STGOD: DAS: Main Game Thread.

[consequences]

Deep Space
Multiple Locations outside the Kingdom of Isdenestilam, Ahn'Qiraj, Oberin Imperiate, The Wanderers, Cretacean Confederacy, and Nianan Theocracy

Just beyond the southern edge of the Kingdom of Isdenestilam, a fast courier dropped out of ftl. Ahead of it came a simple message, spoken by a gloriously multi-hued biped of clear avian descent. "Greetings from the Chirtraran Association. We have interest in establishing relations, and humbly request approach protocols, or instructions to stand clear in the event that you do not wish our presence."

A similar ship and message arrived outside the Ahn'Qiraj, Oberin Imperiate, The Wanderers, Cretacean Confederacy, and Nianan Theocracy, all within a day of each other.

[Bugsby]

As soon as the Chitaran ship sent its hail, the commanders at Oberin Fleet searched the intelligence database. The entry was meager.

<<Chitaran Association. Avians from near the Southern Rim. Indirect contact through southern trade. Homeworlds never visited. Diplomatic contact negative. (After this, a brief description of Chitaran physiology and known trade contacts follows)>>

The Oberin fleet commander nodded as the data flashed across the screen, then turned to an aide. "Better get the state ministry on the line. They will want to speak to our guests, I'm sure. And contact intel, too. This file is going to get updated soon, I imagine. Escort them in, but maintain all due caution. They haven't earned our trust yet."

Chitaran vessel, do not deviate from your present course. Escorts have been arragned to see you to the planet, and a diplomatic envoy is being arranged. Welcome to Ober.

[SirNitram]

The Ring

We hear, and approach. The Gestalt responded, as a Multitude and it's attendants glided forward through the night, approaching the ship. Remain still. Do not be alarmed.

An active psionic sweep began of the vessel.

[Cincinnatus]

Just beyond the southern edge of the Kingdom of Isdenestilam, a fast courier dropped out of ftl. Ahead of it came a simple message, spoken by a gloriously multi-hued biped of clear avian descent. "Greetings from the Chirtraran Association. We have interest in establishing relations, and humbly request approach protocols, or instructions to stand clear in the event that you do not wish our presence."

After a short wait, a dwarven ship popped into real space near the Chirtraran vessel.

Greetings, Chirtraran Association. The dwarves of Isdenestilom is always interested in meeting new races and estabilshing new trading relationships. I am Captain Thol Korzaric of the ISF ship Gronkirad. We will escort you to the planet Metuldodok, where you can meet with one of our Envoys.

[Redleader34]

Lagos Outskirts
Command Centre
Africa
Earth

Several Guard troopers would be waiting at the edge of the city, as the U-2 flew over Lagos unopposed. Its sensors would reveal the locations of heavy troop concentrations, regular artillery units as well as a possible target of opportunity, the Fusion Control Centre. Without this plant, power to the region would be crippled, and the invasion would be much easier, albeit old fashioned units could still fire in this mess. The fleet would sit in the bay, waiting for orders, while the Polish troopers would arrive. They would be battered, but take surprising little losses, their ship in orbit, and their elite snipers easily blasting the jungle raiders back to the edges of the highway. The Unit arrived at the East End, waiting for orders from the Supreme Commander of the Operation, Commander Danel Report, to assume his command position. “As you all know” he said “We have three targets to hit, before this city is ours. We need to take the Capitol, the Command Centre, and the Power Plant. All of these buildings are in the civilian regions, so we cannot use carpet bombing, and Stealth Bombers are being prepared to take off. There will be house to house fighting. We estimate that of the one million rebels, one hundred thousand are here, and high end estimates are heading towards the five hundred thousands. As you know, we are limited, but the Deployment of fresh troops from Neos helps our force to three million men. We can fight and win, but I promise you one thing. This will be a long fight. Eve with the Guard, and the Sector Investigations agents already inside, we will have to use our best efforts to win, not just for us, but for all who are being oppressed! The commander would stop, as the first of the choppers had already launched.

(cue ride of the Valkyries )

The droning of ten thousand choppers would be loud, as they took off from various air force bases all over Africa. On the ground, the troopers would be assembled; the sewage tunnel already searched by drones, and a special division consisting of an armored train was covering the commuter rail tracks into the city. The City’s SAM network was still active, but then, Air Command arrived, the Tactical Bombers, and the smaller, Navy Assault Bombers dove down from the skies, the heavy bombers’ advanced missiles blasting the blatant bases with the power of JDAM and AGS missiles. The salvos were heard through the city, as the sound of heavy armor pounding the streets was a sight to be seen. Rebel troopers would burst out of buildings, their RPGs hitting the tanks at their vulnerable sides. Armored Personnel carriers revealed troopers bursting from the seams, the men killing their way into several apartments. The fighting was bloody, and it went on like this for block, after block, mile after mile, until the 6th army finally arrived at their goal of the Fire Control Building. Inside would be machine gun nests, civilians huddling for cover, and a mysterious being with a chain gun. For a normal division it was expected to take hundred of men. The Guard was sent in after a report went as such:

“Commander” Shouted the fox, “We cannot kill the Alien,. Its skin seems to absorb our bullets, and grenades have o effect!” The woman would simply respond “Charge the Personal Laser, while I show him how the Guard deals with scum like him…” The guard would look at the woman, her face seeming to reveal a sort of smile, as he shook his hands in the air. The Woman, called Cassie by her friends, and known as the leader of the 45rd Infantry Guard Division, would not allow her unit to be humiliated by an alien being from parts unknown..

A Guard trooper, dressed in heavy armor was sweating. Several other Guard troopers wiped their heads, . This was common, but the heat of the city seemed unusually hot for this time of year. The Captain, worried about the possible e weapons of the rebellion whipped out a scanner. The device had levels of radiation which were approaching the safe level, and the heat was everywhere. In fact, the trooper realized, the entire area was covered in atomic residue. “What could have caused this,” he thought, as he walked with his squad, the troopers focused on taking the path to the Fire Control Building.

Another Squadron of troopers, the 403rd Data Investigations group, were moving along, their APC lumbering like a sort of dog. The group focused on monitoring for any odd comns. The com area would be highly jammed, due to the presence of radioactive molecules. “Hey Alert” the chief officer asked “What kind of weapons produce this type of radiation? “Simple, tactical nuclear weapons. IT odd, we didn’t use them, and according to the register, the big four were not launched yet… oh shi..” The trooper fell to her knees. “They killed them all.” Now a grown marine is not the first person one expects to collapse, so when it happened, the other squad members would run to their commander, and look upon the grisly horror. One could see the body’s outlines, with ash surrounding it, as well as bones, and corpses hung from the light poles. Africa had not seen such horrors since the Pre Uche days, and the group nearly fell apart, shocked at the madness and brutality of the beings. The APC Stopped, and several men with cameras, and recording machines burst out, the military reporters grimly recording the radiation signatures, the bodies, and the horrors for the future to know.

Now on the front lines, the Guard Division number 2 was having trouble. They had encountered a strange blob, with weapons which managed to extrude radiation. Normal weapons seemed to have little to no effect, and an Apache Chopper was still too far for close up support. This battle seemed hopeless “I canna hold him” shouted the skunk, the current commander, who had his rifle next to him, as the ripper wizzed through the air “I have a lazer charged, to deal with the bastard. I think I can holds him, long enough for Sector to use a”… Cassie’s voice was e obscured by a passing UAV would fly over, “And that’s the plan!” The Skunk looked at her, and nodded, as he ran out, . The Blob fired the ripper at him, hitting him in both arms with dead aim.
Suddenly, Cassie jumped out, and said “Shoot DA Woop, Blob scum!” Her words were a surprise to the blob, which was ten hit by a personal Defense Laser, which burned through it. The Blast would be horribly scarring, but the creature remained alive. The tentacle which held the ripper was burned off, and somehow managed to wiggle in the air. The other members of the Guard walked closer to the gun, a young feline cadet picking it up, and placing it in his pack. “My weapon now” he said, as the other members rolled their eyes. “Well” the skunk said “We captured one of these.. blobs… I think we should call for…” A
An Blackhawk would land in the city, the advanced aircraft’s shields glimmering in the pale light. “Sorry to be arriving so late” the officer said, as he revealed all six feet of himself “General Avery Johnson, AfricaCom, at your Service. Just came to see… what the fuck is that living load of shit!” Johnson would stare at the blob, who managed to move before stopping again. “Guard, Great Job on that capture. I’ll have that being, and your alien technology,” The cat seemed dejected “brought back to Sector For Analysis immediately!”
The man pulled out a cigar, and smoked it several times, to the dismay of the crowd. Behind him, men from the chopper wearing black suits would take the alien being into the chopper, which would fly away into the night. Avery started his usual speech with “Now Lets Assemble, and hope that the Second through Fourth Armies brought enough pain for the Poles to make it to the Sewers. We must Assemble, recover civilians, and capture or kill as many of these mercs as we can. For Uche!” The crowd would repeat “For UCHE!” and assemble at the staging point, around the Fire Control Building.

The Battlegroups would Assemble, the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth’s armies making it to the city center by fighting. It had been a hellish day, but they were ready to assault. There would be a pause, as several UAV drones were shot down by AA fire. The civilians still inside, would force a force, an elite section, in fact, section number 9 to be sent, in order to attempt a stable infiltration point. The Osprey’s shields were heavy, as its UAV escorts fired upon the roof mounted defense. The weapons were quickly hit, but the Osprey took a hit through its wings, and was forced to crash land inside the mezzanine floor. Mercs and rebels, as well as a few blobs would fire upon the crashed craft. But the Sector Investigations Agents, and the Guard came out swinging, firing the osprey’s 20mm cannon in a motion to give them enough cover to enter. This would be a long day.

Secret Sector Investigations HQ

Well Alien, or should we call you Straltic, “welcome to Earth, and you are going to tell us why you are here, or else, you are going to jail forever. With our evidence, and Drone Testimony, you loose” The agent did not look pleased at the alien, as he waited for a response.




East Lagos Region
Polish Meeting Point
Africa
Earth

The Polish Troopers were not having as much fun as the Guard officer was, but they still had problems. The Troops had just managed to escape into the Tunnels of the Rail, and they were in the land of a horrible being. Its chaingun was overpowered, and for some reason, radio waves were refracted into the vast darkness. Outmatched, one of the Troopers looked at a communication Conduit. He shouter “Hey Kynchalski, place your radio onto this, and try to get a signal! Kynchalski would place his rado, and contact the Cruiser above. “Yeah, we are going to need an airstrike, to penetrate about 14 meters directly down, ok” The ship would assume position, its munitions firing through the atmosphere. The Ground troopers were not aware, and they had only minuets to run, the last man jumping onto a car to avoid the solid hole which formed from the kinetic kill device. The Alien seemed to gloat, but those would be its last words, as the slug smashed into its brain. The Poles would jump from the dust and shock which sweep through the subway, but they would not be expecting…

The Underground Express was no regular train. This was a heavily armored juggernaut which was part of the Guard’s Mobile Assault Team, and it was waiting for its cargo, the Poles. The Conductor, Captain Liru , a fox, looked at the team, and smiled. She energetically said,” Well boys, what are you waiting for? Lets roll out!” the doors of the railcar opened, and the army piled in. Once the rain was filled, the doors closed, ad an announcement was heard “This is the Battle Train, express making one stop at Power Plant Adjunct. Pleas stand clear of the doors, and watch out for rebel scum on the way there. Thank you for riding Trans Genetic Railways, and have a nice day.” The announcement was a dramatic contrast to the war, which seemed almost nonexistent, as the train speed on, heading towards the fusion plant to help finish the fight

(ooc: Fight Finishes tommrow when I am not le tired Also, address my assault if you are defenders, (/:ooc)

[Academia Nut]

Lagos
Earth

Lieutenant Hralglagth chuckled internally as he pulled himself together. These xeno children sure were pigfuck stupid, and it was a pleasure to remove them from the gene pool. The commander's ploy to play dead had worked brilliantly, and losses were currently only at 5% amongst the Lisbizif, although Korrillstav casualties were considerably higher at 40%.

Forming eyes, he watched with sadistic glee as the hellfire charges went off in the tunnel as the train that had just left passed by. Filled with the same destructive matter used by Straltoc torpedoes, the weapons had been a bitch to manufacture in the field, but they had the advantage of not looking like explosives to the uninformed until their containment bottles were breached. The effect was often described as having effect similar to napalm where the incidinary agent was thermate instead of gasoline, only the energy was nuclear instead of chemical in terms of magnitude. The charges weren't enough to destroy the battle train, but they were more than enough to obliterate the tracks and cause havoc with the wheels. Light weapons mounts were corroded or melted away in seconds, and any soldier outside the protective confines of the vehicle was killed instantly. The neutron flux generated by the breakdown of the protomatter and the subsequent rearrangement of the atomic structure of the bombarded nuclei would play merry hell with recovery attempts for the next few hours.

Honestly, who the fuck tried to send a train to beseige a city?

Not even bothering to look over the useless slugthrower, another of the commander's maskirovka ploys, Hralglagth forms claws to slice into a water line, and then squeezes his amorphous body into the empty pipe. Unlike the children of this world, who had to fight at range, adults could fight up close and personal, where strength won the day and weapons mounts could not turn fast enough, because they could slip into tiny cracks and slither across the ground where it was impossible to shoot them before they got to close quarters.

In less than a minute, Hralglagth arrived at his target, a forward supply depot. While well protected, this area had already been captured and swept, and no one could expect an attacker capable of ripping apart a tank of being able to fit through a 10cm diameter water pipe.

Hralglagth formed a mouth just so he could smile and laugh as he began the slaughter.

All across the city, the Lisbizif mercenaries began attacking supply lines in areas thought devoid of life a few minutes ago, setting off tactical nukes and more hellfire bombs. Commanding officers had their dying screams broadcast over wide band radios as they were disembowelled. The Straltoc mercenaries knew that in a straight up fight they were fucked, so they used their unique abilities to fight dirty.

In the thick of the front line fighting, the Korrillstav troopers began to toss their empty weapons at the enemy, encouraging them to rush forward... right into a hail of ripper gun fire. Powered by otherworldly energies tapped by the troopers, the guns could fire as long as the soldiers carrying them remained conscious. While not much better than regular guns in terms of absolute damage done, the ripper weapons tore apart matter at a fundamental level and thus against unshielded armour even small arms would eventually chew a hole.

All across the battlefield, the mercenaries began to abandon the weapons they began the fight with for the gear they had trained with. Dozens of special hellfire rockets were launched into the air, distributing clouds of slower burning protomatter that drifted in the air like nightmarish aurora. Helicopter pilots that tried to go through the burning, corrosive stuff soon discovered their engines and rotors damaged to point of non-functionality. Those that went around found the air defences were aware of the attacks beforehand and had prepared to take advantage of the bottlenecks formed. The radiation flux as matter was ripped apart on a nuclear level was horrific to anyone that cared about civilian casualties, but to the mercenaries and corrupt politicians and military officers that started this whole mess, it was just another way of jamming the enemy.

Still, the attack by the TGA and their allies was not completely pushed back. The mercenaries were spread too thin for their deceptions to have an overwhelming effect. And of course, eventually the brighter TGA commanders had pieced together why Straltoc weapons all tended to cause molecular breakdown: the amorphous Lisbizif were nearly impossible to kill without disintegrating effects such as plasma, incidinaries, nukes, or the reality warping tech of the ripper guns. Not even a direct hit by a HE shell from a tank was guaranteed to kill them permanently, although such things did tend to splatter them sufficiently to put them out of the fight. Suitable fire support was thus called in.

Still, Commander Syxik was pleased by the reports. His men were fighting hard, gaining valuable experience and emotional trauma while causing havoc to the enemy, and soon would be the time to withdraw and seek to "renegotiate" their contract. No one had ever accused him of being any less than mercenary.

[Redleader34]

The nuclear attacks on the TGA supply lines had left the region in total chaos. With the ongoing escalation the theatre commander saw no choice but to calling in heavy supporting fire from a wet navy battleship. The vessel had made its way as far up the river as possible in anticipation of the assault troops needing more fire support than their air cover could supply. It immediately began firing from a position several miles outside the city limits, its heavy railguns showering the target area with prototype 'plasma annihilator' shells. The long range guns hits the surprised enemy troopers with a weight of fire matching that of an old Iowa class ship, but with shells of far greater explosive power. The blast waves and bursts of star-hot plasma splattered and crisped the unnatural blobs, destroying some and seriously wounding others.

Meanwhile several hundred Sector Agents watched the battle with cold interest. The alien 'hellfire' weapons were turning sections of the city into a radioactive wasteland to rival Hiroshima after the first A-bomb. The amorphous beings were inhuman, in every sense of the word; they were utterly ruthless, incredibly tough and normal tactics are failing to contain them. Only overwhelming explosive force, or powerful energy weapons seemed to be capable of destroying them, was the general conclusion the field agents came to.

"The enemy is retreating to fortified positions under battleship bombardment. They are pinned down for now. Advise distributing the prototype plasma warheads to all units that can utilise them. Call in all available fighter-bomber squadrons, the attack choppers can't take this level of AA fire. Fit them with plasma bombs and tetryon pulse cannon pods. Establish total air superiority, then use the tetryon cannons to weaken the enemy at the molecular level. Then strike all pockets of resistance with plasma warheads. Apaches to loiter at the fringes and destroy any units attempting to escape the containment zone."

This poorly assembled report was the start of the overwhelming TGA counterattack. On the surface the already-blasted central areas of the city became hell on earth, an insanity of detonating bombs, plasma-fed fires and the relentless hammering of railgun rounds and flesh-disolving tetryon cannons. In the skies above, ever more aircraft massed as thousands of fighters and attack aircraft streaming in from every base on the African continent. What enemy AA systems remained simple dissolved under the sheer numbers of missiles being fired in ripples at the secondary rebel positions. Because the enemy 'hellfire' gas seemed to a have a sort of flight ceiling, yet the aircraft had to get as low as possible to positively identify their targets, the fighter-bomber pilots nicknamed this operation the "weenie test".

Now that the rebel and alien strong points were disintegrating under the air support of bombers equipped with smart missiles and prototype plasma bombs, the fight was finally starting to go the way of the Earth Forces.

"Begin low level bombardment from orbit, ion cannons on wide spread. That should disrupt their communications and further destroy their morale. We have them encircled, we can use direct laser comms. Orbital phaser strikes authorised on any retreating troop concentrations that the Apache cordon can't handle."

Although TGA had not developed personal plasma weapons, laser rifles were common special-purpose weapons. As the 'bait and beam tactic' began to be adopted, the aliens became easier to handle. Even the lasers had a hard time killing the strange beings, but they could burn them and fry their way through their amorphous bodies.

"Destroy them all, plasma bomb the sewers, make sure they do not soon forget the wrath of those they have provoked today!"

Johnson's words rung loud and clear. Meanwhile in the TGA logistics offices, plans were hastily made to ramp up plasma shell and warhead production as fast as possible, as well as increase laser production to equip all ground troops as soon as they could. The battle at Adis-Abba would soon use up the entire current stockpile of the experimental weapons; mass production would be needed if these amorphous aliens were to be effectively engaged again.

[Nephtys]

Solar Orbit, Sol System

The 'Space Monsters' that had erupted into the star system barely a few days ago remained in orbit, some even doing as much as diving close to the surface of the hot star. The formations were growing more complex and clearly more coordinated as time passed and the inhabitants of this system looked onwards with shock and caution.

The star had remained largely partially occluded for much of this time, with many of the creatures probing and penetrating at the fabric of space and the various bands of sub and hyperspace to create the appearance of an eclipse. They slowed however, with many units now forming a slowly rotating mass. In unison, their propulsive mechanisms began to work, organs throwing great jets of plasma and antimatter in their wakes as they broke from orbit.

Their nature had directed this new sub-group, forming a long streaming helix to perform a close-slingshot around Sol straight for the first planet of the system. From their location and at this rate of acceleration, they would arrive in minutes...

[Hawkwings]

"SpaceCom! This is Davidson base, we're reading that those things are headed straight for us! Please confirm and advise!"

The recent movement of the alien vessels had spurred on a new flurry of activity. Even more civilian vessels were trying to flee now, and the spacelanes were becoming increasingly crowded. Military ships jockeyed for position in natural defensive points, while others abandoned those to lead a more proactive defense.

In US SpaceCom, the frantic message was received and replied to by the resident AI, sending the message "Movement of alien ships confirmed. Recommend warming up the grav-projectors and hunkering down. Reinforcements unlikely. You are ordered to leave your scanning array locked on the alien swarm."

Deep below the surface of Mercury, the United States scientific and military personnel received their message with a touch of hopelessness, but they carried out their duty, determined to take out as many as they could if they started attacking.[/code]

[Academia Nut]

Earth
Lagos
Secret Sector Investigations HQ

Roused from his comatose state, Lieutenant Zaquild made a quick assessment of the damage. The laser that had hit him had hurt like a motherfucker and burned away about 30% of his mass. Fortunately the majority of the loss was being used for motive purposes at the time of destruction so there was little to no memory loss.

After a few seconds, he noticed the agent interviewing him. Zaquild contemplated rushing the man, but the variety of weapons pointed at him and the armoured barrier separating them meant that he only had about a 0.1% chance of survival and a 3% chance of killing the man before dying himself. Wasn't worth it.

Reshaping his body to form a face disturbingly similar to that of his interviewer, Zaquild smiles and says, "Why I Earth? Blood. Smell blood, so much. Much blood, much money. Maggots, maggots come to drink blood, eat flesh, grow big. Become not-maggots. I come for god. Make god. Burn worlds god. Burn worlds, only we left, only Straltoc. We all come for money."

Still smiling, Zaquild chuckles and replies, "Start with city, make you burn. Burn homes, burn roads, burn power, burn water. You burn all to get to us. Much hatred. Will fester, maggots crawl in wound for generations. 'Why they burn homes?' they ask. Governor, he already gone, he tell them. In generation, we return and you burn again, endless cycle. Good for blood, good for money, good for maggots, good for god."

Going quiet, Zaquild then asks, "More question?"

Lagos Rebel Central Command

Commander Syxik laughed when the massive plasma ordance began raining down into the city. At the rate the TGA was going, they might as well have nuked the city from orbit, it would have saved them considerable effort, and resulted in less loss of infrastructure and civilian life. Any of his men still in that awful conflaguration deserved death as any soldier assigned to a hit and run mission who couldn't get out of an area fast enough was incompetent. By his estimates, the majority of his officers would be into the civilian suburbs now, looking to surrender. The time had come to end the contract.

Colonel Nwan never saw it coming. One second he was coordinating the beleagured defenders, the next he was lying stunned on the ground while the alien mercenary leader took apart the command centre. How he had reached here was aparent from the ripped open blast doors, but why no one had died yet when the thing could rip open tanks was...

The colour drained from Nwan's face. The bastard had not just betrayed them but was going to keep them alive to sell them out. Nwan tried to reach the plasma pistol he had purchase when he had first hired the mercenaries, but the creature just turned back on him and casually swatted the gun aside, forming a mouth to say mockingly, "If you had read the contract carefully, you would know it expired a minute ago. And as a free agent, I do believe that the bounty on your head is worth more than what you could pay me."

All across the city, the Straltoc mercenaries began throwing down their weapons, for real this time, waving white flags of surrender that they had not used the first time they had thrown down their guns. As for their officers...

Outskirts of Lagos

There were twelve of them all told, the rest either dead or on the other side of the city. They had increased their density considerably and remolded their shapes so that they looked like large, clunky humans. They then created a thin crust of sacrificed mass that looked like skin burnt to a crisp. Now for the show.

The TGA military had moved tens of thousands of panicky civilians to the outskirts and were keeping them penned up for the duration of the battle simply to keep them out of the way while not actually letting them out of the city. This park was one of them, and was crawling with international observers so that the TGA could not be accused of unethical treatment of civilians and whatnot. It was under fairly heavy guard, considering the threat of terrorist attacks or fugitives trying to slip away, but the mercenaries weren't going to even try and fight.

Stumbling out into the open, they raised their hands piteously and began to walk towards the main gates of the camp, conveniently right in front of the GNN crew, and began to moan, "We surrendered... we surrendered... they... they... we surrendered... the bombs... we surrendered..."

The security detail was noticeably panicking, for a variety of reasons, and screaming for them to get back. They ignored it, seemingly deaf with pain, until they were sure the GNN cameras were focused on them. No amount of explanation after the fact would dull the images that were about to spread across the galaxy like wildfire.

"The TGA... we surrendered..." and then, one by one, they began to collapse to the ground, bursting open into piles of goo to the horror of those watching, the GNN cameras capturing this while the TGA forces dropped as much plasma on the city as they could in the background.

[Redleader34]

Orbit
Harmony Sphere

The Jamming in place, no signal would be able to escape the reach of the orbital device. This was part of the battle plan, to force the mercs into a state of communication blackness. Even if the GNN had the best transmitters in the world, it would be no matter to the full military communication blackout.

Outskirts of Lagos, near a refugee camp

In the refugee camp, several APCs rolled in, the transports containing men in black suits, and military Police. The MPs looked at the GNN Reporters, their ripper guns a dramatic contrast to the normal MP-5s which the troops had on their backs. The Sector Investigations force would raise badges to the reporters, and then point to the blobs. "Those beings which just exploded? They aren't humans. If you will look at this scan from our convoy, their organs are too thin to be human, and there is not enough machine for them to be drones. In fact..." a bit of the straltoic moved slightly. "That's the reason why the city had much brutality. We will give GNN exclusive rights to the footage of rebel brutality, and camera footage of alien rampages, if you simply agree to host a small report, just a five minuet one from the TGA. Another agent collected a bit of the goo, and place it into a flask. He handed it off to the reporter "Yeah, here you go, if you don't believe us. Under analysis this will be some of this Straltoic. Thanks for your time. Nearby, a F-14 would drop an EMP explosive on a target, smashing most electronics, and blacking out the cameras. "Who called in an airstrike on this sector! That could have destroyed the comm centre!" MPs were shouting, as they rushed the reporters into the vans "It isn't safe here, we must go to the Green Zone, ASAP. The vans would drive off, leaving a small contingent of MPs and a few medics, who would start treating the injured.

Lagos City

The Plasma Bombardment was completed, as thousands of reports of surrender came into the command center. Dropships came from the orbital fleet, which was still waiting on the Space Monsters to do something, loaded with medics. The medics landed all over, their armed escort watching as they started to make the area safe for living. Streams of plasma boiled, and Choppers Still had trouble landing, and capturing troops. A massive mining machine had just been called from the South Diamond mines, and the transport landed it directly above the belligerent subway. The Poles would be saved, but that was hours away, at the minimum. Troopers would look at the madness, and death, and note "This was the worst battle in the History of the Earth.

Earth
Lagos
Secret Sector Investigations HQ

In the interrogation place,the agent would look at the blob, and spit on him "YOu can change your face, but it doesn't matter. We could give you a deal... if you tell us, who hired you. Now if you don't, lets just say, I wonder what a plasma recyclers do on Stralotic."

Space
Diplomatic Cruiser

The Diplomatic ship would float closer, its pilot avoiding antimatter and matter bursts with ease. The messages would be sent to the swarm, whhle the probe scanned the creatures for any signs of power capacity or weakness

[Academia Nut]

Lagos
Secret Sector Investigation HQ

Zaquild laughed long and loud before absorbing the spittle running down his face and saying, "Always make deal!" His face then shifts to that of a recongizable man, the old governor of the city. "He hire us, but he change face too now. Commander, he know new face, will sell it you. 'Reduced sentence' he say. Plan from start. We no fear jail, live long time. You kill us, you never find what want, he fester wound, poison maggots, make new wound later. So yes, make deal. We mercenary, what else we do?"

Outskirts of Lagos

Mentally shrugging, the Lisbizif officers make no move to look like anything else than dead bodies and allow themselves to be scraped up. More important than pissing everyone off was getting the admission of surrender witnessed by a third party. The Straltoc government hated mercenary scum like them, but there would be a huge stink raised if they were killed after the battle. The bastards were sticklers for ethics, which was why the mercenaries were outcasts in the first place, but this would work for them for once.

[consequences]

Greetings, Chirtraran Association. The dwarves of Isdenestilom is always interested in meeting new races and estabilshing new trading relationships. I am Captain Thol Korzaric of the ISF ship Gronkirad. We will escort you to the planet Metuldodok, where you can meet with one of our Envoys.

"That'd be much appreciated Captain. Its always good to know that for once the intel folks didn't blow it and send you to the middle of pirate central."

The courier smoothly fell in behind its escort. If there was any apparent concern at the fact that it would have all the lifespan of a glob of spit on a star's surface if things went wrong, it certainly wasn't apparent.

[consequences]

The Ring

We hear, and approach. The Gestalt responded, as a Multitude and it's attendants glided forward through the night, approaching the ship. Remain still. Do not be alarmed.

An active psionic sweep began of the vessel.

To all outward appearances, the mentalities of the crew were exactly as they presented themselves, to the point that even the crew themselves thought of themselves as the lead members of an alliance of minor powers. Their true purpose was deeply hidden, as a deep psionic scan was expected, and in fact already factored into the plan.

[Nephtys]

Planet I, 'Mercury', Sol System

"SpaceCom! This is Davidson base, we're reading that those things are headed straight for us! Please confirm and advise!"

The recent movement of the alien vessels had spurred on a new flurry of activity. Even more civilian vessels were trying to flee now, and the spacelanes were becoming increasingly crowded. Military ships jockeyed for position in natural defensive points, while others abandoned those to lead a more proactive defense.

In US SpaceCom, the frantic message was received and replied to by the resident AI, sending the message "Movement of alien ships confirmed. Recommend warming up the grav-projectors and hunkering down. Reinforcements unlikely. You are ordered to leave your scanning array locked on the alien swarm."

Deep below the surface of Mercury, the United States scientific and military personnel received their message with a touch of hopelessness, but they carried out their duty, determined to take out as many as they could if they started attacking.[/code]

The creatures rotated to decelerate, each ship settling into low orbit, long streams of ships arriving to blanket the undefended planet with dark clouds two kilometers long. They had held their position for five minutes after the cordon had been formed. Swelling from the direction of their reinforcements, a particularly dense school of massive ships darted forward, on terminal paths to the planet.

These hulking shapes did not carry the sleek, fighting grace of their breathren. Rather, they were blunt and ungainly, with each with a wide open maw kilometers long. They broke orbit and violently crashed into the surface of the scorched planet, swallowing wide swathes of land and stone into their own bodies. The ground trembled where they landed and crashed, splitting as they tore chunks clean out, tossing them into the air where lesser creatures captured these discarded pickings, towing them back towards the sun. One great chunk even intersected the path of a small probe sent in their direction, smashing it into glittering dust before the rock met it's tug and was dutifully pulled away.

High above this tiny, overbaked planet, the swarm performed their task like clockwork.

[Noble Ire]

Neutral territory between Portuguese and TGA Space
Planet Espanasi, System B-0325
Trade City Chicamin


In a galaxy of trillions of sapient life forms, dozens of civilized species, and a host of interconnected, interstellar states, there are invariably outcasts. Refugees from justice, society, family, or fate, their ranks swelled apace with the growth of their parent states, and by the dawn of the twenty-sixth century, they populated entire worlds. No doubt, the contradiction of being spurned and expunged by a greater society only to be assimilated into a new one irked a few, but those who did not excel in their new civilizations tended not to be in much of a position to complain; exploitation, oppression, and even slavery was rampant in those places between the stars where social order had collapsed, or never existed at all.

Espanasi was one such “black hole” of civility, a former Portuguese colony that was more or less abandoned during the wars a century earlier. When order reasserted itself and the New Imperial Authority returned to the planet, they found its government and economy in ruins, exploited and undermined by corrupt officials, local criminal guilds, and a break-away branch of Trans-Solar Insurance, which had used its finances to monopolize every aspect of the abandoned colony’s economy. Its executives were investigated, charged, and hauled off to Earth to be tried for their abuses, but the Imperial authorities did little to repair the damage that had been done, and Espanasi found itself a more or less sovereign, highly unstable, independant entity. Even after nearly a century, the world lacked a central government, and the majority of its surface was a lawless wilderness, but some of its cities had managed to hold onto the sparest amenities of civilization by throwing their lot in completely with the outlaw guilds, the last real powers left on the planet.

On the edge of one of these modest, dirty metropolises, an interstellar port infamous for its mercenaries and arms dealers, in a small, equally dirty bar, two figures sat at a recessed, shadowy booth. One was clad in a cloak of a purple hue so deep it was almost black. As well as disguise all but its general shape and build, the garment’s hood shadowed its face so that only the barest outline of a jaw was visible beneath its cowl. Across the dingy table, a dark-skinned human man of burly build and disposition made obvious by the fanged skull tattoo emblazoned on his left bicep sat with an open bottle clutched in one hand. The bitter-smelling concoction within was untouched.

“This had better not be a trick or a scam,” he said in a quiet, aggressive tone. The other has requested that they speak in English, the human trade tongue, and although his grasp of the language was limited, he pressed forward undaunted. Hesitation was weakness. “Don’t think you’re safe, hidden-face. Free Africa finds traitors and cheats. No matter what.”

“Rest assured, Tayari, there is no trick.” The voice that emanated from beneath the cloaked figure’s hood was calm and androgynous. “We have a common purpose, after all. You wish to see the TGA shattered, and it is in my interest to see the control on Earth that the reigning authorities hold weakened.”

Tayari snorted and leaned back against a torn cushion, but made no other motion. The half-dozen rebels mingling with the bar’s shady crowd kept their hands off of their carefully-concealed slug-throwers. “Where is it?” he asked after a moment of silence.

“The device is waiting in a cargo container on the edge of the orbital garbage drift.” The other figure produced a tiny data chip from the folds of its robe and slid it across the table. Tayari snapped it up quickly and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger before the metallic strip vanished into his rough-looking vest. “That chip contains the coordinates for your ship, and the identifying marks on the container.”

“And the activation codes?” the rebel asked.

“No. Those will be transmitted to your cell on Earth when my employers have confirmed that the device has been properly deployed. That was our arrangement.”

Tayari cracked a predatory smile. “So it was. So it was.”

The man rose from his seat. “Make sure that your employers send those codes soon. Your account doesn’t get a single credit until the device has been activated and done exactly what you promised me it would do.” The humorless smile again. “That was our arrangement.”

With that, the human stalked out of the establishment, his dispersed bodyguards close behind. The cloaked figure waited a few minutes, and then followed him out. As it made off down the dark and damp alley beyond, the form took out a simple datapad, gleaned from a well-known and unscrupulous interstellar banking agency. It scanned the object’s main screen, and the account number displayed upon it, and then slid the flat surface back under its coverings. The promised money meant nothing to the figure or its ‘employers’, but the rebels would have been suspicious if the recently-deposited object in the space high above had been simply gifted. It was just another variable, one of millions, inconsequential and simultaneously vital to the fulfillment of the great and final goal.

The hooded being turned off the alley onto a crowded main thoroughfare, and was gone.

[Hawkwings]

Davidson Base

"Sir, sensors are gathering data and transmitting it as fast as we get it. If we know about something, so will FleetCom."

The officer on duty nodded gravely and said "Alright folks, at the rate they're going, they're not gonna eat us for a couple days, so let's see just how tough those things are. What's the status on the grav array?"

An engineer popped out from behind a console and said "Grav array's all buttered up and ready to pulse. Just give some coordinates."

Davidson Station's grav array was a fairly standard model for outposts and research bases. There weren't rogue asteroids or much space debris near Mercury, so there was no need to upgrade to a higher-powered one. Still, it was more than enough to catch freighters, rescue stranded craft nearby, and do some serious damage if the enemy was close. The alien ships above them were very close, only a few hundred kilometers, practically nothing in space. The top of the line scanning equipment was currently focused on one of the mining craft now, and the data pouring in was being analyzed and sent back to Earth. It was also useful, though massively overpowered, as targeting sensors.

"Override the restrictions on the grav array and give that miner dual hundred-gee pulses. Let's see if we can rip it in half."

"Gladly, sir."

"And make sure you get this on scanners too."

[Cincinnatus]

Metuldodok

After the dwarven cruiser and the Chirtraran vessel it was escorting dropped back into realspace near the dwarven world, Captain Thol Korzaric ordered his Comsdwarf to open a channel.

Chitrtraran Association, we are uploading coordinates to you now. Follow the indicated route to our station in orbit. Envoy Sintal Dopiarn will meet with you there.

[SirNitram]

The Ring

We hear, and approach. The Gestalt responded, as a Multitude and it's attendants glided forward through the night, approaching the ship. Remain still. Do not be alarmed.

An active psionic sweep began of the vessel.

To all outward appearances, the mentalities of the crew were exactly as they presented themselves, to the point that even the crew themselves thought of themselves as the lead members of an alliance of minor powers. Their true purpose was deeply hidden, as a deep psionic scan was expected, and in fact already factored into the plan.

Approach and land as we do. We will discuss. The Wanderers transmitted simply, and escorted the ship in. The Gestalt was already delving deeper and deeper, unable to pull back. That was the danger of the Wanderers; they rarely knew when to use a light hand unless it was requested.

[Tanasinn]

Khurlassian Sovereign Space
Nalthar
Shun-tekk

For those that cared to observe, one of the Glorious Republic's international channels, RNN, was broadcasting an uncommon event in the various tongues of known space: an official national address delivered by the Republic's Emperor himself. The Imperial Majesty was a Khurl of few words and careful actions: indeed, he generally allowed the Republic Senate to rule the nation, guiding things with a light touch when he felt necessary. To give speeches, particularly on Establishment Day, was an uncommon thing for the Emperor, who tried to distance himself from being viewed as a militant being. Indeed, Establishment Day was a very militant holiday in the Republic, with formations of troops, tanks, and ships paraded on and above the nation's various worlds in a display of military might. The parades were largely considered a fun event by the Republic's proud military, a welcome break from endless live fire drills and raids against pirates.


This year's Establishment Day parade in the national capital of Shun-tekk was the largest to date: millions upon millions of Shultakk marched in strict formations, battle rifles perched on their shoulders. Gharn outfitted in urban cameoflage power armor looked stiffly forward, their smaller formations bracketing massive lines of marching Shultakk. Behind the troops rumbled a variety of vehicles: battle tanks, APCs, topheavy artillery pieces; even the AUG-37 was seen in great number and prime form.


A female Shultakk journalist was perched in front of this image, she and the RNN filming crew using one of Shun-tekk's mega-skyscrapers as a way to gain perspective on just how many troops were on the move. The jorunalist, for her part, tried to look pretty (by Shultakk standards, at least) as she cheerfully chirped into the camera about both this and the first Establishment Day. As the Emperor appeared on the speaking balcony of the Imperial Administrative Building, the journalist (perhaps gratefully) silenced herself, letting the camera's sound equipment instead pick up the roar of approval from countless civilians who had come to watch both the parade and the Emperor's speech. The parade, for its part, immediately halted, the legions of troops turning to face the Imperial Majesty, standing stiffly at ease. Hidden recording gear picked up and amplified the Emperor's voice as he began to speak, and a respectful, interested quiet overtook the crowd as his lyrical, low voice rolled forth Neutral, the tongue spoken by almost all citizens of the Republic.

"Citizens of the Republic, friends from abroad, loyal soldiers of the Republic, I greet you on this, our Establishment Day.

This past year has seen much change in our glorious republic: friends have been made, nations contacted, our own well-being expanded. Indeed, the Republic Military is at the peak of its fitness, ever-vigilant even as its numbers swell and the tasks it assumes grow. It gives me great pride in my fellow citizens to see the ranks of the military swell so: truly, this is a nation of men and women who care for their fellows.

Let us not dwell merely on the military, however: we have also seen our nation join the Coalition of Nations, a body established with the goal of promoting an international community where all can live comfortably without the fear of pirates, unfair trading, or thinly-veiled military barbarism. I would like to extend my gratitude and respect to those nations who have chosen to join this forum. Indeed, I anticipate the day that all insterstellar nations come willingly to this coalition, so that we may better ourselves through service to each other.

Finally, I would like to extend my personal thanks to High Diplomat Kel-mar-Chul, whose service keeps him on Earth even now. I also extend my thanks to the nation of Poland, whose hosting of the Coalition of Nations formation negotiations was a noble action. I extend my thanks to those that have opposed hasty war on the Heralds of Xylyx, and hope that we may nevertheless treat each other respectfully. Finally, citizens of the Republic, I thank you. Without your services to the Republic, we would certainly not have reached our current state. I hope that this new year in our nation's history will be more glorious than the last.

Thank you, and good evening."

The Emperor turned, striding with military poise back into the Imperial Administrative Building to the cheers of the gathered crowds. The Shultakk reporter resumed her speech, a small corner of the broadcast being dedicated to various shots of the parade, the crowd, and various ships in orbit of various worlds, "The Establishment Day parade, of course, will continue well into the evening, with normal schedules resuming tomorrow. The Republic Navy is expected to retire to standard patrols within the hour, however, save those assets away on deep-space maneauvers who were unable to participate in the day's displays."

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Sol
Terra
Sant Tomas
Coalition Meeting Hall

The sailor fuku mafia were understandably alarmed when Ambassador Felsith started grabbing them with his tentacles. "See, I told you he was gonna rape us!" Sergeant Amane cried out. However, much to their relief, the Straltoc emissary simply wrapped his tentacles around the six females' bodies and deposited them off to one side without a word before finally shuffling off to do his own business.

"That's another apology you owe the Straltoc emissary, Sergeant Amane," Flag Admiral Hernandez deadpanned. Her feelings of lightheartedness, however, were soon replaced with an overpowering sense of dread; a powerful Newtype in her own right, the Flag Admiral picked up on Felsith's own secondhand sense of panic. "You feel that, Vivian?"

Marshal Nguyen, a fellow Newtype, replied, "Yeah, I feel it too, Hope. Maybe that's what's gotten that Straltoc chap all worked up. You see where he went?"

"Yeah, he marched off towards one of the windows," Flag Admiral Hernandez said. "We should go check it out."

The two Joint Chiefs, with the honor guard in tow, walked up to another one of the conference hall's many windows and stared up at the sky, watching as an eclipse started to occlude the sun and darken the skies. "A solar eclipse?" Marshal Nguyen mused? "That's what's gotten everyone all worked up? Something else is definitely up here."

----------

Sol
Just outside Earth orbit

A small CCS Space Command Navy task force dropped into realspace just outside the edge of the Sol system. Its vanguards, the frigates Johnny Yong Bosch, Stephanie Sheh, Eric Vale, Laura Bailey, Kirby Morrow, and Kelly Sheridan, were the first to reach Earth, followed in short order by the destroyers Amuro Ray, Zechs Merquise, and Heero Yuy, the cruisers Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, and the flagship, the battleship Saber.

On the bridge of the Saber, the task force leader, Vice Admiral Dawn Kawasumi, opened up comms. "This is Vice Admiral Dawn Kawasumi of the Congressional Space Command Navy, reporting in from the bridge of the battleship Saber," she chimed. "I understand that the Terran powers have their hands full with an African insurgency and space bugs blocking out the sun, and I just figured we'd try to help out."

[Academia Nut]

Sol
Terra
Sant Tomas
Coalition Meeting Hall

Watching the sun go dark in growing horror, Ambassador Felsith immediately did three things. The first was to engage in a rapid conference with the captain of the Ariklu via cybernetic uplink and learn all he could, which was to say, not much. Apparently a truly massive fleet of unknown ships had just jumped into close orbit about Sol, no known affiliation or transmissions made yet. Only time would tell.

The second thing he did was turn one of his faces towards the collection of women he had just displaced and say, "I apologize ladies, I was just rather surprised by the local star going dim when the only object of sufficient size to do that naturally is nearly 180 degrees out of alignment to do that."

The third thing he did was turn a small portion of his mind over to analyzing their conversation and cultural cues to try and understand what exactly had offended them. After several seconds of browsing the local data nets he turned up a reference to something called 'anime' and shortly after that 'hentai', which caused him to burst out with a dark chuckle and say, "Ah... I must say my friends that if you were startled by my appearance I should warn you away from ever viewing our entertainment, in particular our pornography. There is a very good reason the Straltoc language has never seen the need to develop a neuter gender."

A few days later

The past several days had been a nightmare for Felsith. This damned star seemed to draw trouble like grak-gnats to kriss. While so far the aliens had done nothing outwardly hostile other than sit in close orbit to the star and refuse to answer hails, the situation in Africa was much more troubling. Especially as there had been recent reports of Straltoc mercenaries in Lagos committing atrocities. The push by the TGA and Polish forces would reveal the truth of the matter. That would be another diplomatic mess Felsith did not need.

And then he recieved a message over his uplink from the Ariklu. While it carried a complex set of data, the message was simple. The gargantuan alien fleet was on the move towards Mercury.

[Thirdfain]

Africa
Polish Republic Staging Point
Earth
Sol System

They landed, one after another, bulky and ugly and menacing. The blocky, grey shapes of Navy heavy lifters came down through the smog and dusk shadows, illuminated from below by the electromagnetic crackle of EM repulsors and the lights of the muster-fields.

As they hit tarmac, their bellies seemed to open, beached whales spilling the contents of their stomaches in long, organized streams of vehicles and men. Regimental standards flapped wildly, buffeted by air wildly displaced by the hovering monstrosities. The Poles marched in lock-step, ugly and purposeful in field browns. The sounds of the Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, sung by hundreds of thousands of patriotic throats, almost could be heard over the roar of the tank engines and the shouting and hubbub of the stevedores. A small city seemed to sprout from the plain, instant home to nearly half a million men and women in the uniform of the Polish Republican Army. They were all long-service regulars, trained to razor's edge in one of the most selective and grueling training processes known to mankind. They were of Germanic, and French, and Italian, and Algerian descent, all made Poles in the past two centuries by the necessities of the refugee lifestyle. The long barrels of self-propelled guns searched the sky ceaselessly, and the ugly beetle-forms of military EMVs hummed in formation over the growing bivouac.

Sikhs marched with the Polish infantry, tightly-wound turbans covered by dull tan nemourlon combat helmets. Faces bearded in brown and red and blonde were creased with sweat as the feared soldiers laboured to unload the vast cargoes required to feed, arm, and maintain the entire 39. Front of the Polish Army. Two additional Armia had been deployed, tripling the Polish presence in Western Africa.

Forty miles north, the sky flickered and cracked, low-hanging clouds colored by the flash of weapons-fire. The 139. Korpus, some 45,000 fighting Poles, were in the seventh hour of the assault on Ibadan, the second largest city in TGA Nigeria. Rebel troops there had been surrounded by fast-moving columns of Polish Air Cavalry, and now the Sikhs were moving in for the kill. Large segments of the rebel defenses had been bypassed completely by strong armoured movements through the financial district, and resistance was fading as units of urban warfare pioneers squashed the isolated pockets of increasingly desperate rebels one by one.

The disaster in Lagos had been a blow for the Polish army in Africa, but the Republic was not to be stopped by a single setback.

[Imperial Overlord]

Over the last several days:

Sol
Above the Elliptic


The Logos Centrality had trained a thousand centers on the strange space creatures and attempted ten thousand different forms of communication. Clues about the creatures strange biology had been gathered, but no form of communication had been successful. So a stalemate had existed as the creatures had remained relatively passive and the Centrality had tried to gather information.

The Centrality was more than suspicious. The creatures had arrived far too close to the anomaly and swarmed around it. Suspicions were very much alive about what had brought these creatures here. The NGTO reached into unknown space and too many of its members quietly regarded Sol as the enemy. The appearance of these creatures was unlikely to be coincidence.

Centrality sensors registered a part of the swarm break off from the main body and head towards mercury. "I think we have run out of time," said Admiral Mann. "Alert the rest of the fleets. Launch weapon buses and power grasers in preparation for a long range engagement. Stand by with missiles when the enemy reaches medium range."

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Sol
Just outside Earth orbit

Two latecomers to the party, the frigates Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt, arrived in the Sol system under cloak, remaining more or less off everyone else's radar until decloaking just outside Earth orbit and rendezvousing with the rest of the CCS taskforce. The sensor operators onboard the Saber noted the two frigates' tardiness when they reported it to Vice Admiral Kawasumi. "But then again, they were last-minute additions to this little group," she rationalized. "We were only thrown together and rushed off to Sol as soon as Fleet Admiral Hwang caught wind of those Terran crises, after all. Gotta make sure our leaders don't come to any harm while they're stuck on Terra."