked. After the Ixian wars all communication officers also became responsible for psychic countermeasures, a duty which Morteans were throughly drilled for yet haven't required to do since the last a century. "Psychic countermeasures are stable, negligible change. Attack is recognized as uniform and encompassing the whole crew... Sir, I don't get this! Brainwave detectors say the field intensity is below the Kraepelin limit. How's that possible?" Leutnant Kranke felt confused. Kraepelin limit was a minimum intensity of brainwave fields to harmfully effect Mortean minds. It's based on empirical data from both Ixian Wars. Unless Leonore's sensors were malfunctioning it said that the psychic attack is too weak to do anything to them. That was unusual. Similarly for the aliens trying the exact same attack twice when they know it failed.

"It's a trick. Bet they use some sophisticated masking technology to goad us to lower our defenses! It's a proof they're afraid! They don't risk to attack us! Sir, if I may suggest I would like to lead a detachment of 20 frigates and 100 destroyers to crush our enemy!" Stabskapitän Sturm said. He was a young man who haven't even fought in the 3rd Luxon War. He was an excellent graduate and fine officer material but lacked experience. The Mortean leadership sent him on this expedition with this exact purpose. That being said, Sturm's logic wasn't really wrong. It reflected the general mentality of the Mortean military leadership and what Sturm had been taught in the academy. Same mentality can be also described by other civilizations as 'dangerously paranoiac', mind it Morteans have over a thousand years of historical reasons to support this. Yet this way of thinking also led to the Morteans to erase an entire race of psychics out of fear. Not like Sterbstahl felt any remorse over eradicating billions. Death is just a matter of course, it happens to anyone. But exterminating the Ixians indirectly lead to the 3rd Luxon War and then this long range expedition of his now.

As such Kamführer Sterbstahl shared a much different view. "Rejected. While your reasoning may sound true, we are in unknown territories with an unknown race. Under no circumstances we can allow to split our forces, understood?" "Yes, Sir!" Sturm obediently accepted Sterbstahl's unofficial reprimand. Meanwhile an almost impossible thought formed within the Kampführer's mind. "Leutnant Kranke! Your record states you received Class A mental shield training. Is that true?" "Yes, Sir. But why wou-..." "Leutnant Kranke, I order you to deactivate your psychic absorber, now!" "What?" Sterbstahl said something completely unexpected. "But...affirmative, Sir!" Refusing the order of a superior officer was almost unthinkable,Leonore had no choice but to comply. "Leonore, transfer all psychic monitoring rights to the sensory chief Obertleutnant Braun." "Understood! Transfering brainwave scanner and psychic field countermeasures to Oberleutnant Herbert Braun now!" "Obertleutnant Braun, you have temporary control over our psychic defenses, do your duty and also pay special attention to Leutnant Kranke's readings." "Aye, Sir." Braun replied, it'd take a minute but he'd be ready soon.

"Sir, may I ask your reason?" Concerned, Leonore made this question. "Yes. I have a reason to believe we're in a misunderstanding. Ixians used psychic communications to control and brainwash our people. But these xenos are not Ixians. My suspicion is that they are attempting some sorts of psychic interpretive communication." "Sir, you mean communication means that is past languages?" "Indeed. This may also resolve our problem decoding the xenos language. Based on these two factors I determined you Leutnant Leonore Kranke as the best candidate for the job. Don't worry, if you were to taken over by them I swear to execute you personally." "Thank you, Sir." Morteans never feared death but were afraid to fail their mission. Sterbstahl reassured Leonore that she won't compromise the ship's crew. "Obertleutnant Krakne, deactivate psychic dampeners in the comms and listen to the xenos' message once over! This is your order!" "Yes, sir!" "Obertleutnant Braun I order you to monitor Leutnant Kranke as your top priority! Your duties as sensory chief are temporarily taken over by Leutnant Hauser." "Aye, Sir. I'll perform my best!" Sterbstahl gave his orders. Now it was time to see what the aliens really wanted to say!

Expeditionary Fleet Theros, IR1211 (5 years prior to current events)

Fires burned softly against the backdrop of the night, illuminating scattered areas that had not seen destruction. In several cases the fires roared to stupendous heights, traveling hundreds of feet into the air as they consumed the fuel provided to them, spreading ever slowly. Rubble lay strewn about the concourse, shattered and cracked from the impact of the fall which had been facilitated by the personnel of the 43rd Expeditionary Fleet, Fleet Theros. Thousands of infantry strode through the wreckage of the once mighty hill, sifting through the wreckage in hopes of finding their prize: a magical resonance which matched no known signatures. Unable to utilize any form of scanning technique due to the interference, it was left to the hands and eyes of the Sakari to find the item.

Five ships broke through the cloud cover, repulsor engines flaring brightly as they decelerated from the atmospheric entry. Of small size, they were rarely-seen Netori-class frigates, used primarily for rapid troop deployment in large numbers, scouting missions, or in-atmosphere support. Already touched down were two Cantarin battlecruisers, although they had not disgorged their full load of troops onto the ground. Settling slowly, the three frigates ceased their movement, a small rubble accompanying the stop. Admiral Vostach watched the proceedings from atmosphere, gaining direct visual data from the psy-network, enabling him to observe in real-time unimpeded.

One of the bridge crew of his ship, a Dasius dreadnought named Sin and Damnation, approached him, bowing shortly before proceeding into her report.

“Two groups of unknown vessels have been detected by the passive sensors. I do not believe they have detected us for they lie on the opposite side of this planet, but measures should be taken in some form to either contact them or ensure our victory should the need arise,” she spoke. Vostach considered the situation carefully. Doctrine indicated that if any civilization were encountered weak enough to be overcome, they should be overcome immediately. If not, care should be taken to establish relations with the group, friendly ties that would enable victory in the future. It seemed it would be the second option.

“Very well. Crew, take us to the groupings. Fleet Theros, remain here until further notice.” With the order given, the Sin and Damnation pulled away from the fleet and hurtled over the planet, moving towards the grouping of ships in the distance. Waiting for approximately 30 seconds, he then transmitted a radio message towards both fleets, “This is the Sin and Damnation of the C’ran Dominion. May we request information as to your presence here?”

"Sir, I picked up masses of unique space-time distortions directly opposite to the planet! They don't match any known parameters!" Leutnant Hauser, the new temporary sensory chief said. "Are they similar to hyperspace exits?" Sterbstahl asked, considering their previous hostile encounter. "No sir! They aren't like anything we know!" Hauser felt ashamed but he had no choice but to tell the truth. "Damn it! One after another! If it keeps up I may have to speak with the Kaiser to abort this mission. This is like a breeding nest of trouble! Order the fleets to send out 6 fighter squadrons to check! We can't risk endangering our colonists!" With that 6 squadrons of altogether 72 fighters launched to scout the blind spot behind the planet.

"Sir, Grumbar Squadron reports they've picked up an unknown large ship, coming towards us! Shall they engage?" Second communications officer Kevin Jager said. He took over Leonore's duties while she was listening to the alien fleet's message. "Of course not! Take evasive actions and continue with the mission!" Sterbstahl quickly gave his order. Their defenses over there was far more than sufficient to deal with a single ship, whatever it is. "Our sensors picked up the new vessels, type unknown, based on mass and energy signature readings it must be a dreadnought." Leutnant Hauser said somewhat nervously. Becoming a sensory chief all of sudden took its toll. Having a powerful alien warship approaching them when by Mortean standards they were already at 'knife-fighting range' didn't help matters. "Sir, incoming transmission from the unidentified ship!" Oberfähnrich Jager told. "No psychic brainwave signal with the new message. Leutnant Kranke's psyche is also still stable." Obertleutnant Braun who recently took over their psychic defenses reassured the crew. "Open the channel." Sterbstahl ordered.
"Lona Isono Ukufa C'ran. Kwangathi siyanicela ulwazi ngokuthi phambi kwakho lapha?"
As expected the message was in yet another foreign alien language. Sterbstahl almost wished this also had a psychic signature with it.

"Send our standard first contact message to them..." Sterbstahl said, almost with a resigned tone. "Sir, do you mean the message we sent to the other fleet less than a hour ago?" "Yes, just do it!" This was the third new alien race they discovered within a single day. Sterbstahl was certain this day would be remembered in their history books. The only question was whether it gets a positive note.
Message was sent to the C'ran flagship Sin and Damnation which read as the following:
"Greetings, this is the 1st Expeditionary Fleet of the Morte Empire! We're coming with peace and to claim the fourth planet on this uninhabited system."
Of course the message was sent in Mortean but the C'ran technology would allow them to translate the contents soon.

---

"Oberleutnant Braun, status report!" "Psychic influence is active but negligible. All signs are clear!" Braun stated. "Sir, if I may?" Leutnant Kranke said, turning to Sterbstahl. The kampführer responded with a small nod. "Your suspicion was right, Sir. It was an interpretive telepathic message. I listened to both transmissions a few times and wrote down their exact words. They are no aggressors, the other fleet also wants peace!" Leonore said and turned to Braun who monitored his brain. "She isn't lying, Sir." Came the confirmation. "I see. Display their message on our console!" "Aye, sir."
/Hello there, I come in peace/
/I hail from the Tay'Ran Jik Democracies and I was sent here to find new territory. I see that you have occupied this system so I shall do no harm. I wish for cooperation between our countries. I have sent you the first contact package to your ships hardware. If you would like, I will send the diplomats onboard and five security guards to board your ships and conduct negotiations between our two stellar nations./
/I greet you in the name of the Democracies. I shall be honest with you./
/We are stuck. We have landed lightyears from our borders and for some reason, our ftl drives do not work in your borders. You have just met one of the most infamous enemies of my country. We are stuck here. We are stranded. I offer, as the highest ranking officer of this fleet, an alliance. Your blood will be our blood. Your wars shall be our wars. Your losses will be mourned as much as our losses. The blood of your enemies shall run. They shall be crushed under our United feet./

"They are...quite eager, I think?" Obertleutnant Braun Heinlein said, surprised. "Kamführer Sterbstahl, may I remind you this could be still just an elaborate ruse by the aliens?" Sturm said, still adamant about his views. "I don't neglect the possibility, Stabskapitän Sturm. But they gave us enough reason to at least attempt negotiations. Oberleutnant Braun, keep monitoring Leutnant Kranke. Leonore Kranke, you will relay the following message:"

"Greetings, this is the 1st Expeditionary Fleet of the Mortean Empire. Our past gave us heavy reasons to distrust psychic powers so we almost mistook your interpretive telepathy as a direct attack. That being said we've come with peace to colonize this uninhabited planet for our kind. We are open to negotiations and welcome your diplomats. Although considering our special circumstances and the sake of my crew, I wish to conduct the talks without psychic assistance. Our translators are already working to decode your language, combined with our interpreter devices we can soon converse on your own language."

The Prime Quad-Sector Holi Forix, Central Andromeda

One of the ships' frontal beam relocated, shifting back through the center, and ending up at the very rear, whatever reason it had, these ships of war, armed with weapons of unknown caliber, seemed to defy the laws of this galaxy, as well as the next. All this was made known, great Mageos', Astropaths, guiding and looking through the cosmos through the sub-dimensional arcanum. The great Mageos, powerful spellbenders, arcanum weavers, what say you.

One such individual was aboard one of these five patrol vessels, Krubak Mahn, newly appointed Astro-Mageos of the vessel Pillar of Vashjik. The Pillar of Vashjik, a warrior of the Pijkar class, and also veteran of nearly ten thousand years. The vessel was the final ship produced from Kharnac's personal drydock on Shakkur, the capital planet of the Humbarr-sector.

It's weapons had reached stagnation, unfired for nearly a thousand years, and the crew aboard it, were almost all veterans of at least the same lenght. Standing as the prime capital class warship of the sector, it held almost constant activity on patrol missions, but it also held a renewable ground force of roughly 30 000 Subjects of Kadrak Umbrah. Warriors of the surface.

Much like this particular patrol, there were another journeying the boarders of the Kuyann-sector, but also hundred more, all seeing to it that the Theocracy stands guarded. This patrol scheme has been supposedly perfectly planned out, each miniscule detail, explained through a hundred words and a hundred thoughts, as to how they should be performed. Every inch changed between ship modules is perfectly elaborated into the grand scheme, and every milimeter of the planets changed location is deeply calculated and incorporated.

IR1214 (2 years prior to current events)
234th Imperial Morte Patrol Fleet
Uncharted Space

"Damage report!" Roared Fregattenkapitän Konrad Steinmetz. His fleet was supposed to test a warp-assisted hyperspace jump method. The method worked in theory and several unmanned attempts were successful yet something went terribly with the live test. That's all Steinmetz could tell, they need to find out the rest. For now it's certain they're alive. "Hyperspace carrier Hyperion-02 is missing, reports indicate it exploded mid-travel. Our warp systems have several inexplicable malfunctions and unable to go beyond warp 1.205. All other systems are functioning normally." The answer came and it didn't make Steinmetz much happier. They're stuck somewhere out of nowhere and with no chance to travel home. "Navigations chief, did you find our position?" Knowing is half the battle, or in this case half the journey. "Yes, but I'm afraid you won't like it, Sir. I managed to find the Toderstern System but..." Navigations chief Hans Günsche took a pause which infuriated Steinmetz further. "But? Continue on, Leutnant!" "It's approximately 3000 lightyears away." The news were indeed shocking. Technically their warp-assisted hyperdrive travel would only take them at best for a hundred lightyears. They neither have the food nor the antimatter supplies to make a 3000 lightyear journey, maximum warp or not. For all purposes they were stuck on a completely foreign world.
"There's no choice. Send out an emergency signal to homeworld! If we're lucky it reaches them within a year. Until then we must explore this uncharted territory for the Morte Empire!"

The boy began to laugh, paying no attention to the bellator that surrounded him.

"Gee, a whole squad just for me? I'm flattered, sir!" He said, bowing in the way one would only bow at the most formal of functions. "What, do you people think that this planet is the beginning of some grand conquest into Abh space? Already acting like we're a lower life form, using the best derogatory terms you can come up with, which aren't that good."

The boy observed the soldier, looking him up and down as if searching for something. Apparently, he didn't find anything.

"Gee, you're quite a specimen. I've heard that you people get bigger and weaker when you eat, that's really weird!" He said in a tone cheerful enough to make him sound like an innocent young boy, even though he was probably in high school. "Well, I've got to get going! I'm trying out a new dish today, have you ever tried noodles with squashed tomatoes? No, of course you haven't, you wouldn't have tomatoes on your planet. You should come over sometime and try some, if it doesn't make you too big to fight, of course!"

The boy ran off, happy to know just how the Romans reacted. He hadn't expected for them to call in an entire separate squad to deal with some guy being passive-aggressive. He could probably get some lady to ask for help getting her cat out of a tree, and he'd have drawn half the army away from their HQ.

---

Clearly the noodles. There's something wrong with the noodles.

A wad of half-eaten noodles lay on top of the plate, which itself was filled with some unholy union of noodles, cheese, and badly prepared tomato sauce. The boy just stared at it, unsure of what he had done wrong. He thought everything had gone perfectly, and he had prepared the noodles a dozen different ways already, but they never came out right.

They seem too thin, but that's just a quirk of my memory, right?

He stared at the food longer, so deep in thought that the sight of his half-eaten wad didn't bother him.

"WHEAT AND FLOUR!" He exclaimed, slapping his forehead.

The door to the room creaked open, and another Abh poked her head through.

"What? Did you figure out something with your crazy dream tomato noodles?"

"Yes! I need long, thick noodles made out of wheat and flour!"

"Lasec, did it ever occur to you that food you see in dreams might not be good?"

"Hey, do you even know how good it looked in the dream? That stuff looked awesome!"

"Then why didn't you eat it?"

"For some reason, I thought I couldn't stomach noodles."

The other Abh walked over to Lasec, standing next to him and trying not to look at either the wad of noodles or the unholy matrimony that it stood upon. Her hair was an oddity, not because of its color (It was a soothing blue, not rare in any way), but because of how it grew. For whatever reason, it grew extremely quickly until it reached a certain length, and then it just stopped. At this point, she had given up and just let it hang down near her hips. In fact, she stopped growing not when it was time, but when she had reached a seemingly predetermined height. Her ears were also an oddity, being far larger than they had any right to be. They even drooped slightly, extending further from her head than those of anyone else on the planet. It was not a fact she was particularly fond of keeping to herself.

"Seriously, what makes you think these dreams have any bearing on reality?"

"Remember the stew-ish stuff I made a while back?"

"The surprisingly good stuff with the burnt flour in it?"

"Yeah, well, I got that from a dream. I literally read the recipe."

"Like you could remember a recipe from a dream, or anything, for that matter."

"Oh yeah? Well, there was this really tall pot on the stove, and it had a whole chicken in it, with a bunch of plants floating above it. I had just finished putting the plants in, after cutting them on this little counter in the middle of the room. Some guy told me to read off the rest of the ingredients, and I looked at the recipe. It was on a restaurant table, but it was in a house. Anyways, the next thing in the recipe was... Khe... Kheer... something with a "kh" sound at the start and a "sa" at the end. There was some other sound that I can't pronounce. So, the guy brings whatever it is out and sets it on the counter. It's this... this cylinder of meat. So, I pick up a knife to cut it, then I look at him. He was an alien, round ears flush to his head, short grayish brown hair, and these big eyes. Oh! His skin was odd too, it was... peach? Well, it was strangely pale. I didn't know it then, but..."

The other Abh finished his sentence, something that they didn't need their bond to do.

"He was a Roman!"

"Yeah... I was cooking with a Roman two weeks before I met one."

"Somehow, that's creepier than your weird hand thing."

"Well, healing people by acting like you're holding a pen is more awesome than creepy. Cooking with people you only know as 'demons from the fifth planet' and 'animals in a person's skin'? Really damn creepy. Especially considering what I called him."

"Huh? What did you call him."

"Father."

((SORRY SORRY SORRY HAD TO GET THIS UP WILL DO MORE LATER KTHXBAI))

((SORRY))

General Blu'deri Escal was impressed, to say the least. The Roman obviously had incredible potential, and this training had succeeded in tapping into it. He would be immensely powerful once he had gained complete control of what he held. Not many were gifted with the type of magic he possessed, and even fewer could handle the strain of using it. Yes, it was time to further his training and test him in actual battle situations. As the Roman had said, the magical constructs were getting him nowhere at this point. Perhaps he could be used to assist in a few problems going on in the Arcadian Jungles.

"Well, you obviously have a good grasp on your power, but I wonder how well you would do in an active battle situation. Since the constructs are beneath you at this point, you're being recruited. There was a recent rebellion in the jungles by the Naga that call it home. They've been raiding border towns for a few months now, but by the time any troops get there they're gone. We've been planning an invasion of the jungles for a while, but it's been low priority. The Naga tend to keep to themselves for the most part. You will be equipped with standard Roa'marii armor and weaponry. You will be sent in along with a unit from my own 48th legion. The rest of the troops sent on this mission will come from the 13th legion in charge of Roa'marii frontier defence. The Naga are very fond of Guerilla Warfare, so this should be good training for both quickly reacting to a sudden attack and restraining yourself so as not to endanger allies. Now, please follow me inside for a briefing on your particular role in this mission."

The General immediately turned and started walking towards the main command building. Once there, they went to the a large room with a holographic 3D map of the nearby jungles. Seated at the far end of the table was a Roa'marii officer wearing combat armor. When the general entered, the man looked up before quickly standing.

"General Escal, a pleasure to see you again. I had heard you were in the area. Have you come to offer your own input in the plan against the Naga?"

"I have, but I'm also adding another part to the assault. I'm currently training a Xenos, one of the newly encountered Romans, in his innate magical abilities. I'm assigning him and a unit of soldiers from my legion to the assault. I hope your 13th don't mind."

Seeming to notice Lelouch for the first time, the officer gave him a quick look over.

"Well, I suppose you can be added into the plan. Yes, this could work. Alright, you're in. Since the 48th are accompanying you I assume, you will be deployed along with them from here at the Training Camp." The officer said, pointing to the camp's location on the map. Then, the map zoomed out to show the majority of the Jungle. Pointing to three different towns along the edges of the jungle, the officer explained further.

"These towns will also be staging grounds for the planned attack on the jungle fortresses of the Naga. From these two, Novis and Alafro, forces will be sent to converge on a Naga outpost here before continuing on to the main prize of the Naga's Capitol. A third will be sent from here, Cathacia, to send a single strike down the central path to the Capitol. They will be the most vulnerable during the journey, and as such we will be coming down the mountain to assist them. Our first objective is a Naga outpost here. Once taken we can reinforce and re supply before heading to a small Naga Town. With luck, we should arrive there first and take the pressure off the force from Cathacia. From there we will travel with them to the Capitol and hopefully make it at the same time our other forces do. Combined we will surround the city and capture it with ease."

Then, General Escal spoke up. "The jungles are thick, and heavy support will not be able to assist us. The journey will be made by foot through the jungles. I myself will be flying recon over you, but don't expect a warning about incoming enemies. The canopies are thick. I will assist in the fighting for the outpost and cities however. I hope you are ready to do some marching through the mud. If you have any questions as to your part feel free to ask. Now, if we're done here, you need to get fitted for some real armor and need to learn how to use a mana rifle. Shouldn't be too hard with your inner abilities."

As the Naga roamed the streets of Cathacia, a group of ships closed in on the town. Each ship carried a number of Roa'marii soldiers who would be sent into the jungles in the mission to defeat the Naga once more and bring them back under the control of he Roa'marii. These ships closed in from above and instantly noticed the Naga running through the town. One officer aboard the lead ship would be the first to comment

"Damn, looks like we came just in time. Let's show the lizards we mean business."

As the ships came closer, they sped up, coming in quickly to the town in hopes of catching the Naga off guard. As the first few ships started to land, the Naga began to run. Grouping up near. Their tank, the Naga commander quickly ordered them to fire on the incoming ships. As Roa'marii soldiers disembarked, they were set upon by a barrage of mana shots from the Naga's mana rifles. Some soldiers fell while others found places to take cover. As this fighting broke out, those living in the town picked up weapons and began to fight back against the Naga. Then came the thunderous blast as the tank let loose its firepower. As the shots struck the Roa'marii ships, they exploded. A large number of soldiers were caught in the explosions as some of the ships carrying them were destroyed. Yet the Naga were forced back towards the edge of the town, refusing to turn tail and run back to the relative safety of the jungles.

The Nightmare Emperor watched the Admiral closely as he agreed to join the United Empire. He frowned slightly before speaking.

"You don't seem to like this decision of your president. I don't wish to force anything on your people. However, I will accept this decision if it is truly what your Democracies want. A new member of the United Empire is always welcome. I will recommend you leave this particular planet alone for a time. After fighting off members of your species, regardless of their corruption, the people of Dullahan are not very likely to accept you into their society with open arms. The wounds will heal, but it will take time. Now, if this is all you wish to say, I will take my leave. But if you have any opinions to express, personal or otherwise, speak now."

General Zer'icia Velkorn strolled through the courtyard just outside the Keep. After dealing with the fairies below the keep and the lone Sakari of the C'ran Dominion, she had come up to hear of the battle which had taken place. Currently she was visiting the dead and dying still strewn across the streets. The bodies were being collected, the majority of those belonging to the xenos to be burned with some exceptions going to her personally for dissection. Those who lived were taken to the nearest hospital or medical building, mainly the keep itself. If they were obviously too wounded to live, they were given a quick, clean death at the hands of the general personally. Such was an honor for the Roa'marii to be with what equated to one of their gods during their final moments. The xenos on the other hand saw it as simply the punishment for their crime of losing their fight.

As the cleanup continued, the occasional hidden xenos warrior was discovered still trying to fight. They were quickly disposed of. Nevertheless, it was a fairly calm time. Nobody spoke more than was absolutely necessary. The people of Dullahan had become almost desensitized to the horrors of a massacre by an animalistic horde of enemies. This was their way of life, especially those close to the wall. Invasion from the ruined lands was a constant threat and while the wall had not fallen in centuries, groups of Trolls from these chaotic wastes occasionally made their way past the defenses put in place. Assuming they weren't discovered quickly and dealt with, the trolls bred like rats, hordes sometimes striking as far as the Dullahan city proper. Regardless, this was no different than those same times, just with more advanced hordes striking across the city from multiple locations. The city would be cleaned of the corpses, each disposed in their own way. The xenos burned, and the Dullahan citizens sent off to the wall to be buried beneath it.

The six Roa'marii on the Roman Colony world had spent the last day traveling to the main city on the planet where it was said the new xenos who had transmitted their psychic message to the planet had made landfall. They were not the only ones coming to the city in the hopes of meeting this new group. Many Romans had done the same and the entrances to the city were crowded with people from all across the planet flocking into the city. This is what happened when a message was sent to every sentient creature on a planet. Of course, many of the Romans noticed the Roa'marii soldiers and the Roman Bellators guiding them and gave them their space. It was likely most thought the Roa'marii were the new Xenos they had heard, and the soldiers heard as much in the conversations of those Romans who tried to follow.

When the Roa'marii reached the main governmental center of the city, they went inside to meet with these new xenos. They got such a meeting when they entered the main meeting room to see the Builder concluding his conversation with the Roman governor. As they entered, one of the soldiers of the 69th legion stepped forward, ignoring the questioning looks from the gathered Romans who had been in the room prior to the Roa'marii's arrival.

"Greetings, I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Me and my fellow Roa'marii just wanted to meet this newcomer for ourselves. Hello there xenos, I am Lai'saron of the United New Roa'marii Empire's 69th legion. As this is a first contact situation so to speak, I will be the ambassador between your people and mine until further notice. And what might you and your people be known as?"

Sca'reti was confused. First it turns out she had lost her memory of this major event, then the artifact she was supposedly looking into seemingly activated and was almost calling to her. The glowing orb seemed to beckon to her, and she felt some invisible force almost pulling her towards it. And so, she reached out and touched the orb.

As soon as her hand came in contact the orb flashed a blinding light. She felt as if her hand were burning, yet at the same time not. When her vision cleared once more she immediately looked to her hand, which looked just the same as it had before, if not lighter. It almost glowed now after the contact with the orb. Then she heard the gasps from the Romans around her. Looking up, she barely contained a gasp of her own. Before her stood what seemed to be a woman clothed in glowing white robes. Her face held similarities to both the Romans and the Roa'marii, yet was obviously neither. On her back was a pair of wings, seemingly made from pure light. If anything could describe the creature before her, it would be beauty. She had long white hair, seemingly blowing in some ethereal breeze. Even seeing her, Sca'reti had trouble believing she was real. Then, the creature spoke, her voice calming and yet authoritative at the same time. It was a voice that one could easily become lost in, and Sca'reti had trouble keeping herself from crying out at its resonating beauty. Even the creature's somewhat scathing words about her hardly registered as anything more than wondrous.

"Greetings, do not be afraid, I am known as the Angel Aviana, harbinger of the glorious Goddess Faust, bringer of Harmony to all things. I've known of your inner strength for some time, and indeed helped you bring it forth. You Romans have brought me forth once more and you brought others. Yes, the Roa'marii have met with you, and assisted in bringing me forth. I know of you, Sca'reti, known by some as Scarlet, last of the old order. You were thought dead by most and known to be imprisoned by others. You escaped with some help and now work again as an assassin, under the one you once trained. He knows not who you truly are does he? No, the General of the assassin legion would end you if he knew. Though I must thank you, had you and that which is within you not been here, I don't believe I'd have been able to reveal myself as much as I have now. Romans, do not trust this one. In fact, I'd tell you to turn her over to her superiors if I didn't know better. She became corrupted long ago, and despite the efforts of myself and my sisters, she could not be saved.

"But enough about her, you Romans aren't shining examples of purity either. You wage war on the Abh whom you know little about. You shot first and asked questions never. I will not condemn you for this, but know that you are not as pure as you might think yourselves. But regardless, now that I have been brought out and my artifact awakened, I ask you, what do you want?"

"You called me away from the frontlines for this, Countess. It had better be as important as you implied."

"I assure you Empress Laidach, it is."

The two women stood in the open air, watching a giant whale-like creature float by in the upper atmosphere of the gas planet. It was an area rich in oxygen, rich enough that an Abh could walk around outside unaided. The entire area was protected from the crushing gravity of the world by the same type of gravity manipulation field used on starships. In fact, the technology was based off of it. The wind, however, was only reduced enough to allow people to not have their skin shaved off by it. Their hair was constantly blown, Countess Lasis ending up with her hair flying in the air like it was forced to by a special effects team. The Empress wasn't as lucky, her bob cut having been completely mussed by the wind.

"Just Laidach, please. Now, what exactly is it?"

"See for yourself, Em-... Laidach."

Just as Lasis spoke, the bow of a starship poked out from behind the solid metal cover of one of the largest drydocks at the ancient facility. The most immediately odd thing about it was that it wasn't the usual light blue of an Abh military vessel, instead, it was a glaring white. As the ship continued to move forward, a giant ring came into view, almost like a gravity ring from one of the older ships. It was, however, completely different. It clearly wasn't designed to spin, and didn't have any windows on it. It was right then that Laidach realized what it really was.

"You cracked the warp equation!" She exclaimed, not even trying to hide her excitement.

"I did more than that. We cracked negative mass entirely, I've drawn up plans for negative mass generators, warp turbines, it's amazing stuff!"

"Warp turbines... you mean-"

"Yes. We can say goodbye to fossil fuels. I just made an electric generator that doesn't need any input after it's started, and can generate more electricity than anything else. That ship's full of them."

Laidach almost asked what the ship needed them for, but she quickly saw the answer as the ship moved forward. There were giant turrets, each marked with numerous yellow triangles, each with a different symbol inside of them. One had a psi symbol on it. Another had a poppy on it, for some reason. Finally, the third one had a staircase that connected with itself in a way that was only possible due to the two dimensions it was drawn on. All had words in the ancient language under them, which Laidach certainly could not read.

"What do those mean?" She asked, pointing at them.

"The first one on the left warns against things called 'macroscale quantum systems', whatever the hell they are. The second is warning against a 'motivational hazard', presumably some kind of addiction danger. The final one has something to do with a thinking problem."

"Why are they in the ancient language?"

"That's how I found them. This ship isn't exactly an original design, I more or less just replaced the antiproton turrets with gluon disturbers. The shipyard fabricators automatically added the things, I spent a week figuring out what they hell they meant."

"Wait, you perfected those too?"

"Yep! Threw the things straight into mass production. Next batch of warships is going to be armed with them, but that's not the point of this. The point of this is that."

Lasis motioned towards the ship, which was now fully revealed, its stark white hull standing out against the orange sky. It had dozens of tri-barrel gluon disturber turrets spaces out across its hull, mounted on ball-like structures sunken deep into the hull to give them a full range of motion. Missile tubes lined the ship as well, holding swarms of antimatter missiles inside. Letters in the ancient language lined the bow of the ship, which immediately caught Laidach's attention.

"What are those characters?" She asked, pointing at them.

"They say 'Eff-Ess-Ess Excalibur', I don't know what it means, aside from some relation to a straightsword. The smaller ones, though, are easy. They mean 'May the warriors who refused war live on, and may the memory of their parents never die'."

"That ship design was meant to be found." Said the Empress, the hairs on her neck standing up. "I can feel it."

"You're right. The file it was in said so, it was meant for the warriors to use against a single enemy of the ancient empire. I don't think they'd object to us using it against the Romans, do you?"

"No I don't... what are its specs?"

"It has a standard FTL drive like ours, supplemented with a negative energy warp drive best suited to quick escapes from battle. It had a spinal mount that I put a giant hybrid gluon disturber/antiproton lance on, theoretically, it could drill straight into a planet's core and let it collapse in on itself. You've seen the turrets for yourself, they're mirrored on the other side. A hangar bay runs the length of the ship, surrounding the spinal lance. It can hold two hundred fighters, which I've specially designed for use on the ship. The missile tubes hold antimatter missiles of all warhead types, and some kind of fabrication system I don't fully understand makes new ones if you feed it antimatter and... uh... apparently anything. Still have no idea on how the hell that works. Oh yes, the shields! It has a standard conversion shield as the bottom layer, which I added. The other layers are all some sort of ablative shielding, which I again don;t really understand. What I do understand is an emergency failsafe which activates in the event of a total shield failure. It generates a solid plasma field around the ship, which absorbs fire to allow an escape. It's ablative too, but without the bleedthrough the other shields have. If you're brought down to it, you jump out. I don't care about the honor code, you're not saving yourself, you're saving the ship. It's our best chance against the Romans."

"Is it ready for combat right now?"

"Yes, but I've got something else to show you."

Lasis motioned for the Empress to follow, which she did, though she wasn't exactly sure of where they were going. After a lengthy trip through the giant ancient facility, they came to a laboratory with a giant, humanoid vehicle standing in the center.

"This is a new combat vehicle, powered by a warp turbine I manged to get a few scans of the enemy aerial vehicles on Kibo-Hosh, they seemed pretty effective. It's equipped with an antigravity system, neural interface, and two wrist-mounted gluon disturbers. It can hold any kind of weapon large enough, two of which I have designed specifically for it. A sized-up nanoweave katana and an automatic railgun. The gluon disturbers can handle anything, but they use up power insanely fast, and the warp turbine needs some to operate. If they're fired recklessly, the thing will just die right there. So I've added that extra armament. For mobility, it has negative mass manipulation devices for flight, and I didn't give it legs for show. However, it also has foot-mounted wheels, which will let it move faster than any tank on land. The main advantage it has over the Romans is cost. Apparently, Roman versions are extremely expensive, and they could only bring ten to Kibo-Hosh. This, however, has already been put into mass production at restored factories here on Orenjiro. We're sending transports to the homeworld to prepare."

"Prepare for what?"

"The end of the war. With these new combat units, we can invade a whole world. The new battleships will be more than enough to counter the Roman fleet, and your ship is the best we've ever seen."

"You mean-"

"Yes. The fifth planet will fall."

((The rest is coming. Kinda had to have the Abh make their knightma-... I mean "Advanced Anthropomorphic Combat Vehicle"))

Roman Colony World A-01 - Capital

The Builder turned to the newcomers. "Xeno...? Quite an interesting monicker. I don't believe I've had the chance to be called such before" There was a laugh in his chiming voice. "I bring greetings to you, newcomers, this is quite the prize, two civilizations on one planet, quite fortunate of us! To you question. Though we called once ourselves 'Xalku,' the Congregation refers to themselves as such, and I am their Builder, feel free to address us with either. Though, before we continue, excuse me." The Builder turned to the still-present governor. "May we use this room of meeting for our own diplomatic engagement?"

The Seighis drifted a bit of ways off from the newcomers to give them more room, but not too out of reach were something to intend to befall the Builder.

---

Time, a concept treasured by many civilizations across the stars has been central belief for centuries, untold times, but for the Pantheo ideas as time were forgotten, tossed aside by their longevity. Their arcane prowess having crafted seemingly immortal life into a reality many pantheics live by and treasure as normality. Their abuse of the arcane, their endless practice of it, would show trace even from beyond other worlds. The Pillar of Aen, both the holy relic of arcane importance and the citadel of the sector creed, but no less, this massive artifact of arcane properties would reach through the clouds and out into the world beyond terran soil.

This holy relic was the home of the greatest and most important asset to the Pantheo for millenia, Quadrant Complex, the arcane super intelligence crafted from the bowls of a golden age long since past, now this ancient being stood as the only greeting their visitors would recieve.

A ripple in the harmony of the arcane winds which had learned to dominate the Quad-Sector was quickly noticed and quarantined by the faithful protector which saw no tire, nor sleep in the defense of it's beloved creators. A massive cloud of unknown energy suddenly emerged out of empty void, much like the barbarians from millenia prior, but much like before, no aggressive action took hold within the cortex of this entity which sat, entombed within a shard reaching from the outer-atmosphere down into the calming earth, connected to terran energies.

Deep within this grandeous structure of untold age there was a vast gathering of pantheo, all holding significant rank, for they were leaders of the second most powerful creed in the entire Theocracy: The Sector Creed. Quadrant Complex sits on the golden throne of cables and arcane orbs and auras, connected deeply within an exact replica of the Well of Arcanum.

Suddenly, QC lit back up into being, through the arcane waves around it was fully able to communicate, and so it did. ''We have Visitors. Dispatching... Negative, taking personal authority of greeting procedures.'' The Lords around QC were surprised, Quadrant Complex prefered to sit back, taking full command of everything from a back seat position, but who were they to disagree with this incredible authority?

''As you command, Quadrum, may you bring back positive results.''

The Lords greeted their superior farewell for now, and with that, Quadrant Complex shut it's eyes once more and took onto itself the arcane form, drifting through space.

Along it's travel, a mental message passed by, through defensive measure, Quadrant Complex isolated it through the magical currents all around the area, and then recieved it, alone. It was like in a burst, the invisible waves of magic would manifest for a split second and form a barrier between the fleet and the planet, but then it would fade to invisibility.

Soon, Quadrant would emmitt it's own call, directed towards the Vistors of it's domain.

''I am Quadrant Complex.''

The energy around the fleet would spike, arcane signatures become nearly visible, and the the appearance of noise waves would form through the barely-visible energy clouds.

''I am Here.''

@Durandal

---

Far away on the other side of the Pantheic domain boarders, on the edge of the Sylf sector, there were suddenly disturbing arcane disturbances within the fabric, some sort of Space-time fabric malfunction would be the cause of it, and nearby patrol vessels wouldn't think twice before investigating further. One of these vessels was the Fourth Pillar, pride of the Sylf Sector. As ancient as legend, this oversized and vastly modified Pijkar class capital ship has seen more wars than five generations would combined, at its helm was The Presence, entombed within the Holy Sarcaphagos of Vaéer, at his side stood the great Hand, lord of the Kadrak Umbrah warrior creed.

''A grave disturbance rips asunder the arcane harmony of our shores, I fear that we may be under the guise of a Visitor.'' The Hand spoke, proudly as his lineage, a warrior from reliable sect, forsaking his past and his name in the line of duty, now he is simply a Hand, the warrior of he whom has none. ''Astro-mageos', bring us into harmony with the waves of the ripples in the realm-wall (space-time), I want all Asgrathors cleansed and purified in time for encounter.'' The great ship would make a swift turn, however, not by conventional means, no. The ship dispersed, it's modules and shards going as far as they'd be brought, the central spire rotated, facing that which it once fled, and the shards recollected around it, forming the structure which it was just prior.

''The great Presence speaks of uncertainty, we will be ready for this Visitor, hold true to the Words of the Ever-being.''

In the far distance from the fleet of Visitors there were the shilouettes of a massive hulk, shifting, changing, transforming it's shape every moment of its travel. At it's sides were escort vessels, all of whom once were connected with it's body. These shards would bring the desire of it's master to bear should danger become great.

On the local planet, however, not much occured. The planet was habited, but not greatly, it's population consisted mostly of workers and the planet itself was a mine and research site for testing and inventing arcane science, but also acquiring the holy resources needed for this practice.
@Willy Vereb

---

((The next part of the story is too extensive so I decided to keep that for next post.))

On the outskirts of the system, a tiny dot of light appeared for a split-second as a fleet of starships suddenly appeared. There wasn't anywhere they seemed to have come from, they just appeared out of the interstellar medium. Anyone close enough to view the ships would see that they had been in space far longer than they were ever meant to, with scraps of metal haphazardly welded onto what must have been hull breaches. The vessels clearly weren't built for combat, with a giant transparent dome covering the top and bottom of what seemed to be the lead ship, revealing a forest underneath. If it was carrying a forest with it, then it wasn't a fleet that was meant to dock anywhere to pick up air anytime soon.

"Dive complete, we're in the Barerumēkā Belt of the target system. Formation deviation 2.09 percent, no anomalies."

"Good job, launch all resource collection craft. Ice has main priority, conductive materials have secondary. Activate all factory decks and dispatch atmospheric probes to all worlds in the habitable zone."

"Belay that order! Picking up highly active transmissions, the tech is odd, but they're definitely comms signals!"

"No... another species?"

"Yes! I have confirmation! Signal origin is intelligent life! Activating long-range antennae, transmitting standard friendship message!"

The fleet, which had been silent since its arrival, let out a great burst of radio waves. Anyone with the right equipment, or perhaps the right powers, would pick up a sequence of beeps corresponding to the prime numbers, accompanied by pictures of a distant star system and a humanoid alien species. Then, an alien voice spoke in an alien language, not sure if those hearing him could even guess what he was saying.

"This is Admiral Sanghuz Doriac of the 1st Imperial Starfleet, in service of the Eight World's Empire and the Na'brel Royal Family. We have entered this system in search of a habitable world, and were unaware of its habitation. We apologize if we have trespassed, and extend this greeting to you in the hopes that a misunderstanding could be avoided. We are not here to conquer, we are simply on a mission to seek refuge from those who would conquer us. If you can understand me, please respond."



"Perfect." Said the Empress, seeing that the Naga had been distracted. She suddenly became stronger than ever, as if gaining her strength from something other than her body. "I can't read your language, and I certainly don't know the control layout of the tank, but I'm an Abh. Neither of those can stop me from operating it. These chips hanging from my ears aren't ceremonial, you know."

She bolted towards the tank, picking up the katana she dropped on the way. It was like she had been replaced by a completely healthy Abh, her wounds no longer causing any trouble for her. Coming in from the back, she managed to evade the Naga's sight until it was too late. A somersault later she was on top of the tank, not even waiting for her hair to settle before she kicked the Naga leader right in the back. He was sent flying like in a cartoon, the force of her kick far greater than any sort of logic would have allowed.

Anyone capable of sensing it could see it clearly: she was practically glowing with magic energy. Even so, she wasn't casting any spells, not even using it passively for simple telekinesis. It hadn't been there before either, just showing up without any warning or sign. Somehow, it wasn't giving her the ability to cast spells, it was just making her stronger. A swift movement of her katana plunged it deep into the skull of the driver, whom she didn't even bother to throw out before getting inside the tank and closing the hatch.

At that point, her actions seemed pointless. She couldn't operate an alien tank, and the Naga could likely control it remotely. However, there was something she had that nobody could have expected. She tore off the covering of an electrical panel, revealing the wiring below. Grabbing hold of one of the small metal chips that hung from her ears as if they were jewelry, she used its sharp edge to cut open the insulation on one of the wires. The rest was easy. She just placed the ship on top of the exposed wire, and it wrapped around it, somehow connecting her brain and the tank's system.

After a few moments of disorientation as she adjusted to the (to her) basic controls and sensors of the tank, she identified and deactivated its transmitter and receiver. Now locked off from any kind of outside influence, she moved the tank forward, sending the Naga scrambling for cover. A flurry of fire from the anti-personnel weapons on the tank shredded any Naga outside of cover, giving the Roa'marii soldiers a distraction of their own to take advantage of.



On Roman and Triarii sensors, a huge mass signature appeared. accompanied by a giant distortion behind Abh lines. A stark white starship, encircled by two massive rings appeared, taking the place of the former Abh flagship. It had a name painted on its bow, along with an inscription. Neither were even close to the Abh language, in fact, they used the latin alphabet. A message was transmitted from the odd vessel to the Roman fleet.

"This is Empress Laidach Na'brel of the Eight World's Empire. As you can see, we have a new toy. The vessel you see in front of you is the warship Excalibur, the new Imperial flagship. It was originally designed by the ancients themselves to serve as the flagship of a second empire, the heirs to their legacy, not that any of that concerns you. What does concern you is the fact that this war will be over very soon, and the only thing I do not know about that end is whether or not we will win. However, with this warship and our new technology, the odds seem to be in our favor."

"The Golden System of New Rome
The Line
Situation: Diagnose, Submit, Receive"

The Fleet Master glanced down to the hologram and watched the reports before gently pulling one of the pieces apart and intercepting the transmission and listening to it with the same stone blank expression. Another set of worthless boasts, the kind he had heard from the humans, the hara-ka rebels, the Aru-Shumi... He had been in service a very long time and had listened to many, many species claim they were going to win (particularly when they had some new found technology or something they scavenged from the galactic center or picked up off an alien ghost ship; These short lived species had a tendency to over estimate technology). He directed a few fingers in the direction of one of his bridge officers to authorise a low strength scan of the enemy ship, then directed his attention towards the weapons officer
"Work with overwatch, draw up potentially attack plans. Leave the homeworld out of it. Lets show them we have some semblance of honour and civility, even if they have none."
"Yes, Praelatus Meus." The officer reported before dancing his hand over the terminal. The Fleet Master turned his attention towards the communications officer
"Send a psionic communication and request reinforcements on stand by, seems like this may turn into a battle after all. Request they do not destroy the enemy flagship immediately. Destroying it at the right moment may cause a route. Overwatch, set up a field promotion succession line immediately for any losses incurred, we must project an image of omniscience and omnipresence. Ensure it is visually downloaded to all relevant forces. Private request, should I fall in battle ensure draft message 'PM-DM.1' is dispatched to my mate and 'PM-DM.2' is dispatched to my offspring, 'PM-DM.3' to my parents and 'PM-DM.4' to all other relatives of note." Overwatch paused for a moment before replying in a slightly warmer though perhaps forlorn or regretful voice
"Affirmative" It replied before there was a distinctive beeping. The Fleet Master turned his attention to another officer, the only Hara-Ka who was a member of his high ranking bridge personal "Ensure the forces are ready for possible boarding actions. All types must be on stand by."
"I concur." The Hara-Ka grunted as he slammed his fist against his chest and turned. He was a giant mountain, even for a Hara-Ka, but his bulk and white/grey fur hid something rather uncommon in his species. A excellent grasp of military strategy and relative patience. Most Hara-ka could grasp basic leadership and strategies and when augmented develop a sound grasp, but few showed potential to be great generals in their own right.
The Fleet Master turned back towards the terminal and brushed his hands over the hologram. "Have a basic message routed through the roman ships to try and keep our exact location a secret. Tell them that surrender will earn them leniant peace terms..."

Message bounced around then directed to the Abh

"Overwatch reports displeasure at continued Abh resistance. Submit and be subsumed. Notice; Acquiescence will earn lenient/charitable/kind treatment. Priority warning; You are facing potentially insurmountable odds. Advise; Cease resistance and withdraw, establish meeting, discuss peace terms. Code: Extract, Contact, Dialogue."

Adromeda
close to the Roman/Abh border
Kestral ( BH/L-001)
Captain Velka Vellais

To-Captain Vellais
Official Orders ( NAVSPECWAR DIV1/OP-EX1)
Take the Kestral ( BH/L-001) and travel to the near system (IA-1101 Designated: Elysium). Make contacts with local intelligent life ( If any exists), Establish a forward operating base and colony for future Septonian travel. Deadly force is not authorized unless your or your crew’s lives are directly in danger. I repeat, deadly force is not authorized unless your or your crew’s lives are directly in danger.

The Kestral was a new, state of the art exploration ship. It featured the best of both military technology and civilian propulsion. The Kestral was the size of a blackhole class vessel and featured many of the same armaments, missile tubes, Magnetic accelerated torpedoes and point defense turrets. The introduction of energy weapons made the Kestral more of an experiment then a active military vessel, the ship had four plasma turrets and plasma torpedoes at the disposal of the crew.
A completely redesigned stealth packages and thrusters made the Kestral not only fast but able to hide when it needed to. The ship was designed with longevity in mind, specifically designed to make the trip from Sol to Andromeda. It took the crew of the Kestral five months to make the trip with 40 jumps and the appropriate cooling stops in between. The only problem they faced was that they had no idea where they would end up.

“ SHUT THE BLOODY DRIVE DOWN ITS OVERHEATING!” the engineering officer yelled towards the other crewmen in the compartment as he ran from the propulsion terminal to the ships intercom. “ Bridge!, Engineering!” he yelled over the sounds of grinding metal and arcing electricity. “ What is it?! What is going on down there?” Captain Vellais said over the intercom before suddenly getting thrown forward as the ship suddenly left slip space. “ The jump drive is over heating and melting through its coolant tubes. The molten slag was threatening the reactor integrity so we shut it down” Velka groaned and sighed as she got to her feet again, walking back to the intercom. “ Ok….Damage report…” she said calmly before turning to face the rest of the bridge crew “ Find out where we are, scan for anything near by, suns, planets,other vessels, we need to find out whats around us. Shut down our thrusters and lets drift cold for a moment, engage the new stealth drive."

The sounds of exterior vents along with electronics could be heard powering down as the interior lights shut off, getting replaced by red light.

"Empress! Alien vessel at point 108, 13, 89!"

The entire bridge crew turned to face the sensors officer, their memories triggered by the string of coordinates. They indicated the point of first contact with the New Roman Empire, and the site of the first battle of the war. The Abh had made it damn clear to the Romans through the liberal application of missiles that the area was not to be disturbed. It had been declared sacred, mainly because if it wasn't sacred then those who had died in the battle wouldn't be able to reincarnate, trapped in space forever. Not that they had told the Romans that. After all, they expected them to immediately do all that they could to desecrate it if they were told.

"Inside the debris field?" Said the Empress in disbelief, unsure how to respond. A missile strike would be reckless, and they certainly couldn't move into cannon range.

"Yes, Empress! They're right in the middle of it! They just activated some kind of stealth system, they know damn well that we don't want them there!"

They would risk a battle just to desecrate the graves of our explorers whom we sent to make peace with them! She thought, scowling at the viewscreen as if the Romans could see her. Once again, the demons from the fifth planet prove themselves to be just that.

"Open the hangar!" She yelled furiously, storming out of the room. "Prepare the new Kamikaze mechs!"



A squadron of ten vehicles flew through the asteroid belt, heading straight towards the Kestral. They weren't normal fighter craft, they were something else entirely. They had a humanoid figure, and each carried a giant katana, for all the use it could possibly be in space combat. They also had railguns, designed for rapid, automatic fire. The lead one was painted white, with Sānshingenō characters on its right arm indicating that it was owned by the Na'brel family. If anyone on the Kestral happened to know Japanese, they just might be able to read them if they could get a look at the vehicle.

A yellow scanning beam from the lead mech swept the Kestral, and the Empress was surprised to learn that it didn't match even the basic design conventions of the New Roman Empire. The squadron quickly stopped, ending up just before the bridge of the Kestral, barely close enough to see the crew inside. Staring dumbfounded at the aliens inside, the Empress checked her mech's database. Whoever the aliens were, they weren't Roman, and they weren't hostile. She sent a message to the ship, choosing to include a video feed as well. Obviously, she had no idea what they would think. She was, after all, wearing a suit with wires connecting electrodes all over her to the vehicle itself in case something went wrong with her natural neural connection. And the neural connection didn't exactly provide the most presentable piloting position.

"Well, you're about to have one hell of a day. Welcome to the Hinansho system, and welcome to no man's land. If you happen to enjoy life, you'll want to go to battlestations if you haven't already. The Romans will be here soon."

Vostach shut his eyes as the ship traveled around the planet, accelerating swiftly under the titanic forces of its impulse engines, spewing out vast trails of invisible energy in its wake. The Sin and Damnation was a personally modified ship, one which he had spent decades acquiring and further years procuring the modifications which would enable him to match his ship to those of the greatest Fleet Sovereigns in the Expeditionary Fleets. Nothing for him to do until they reached the point where contact could be sufficiently established.

A warning blared throughout the network, alerting everyone to the presence of the ships exiting the Mortean vessels in the distance. Seventy-two fighter type vehicles detected, forming aggressive maneuvers came the information all while images projected itself through his mind, providing him views of the various ships which he was facing. A motley assortment. Time to attempt some form of communication past that initial message he had sent out in response to the detections of earlier.

“Deploy the two Nitori frigates orbiting the excavation site to screen our side of the planet. The fighter-craft deployed by the unknowns may be hostile in nature. Make sure they do not approach too near the others,” he commanded over the link to his second-in-command, Jera Gethal, who was stationed on one of the Cantarin battlecruisers on the planet. “Our presence here is too small compared to the others. Maintain readiness for evacuation.”

It was at that point the Mortean response came through into the ship, picked up by the tuned sensors. Deciphering of the message began instantaneously. The psychic consciousness accessed the Great Record and all inscribed language structures in it, cross-referencing the Mortean words to those of other species that had been found in the expansion into space, followed by a psychic analysis of the words themselves, detecting traits unable to be done by simple comparisons.

The language structure was shortly deciphered by the ship and placed into readiness on the transmitters, converting any message sent through to the Mortean language and vice-versa. They desire the fourth planet do they?, Vostach thought, requisitioning a scan of the sytem they resided in, identifying the planet at which the C’ran task force had landed as the fourth in the system. Hopefully the search does not take much longer. Connecting to the transmitter, Vostach responded to the Mortean message, “Greetings 1st Expeditionary Fleet of the Morte Empire. I am Admiral Vostach, commanding officer of the task force dispatched to this system to retrieve an artifact from the planet you seek to colonize. May we ask as to who your companions are?” Finished speaking, the words beamed across space to the Mortean fleet.

@Willy Vereb


Herath Kissoreg reveled in the ecstasy which the melding of millions of minds gave her. Nothing could compare to such a feeling; no force could stop such power; none could resist such beauty of perfection. It was then that something disturbed her joy, a vibration in the fabric of space. Herath herself was no mage but the many thousands of magically-attuned persons in the fleet afforded her senses which she would not usually have.

Why did I not notice such a large presence of magic before? I felt it certainly, but did not understand the extent of it. Perhaps we have awakened something, she thought. As one being Fleet Auchthag moved, descending slowly towards the planet in the distance. Several hundred ships began to detach from the main formation, most civilian although dozens of military ships accompanied the unarmed vessels.

Magical disturbances picked up within the fleet and images of arcane symbols flooded her mind, dispersed over the entirety of the melded mind and all understood the meanings. They had encountered a race quite unique from any other before. Quadrant Complex’s voice rang through the passages of the ship, heard in the ears of every Sakari.

Smiling gaily, Herath consulted with the strongest magic user in the fleet, Jagar Hais, also one of few to not have participated in the melding.

“What shall we do, enlightened one in the arcane?”

“Your actions border on heresy, Herath. I would be more careful if you wish to preserve your position.” Herath frowned at this, her displeasure radiating throughout the fleet.

“I am Anointed Sovereign, Jagar, one of the leaders of the Corenai. As such it is my duty to do what I see best. Now answer my question.”

“Very well. Simply respond. I shall do the action if you wish.”

“Proceed, Jagar. I entrust this task with you.”

Jagar smirked. Perhaps she would make a fine leader eventually. Returning his thoughts to the problem of the magical entity, he began to weave a response of magic. Quickly, the spell was ready, casting a faint shimmer over his body upon casting, enabling him to communicate magically with the being.

“Greetings unto you, Quadrant Complex. I am Jagar Hais of the Dominion of C’ran, an appointed official of the Corenai. May I request as to where we have been deposited by the winds of space?”

[@Kaiser Auto]


The Reseeding vessels awoke from their slumber as Fleet Sedari began to move through the gulfs of space towards the nearest planet. Military ships moved quickly through the massive convoy, adjusting their positioning so as to best ensure the safety of the non-armed vessels. Such defensive measures were the only recognition given to the Tallarn presence on the planet of Cardia. Dozens of Nitori frigates and five Cantarin battlecruisers detached from the main grouping, speeding towards the aforementioned planetary body to secure a position and root out any surprises.

The countless millions of Sakari aboard the ships of the fleet shuffled in a figurative sense, civilian craft rearranging their positioning to enable those designated for first landing to advance to the fore of the sphere, a perfect unison of action making the grouping appear a rippling mass rather than a maneuvering series of constructs.

Rhone regarded the actions of the Tallarn further in the system passively, rather uncaring as to what they would do. The petty civilization did not matter any longer until it could be assimilated into the Dominion and accept such action peacefully. Force was declining in usefulness as larger and larger civilizations were encountered farther from the borders, requiring careful arrangements to ensure success.

Receiving the message from the Tallarn planet, Rhone considered its words. An innocent enough message. “Ship, send response: ‘I am Anointed Sovereign Rhone Fredgar of the Dominion of C’ran. We embark on the Corenai, the Glorious Return to the stars which will usher in a new era for this dark galaxy. And we seek to settle. Does that answer your question?’” With his words spoken, the ship translated the message and sent the response back towards Tallarn.

[@Zoldcyk]