[b][u] Domain of Magnus Foundry World of Sunia [/u][/b] [img]http://orig01.deviantart.net/6551/f/2012/159/4/6/space_factory_by_joakimolofsson-d52p1yb.jpg[/img] Sunia, once a vital trade hub in the Agonis Sector, and a world of pristine beauty, has now become one out of thousands upon thousands of foundry worlds, destroyed and then reforged for the sole purpose of fueling the Collective's warmachine, forever churning out soldiers, weapons and starships for the Collective's neverending mission to remake the galaxy in the image of its Queen. Now that the Collective is under threat, the Foundry Worlds have now sped up production tenfold, spitting out more and more machines and monsters to stave off the advancing and vengeful enemies of the Queen. but to little avail. Strange events have taken place within the Domain of Magnus, one of the Seven. Foundry Worlds within his domain have slowed down production, building at a slower pace, whole star systems, those mostly located along the fringes or midrims, have now been left defenseless as their fleets had been pulled out. The Foundry Systems, despite the slow down, are the few regions in the domain to be heavily fortified. The others assume Magnus is preparing for a more hands on approach to the totalist's intrusion upon his domain. Suspensions rise among the lower tiered AI and the Seven, but think nothing of it, them being too busy to fend off two invasions at once. They however, are unaware of a great betrayal, and it is far to late to react, the countdown to the Fall of the Collective has begun. Unknowing of the inner workings and machinations of Agonian politics, the vanguard of the Totalist forces tasked with seizing Sunia emerged from the FTL at the edges of the system. Fresh from dispatching what little Collective forces had been left in their path. The situation had repeated all over the front, with the overwhelming Totalist armada charging through their planned advance routes and meeting surprisingly low resistance. When it became clear that the strength of the Collective fleets and armies opposing the offensive had been considerably overestimated, Generalissimo Dollabella-Rybalsky had sent orders for a general slowdown of the offensive. After all, as far as the Totalist intelligence was concerned, their enemies were supposed to still be able to put much more of a fight despite the scale of the forces sent by the Party. It didn't take long, however, for the Totalists to realize that there was no apparent trap or counter-attack in their way. Naval patrols and scout groups reported more and more empty or lightly guarded planets all over the sector as far as they could reach. The only exceptions being several Foundry Worlds, the actual targets of the offensive. And even then, the actual number of Collective ships detected was still below even the most optmistic expectations. And so the advance resumed. More careful and slow than what local resistance demanded, as the Totalists were still suspicious of the whole situation. Nevertheless they still managed to reach their targets within the planned timetables. The time lost by the general slowdown of the offensive quickly regained by the lack of substantial resistance. In Sunia, just one of the Foundry Worlds now under attack, the Totalist vanguard remained prowling on the edges of the system. Content on cleaning up whatever enemy ships hadn't fled to the relative safety of the Foundry World and waiting for the arrival of the rest of the Totalist assault force. Hanging in high orbit of Sunia was a fleet of five hundred vessels of various classes, half the strength of your typical Collective strike fleet. At the dead center of the scattered cluster of ships was the flagship of the fleet, a divine-class. This particular vessel, this whole fleet, was under the command of a small, hand-picked group of Agaathi-class Homunculi, a rather odd choice of leadership, especially with no AI Supervision, in fact very little AI were present in the fleet, only in the most basic forms. This occurrence had added on to strangeness of the situation. The five Agaathi Commanders looked upon a holo-display of the star system, all gluing their eyes to the large red flashing mass on the very edge. "This is most troubling.." One of them spoke up. "Indeed, brother." A female said. "What shall be our course of action?" Another male asked. "The probability of our defeat and fall of the system is quite high." "We do as tasked." Another female spoke. "Lord Magnus wishes us to hold these worlds as long as possible, and by his undying will, we will not fail." "Agreed." they all said in unison in their mundane, drone-like tones. And with that, the fleet remained in position, not daring to make a move, lest they defy their God's orders, all that was and could even be done was wait for their inevitable destruction at the hands of their ruthless foes. Meanwhile, the Totalist vanguard finally took action. Adopting a scattered formation, the ships started their slow advance towards Sunia and the under strength Collective strike fleet. Strike Craft was launched but remained around their mother ships. Half hour later, the rest of the Totalist armada arrived. A large assault force created with the intent of fighting against much stiffer resistance. Inside one of the Flying Fortresses, Admiral Tapadopoulos thanked his lucky stars for the imminent victory. "Initiate assault." He ordered through the fleet communications net. "1st, 2nd and 5th squadrons deploy strike craft and move to engage the enemy head on. 3rd, 4th and 6th maintain your distance from the fight and escort the transport ships for the ground assault. 10th and 11th are to flank the enemy and escort 3rd and 4th assault groups to seize or destroy their orbital facilities. 8th and 9th are to remain uncommitted and watching our rear. Let's finish this, brothers and sisters." And so the battle had begun, as first wave of totalists ships were nearing the planet itself, they were met with swarms of drone strike craft numbering in the thousands, followed quickly behind by the rest of the fleet. "All ships, engage." The lead Agaathi ordered. "For Lord Magnus!" The main fleet soon unleashed their salvos upon the advancing totalist warships, and were replied in kind as the numbers of the Devanagari had thinned, rear collective ships pushing through scrap as they continued their suicidal push against the enemy. The Totalist vanguard scattered around the Collective's push and reformed, moving to hit the Collective ships from behind as they met the main Totalist force head on. Thousands of fighters and bombers clashed in the void as the noose tightened around the outnumbered Collective fleet. Meanwhile, the remaining Totalist forces avoided the battle. Heading straight to Sunia, the four squadrons tasked with escorting the transport ships made short work of the orbital defenses. And as they battled with the ground to space weaponry of the Foundry World, thousands of dropships launched from the larger transports. Descending into sections of the planet obliterated by concentrated orbital fire and landing on the remaining orbital platforms. The main fleet pressed onward, eventually ceasing all attacks, ready to enact one last action before their deaths. Before long, all remaining capital ships of the fleet sped towards the totalist ships, with the full intend on ramming them and taking as many of them as possible. The ground battle did no fare too welk either, although their numbers were last, the ground armies on Sunia had very little in coordination, offering what little resistance possible, but were in complete chaos. The sheer speed of the Collectivist suicide run took the Totalists by surprise. Several heavier ships were rammed and damaged before Admiral Tapadopoulos could organize the counter-move. The reserve squadrons were called into the battle as the rest of the fleet scattered. Hundreds of fighters and bombers were sacrificed in mad dashes against the heavier enemy ships while lighter ships focused their fire on taking down their enemies' propulsion systems. Another squadron was called back from the planetary bombardment to support the rest of the fleet as the Totalist landings continued unimpeded. With the enemy in disarray and full orbital and aerial superiority, the biggest obstacles to the Totalists were simply their lack of knowledge of the local geography and the usual logistical difficulties associated with planetary assaults. From beneth the planet's surface, hordes of mangled cyborgs had crawled out from every forgotten trash pit they were tossed into, sent out by their handlers to hold off the enemy's advance. From every "street" to every corner, legions of nightmarish amalgamations of metal, wires, and flesh surged through, like hungry beasts, all moaning cries of pain and anguish. The sudden counter-attack caught the Totalist forces flat-footed. Several divisions were mauled or destroyed by the waves of enemies appearing beneath their feet. But the surprise wore off and with ample orbital support alongside with the constant stream of dropships bringing in reinforcements the Totalist Army was able to stabilize the situation on the ground and start slowly pushing back against the Horde. The situation in orbit was far better for the Totalists. Whatever Collectivist forces remained aboard the platforms proved to be no match for the Black Banner forces assaulting the installations. And despite the total loss of several assault groups brought by the self-destruction of their targets, the operation could still be considered a overall success. Meanwhile, the fleet battle raged on. Though it was clear to any observer that it was reaching its final stages. The suicide rush certainly earned the Collective much more kills than they would get in an otherwise conventional firefight. But in the end the sheer disparity in firepower and numbers assured that the balance of power remained firmly on the Totalist side. The entirety of the collective defense fleet had been wiped out alongside any orbital platforms. All that was left was surface. The Refused were slowly pushed back, Totalist soldiers countering against their maddening melee charges. All that stood in the way of total domination of the planet was the Central Control Tower, a massive structure that served as the nerve center of all factory sectors across the planet, once that was taken, victory would be assured. While in previous situations the Totalists simply obliterated Collectivist command centers with overwhelming displays of firepower, the chance of capturing the Control Tower of a Foundry World, and the secrets within was certainly worth the blood it would cost. Nevertheless, there was no point in simply rushing in. And as the rest of the planet was easily pacified, the Totalists prepared for their assault into the Tower. Gathering a strike force at a safe distance, waves of Penal troops were used to sweep the area around the Tower as every manner of scanner, sensor and radar was employed to detect any kind of trap or hidden weapon in the surroundings. For all the traps and hidden defenses that were thwarted, within the tower was a small army of homunculi and machines, ready to make their final stand against the Totalists as the penal troops were the first to enter, met with a hail of plasma fire as collective troops on the first level had entrenched themselves in makeshift barricades and gun emplacements. The Penal troops continued to surge into the Tower. Thousands upon thousands of them streamed from the landing zones closer to the Tower as squadrons of aircraft and gunships flew over the tower, bombing holes into the superstructure and deploying squads of Black Banner troops in the upper levels of the massive structure. The innards of the tower has devoled into pure chaos as Totalsit troops poured through all the levels, catching the defenders off guard as they strike from all directions. Many hours pass as the battle waged, eventually, the last of the homunculi had fallen, the Tower was now in the hands of the State. For all intents and purpose Sunia had fallen. Whatever Collectivist troops remained were scattered all through the planet, leaderless and undersupplied. The Tower was soon put into quarantine as a veritable army of engineers combed the construction looking for traps, bugs or any kind of possible surprise left by the Collectivists. Only after that the first scientists were brought into the Tower to start harvesting and cataloging the databanks. [hider=TL DR] -Magnus screws the Collective by taking his forces away from the fight -Totalists are able to break the stalemate and seize considerable territory with only light losses. [/hider]