Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet T'au
External Government Building
Conference Room 207

Quincy was jovial and polite at the Maunkee's agreement, his face radiated pleasure, his body moved with grace and calmness and all around warmth.

But when the papers touched his fingers every fiber turned to stone. His eyes, normally vibrant, orange and yellow, like two orbs of fire behind a faintly blue glass skull were snuffed out, laser like they studied every infinitesimally small detail of the papers.

The Qujoray were taught the importance of a contract. They would not have a government without them. They had functioned fine without them, but they had extended to a great galactic power because of ThuystaHrn's cultishly named "Infallible Papers."

Quincy admired the Maunkee for the concision of their papers, the freedom they were allowing the Qujoray. He was done quickly, absorbing every detail. Obvious loopholes weren't the issue, it was the minor ones. The Qujoray had a mixed view of cheating a business partner, but being cheated was universally despised.

A copy of the papers would have to be analyzed by the government before the confederated companies were informed, but Quincy saw no guile in them. In fact, he saw total foolishness on the part of the Maunkee. The Qujoray were selling something, and not only that, they were offering a free trial.

Nothing was free. Quincy had come with one intention, to bind the Maunkee Economy so tightly to the Qujoray that no amount of dissonance may be said against them, he would tantalize them with sudden, incredible profit, but if ever the Qujoray needed a favor, they would have planted all the seeds, holding the Maunkee in the suffocating grasp of the Almighty Dollar. The Qujoray would work for the Maunkee, they would be the finest, fastest workers they could be... but they were buying an insurance policy, and settling themselves comfortably behind Maunkee protection.

Quincy let out a breath as he signed a beautiful signature on the papers, all his anguish flooded out into calligraphy. His eyes became bright again and his body became more lax.

"I promise you this venture will spell a new age of wealth. We shall work together, supplementing what the other lacks."

The Maunkee wouldn't regret this, nor would the Qujoray.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet T'au
T'au Central, External Government Building.

Watching the reactions of the assembled Maunkee representatives the Oracle smiled a fearsome, feral smile, fangs and razor teeth exposed. He had understood that he had insulted these beings; the fact was empathised as their leader left the room. However, he was a diplomat and understood what was asked of him. The need to appear superior to the Maunkee and put them and their Greater Good in their place. He nodded his understanding of Chaos abandonment of the assembly and listened to the other representatives calmly. His body posture had been relaxed and his claws were retracted, if not for his enormous stature he could have been called cute, with no possible ill intentions.
“I apologise” He began after the first two advisors spoke, his voice almost a purr “You must understand that assumptions are not highly appreciated by the Kirata culture. Do not waste your breath. Entering such a treaty is not my decision and, you must understand, will be rejected by The Khan. My role is merely to begin contact and offer services.”
He shot a slightly fouled look at the economic representative as he addressed the issue of economy and responded.
“I said before assumptions are not welcome, and do not presume to tell me that our economy will fail and we would not look for help when the time comes that we require it”

His attention was attracted by the military representative, noting the katana on his person. He snarled at the Maunkee’s tone and took a step towards the lesser creature “Starving? Starving!? You presume to tell me how my own people fare?! The love of the hunt is a heritage that has not been lost and will not be lost.” With this last phrase The Oracle backed from the representative slightly.

However the Maunkee would not back down and advanced, for a while The Oracle did not react. However as the military representative began again the Kira drew himself up, claws prepped for a fight. “Diplomatic? Is your diplomacy merely referring to all races that do not follow your regime as inferior and lesser?” He stepped towards the aggressive creature, biological eye full of malice while the other was cold, unmoving and mechanical. “In answer to your question yes I do have offers; however such behaviour may cause you to lose any assistance I would supply.” He was thinking that a war between their two nations would begin in this room and valuable information he and his associates had gleaned would not be conveyed back to Myrmidon and The Khan. His attention was adverted as a group of Maunkee warriors entered the room, armed and ready. He tensed his body, ready to defend himself against this new threat. As they ordered the Maunkee to back down The Oracle relaxed, looking at the slightly worried other representatives gathered around the table. He then spoke to the guards “If you are here concerning my safety from him” The Oracle gestured to the military representative with a claw “I am able to defend myself.”

He turned back to the council again, relaxing and withdrawing his claws. “I have little to offer to a nation such as yours. My species provides superior military skills which we would be glad to be deployed as mercenary escorts for any convoys or expeditions you imitate. Also the Kirata Empire has a good source of rarer minerals and gases which you may require.” He bowed to those assembled “These are my offers, if our services are accepted and prove profitable I am sure The Khan will be willing to negotiate further dealings.” He sat down on the provided chair as a sign of acceptance of these alien’s response.


Free Union Space
Unnamed Humanoid System (Class 3 Star - System AA1232)
Strike Force Terminus Etheron

Kirashka Wing quickly discovered the source of the disturbance as it swept past the atmosphere of Taurus the arriving Xri’lii’ra fleet came into view. The massive biological monstrosities seeming to be blights against the cold blackness of the void. Like a girdle around Taurus a second fleet assembled. Old, rough and cheap cruisers and battleships shuddered and shifted into a sloppy formation. A quick message was sent to The Killath, warning of the approaching fleets. Upon confirmation of the message the 5 stealthed ships dived amongst the readying Free Union ships. The dagger like fighters darting for the encroaching monstrosities. A single pass and a single salvo would go unnoticed amongst the war of the juggernauts. Reaper drives sent the squadron amongst the dreadnoughts. The Hawks wove as point defence weapons were activated with unreal speed. However a full volley of 10 rockets streamed towards the front of the ship in point. Red beams lanced from the noses of the Hawks weakening the shields at the target of the Kira ordinance. In moments the invisible fighters were gone again, reaper drives flinging the squadron back to the protective Killath.

----

The Killath began its recovery operation almost instantly after receiving word of the approaching dreadnoughts, instead of waiting for its assistance. In one quick shift the cloaked ship slipped parallel to the wreck of the Rinewood. A vicious red beam appeared from the belly of the hidden cruiser, it cut into the prow of the station. The space around the Rinewood came alive once again as the pirates uselessly fumbled around, searching for their attacker. Smarter pilots who attacked the source of the beam were taken out swiftly by flak splitting the space around the invisible hunter. Defensive turrets on the station itself were rendered useless as missiles struck with pin point accuracy from such close range. It took 20 minutes for the HPF beam to slice through the multiple decks of the ugly hulk of metal. By that time the reinforcements were on their way and the remaining fighters of the pirate’s already devastated defence force were running for safety from the hidden, untouchable killer. The few brave enough to stay were ripped to pieces by vicious, sharp fighters that emerged from The Killath’s hanger. The fact these ships were visible was no help to the helpless pirates as they clasped to the detached section of the Rinewood, moving it towards the now visible gaping mouth of The Killath’s cavernous cargo hold. The HPF beam worked quickly, slicing the already dissected hulk into smaller sections which were manoeuvred into the hold. Soon assistance had arrived in the forms of two more Privateers which began to duplicate The Killath’s tactics, slicing the defenceless station into manageable chunks to be searched and stripped of anything useful. However the operation was nowhere near complete when the Privateers’ picked up the approaching Omen and all ships warped out of visibility and vacated the space surrounding the defunct space station. The sat and watched as the invasion force ripped into the Rinewood, not caring for its battered structure.

----

Within Slasher’s Hold nothing was peaceful, screams reverberated through the dense corridors as stealthed Kirans fell on to individuals wandering the corridors, ripping them to shreds in an orgy of blood and gore. Body parts revealed their twin pathways through the corridor ridden base. Even Gir’alit got a smattering of kills, taking out panicked individuals who fled the directions of the anguished sounds. It wasn’t long before the whole of Slasher’s Hold was on alert. However the invaders could not be found, only traces of their devastation revealed.

Armed patrols travelled the corridors, their weapons old and inefficient, more then one of these squads never reported in. However, signals travelled through the hulk quicker then the Kirans could and slowly they were being boxed in. Unknown to the hunters of course but still the infiltrators’ manoeuvring space was disappearing because of the sheer numbers of the pirates who knew the base. Conflicts became more common, screams, roars, the sound of tearing flesh and staccato gunfire echoed more and more often.

Quite by accident however, the Kira taskforces stumbled upon each other, bringing the count back up to six, enough to make any man tremble in his steel plated boots.

The group reached a junction, three prongs splitting off into obscure reaches of the base. Emerging form each of these prongs were three task forces. They stopped and looked at each other, confused.
“I’m sure I heard noises from this direction” One leader said, looking at his compatriots, who nodded. Stating that they too had thought the same thing. A younger member of the squad piped up, his voice and body trembling, what he had seen shook him. “Maybe they’re still here” he said naively, cnosdiering all the entrances were blocked. No one noticed the slightly warping of the air as six shapes appeared. That is, until about a second later when the shapes dived amongst them. The Kirans, blooded and vicious ripped apart infantry quicker then the pirates could pull the triggers on their redundant weapons. Screams of those that survived the first strike called more nearby troops to the scene. The new arrivals entered the scene through the middle tunnel. They quailed at the sight of the massacre, but recovered and mowed the area with automatic ballistic weapons. The small area filled with flashes and supersonic bullets. There was no blood on the floor however, apart from the defiled corpses of the unfortunates. Not one bestial shape festooned the morbid scene.

Fleeing a battle was not a Kiran trait, nor would it be. The six felines merely reactivated their cloaking devices and slipped into the adjacent corridors where the bullet fire could not reach. They waited as the arriving patrol cautiously entered the death trap. Each and every one of them dispatched suddenly and violently. No screams, no yells, no gunfire. Just the sound of death in the forms of teeth and claws. The searches proceeded once more, silently slicing up patrols they encountered. As much as a Kira loves a slaughter, they love the unexpected kill just as much. They wandered the corridors, cerebral implants mapping their passage and creating a 3D representation of the areas they had reconnoitred. They managed to find their way to a large cargo bay nestled close to a hanger. The Kirans set to work, using their formidable natural weapons to rip apart the sealed metal containers, searching for the Key, which was only recognisable by the unusual energy it radiated.

----

Unlike those ripping through the halls of Slasher’s Hold, the Kirans who had invaded the larger moon base. They slipped stealthily through the cramped interior, killing silently and quickly. No screams resounded, only dissected bodies marked the presence of the special operations force. Much of the base had been searched and about a thousand or so unsuspecting pirates slaughtered. The base was extensive and I took the task force over two hours to search half the base and find no such item as the device they required. The search was interrupted by shuddering as the Blackheart base was hit by the first salvo. The bestial creatures understood that they were not the only ones searching for the artefact and must move quickly. Roughtly ten minutes after the squad had vacated a corridor a flood of biological weapons flooded through from a nearby landing bay; only to find that ahead of them lay the bodies of already massacred pirates. Infiltrating a minor mess hall the Kirans found panic and chaos as pirates moved here to there in a flurry. It took no time for those remaining in the room to be ripped to pieces, blood gushing from wounds caused by invisible assailants. This time the beasts left officers alive, those who would know where a control station or one of the control stations would be. Slow dissection of limbs would make the most loyal of soldiers sell their leaders for mercy and a pirate was not so dedicated. Soon enough the special operations force was on the move again, leaving the mess hall empty of life and the only movement was the liquid dripping from the walls and tables. The time lost however meant that the approaching hoard was not far behind the unknowing task force.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet T'au
External Government Building
Conference Room 207

Chao openly smiled when the contract was signed and he didn't mind the behavior of Quincy, he could act however he wanted, the treaty had been signed and now the two nations would start trading with each other and perhaps create a powerful union that would lure other nations into the Greater Good...not like those barbaric savages whom had come to T'au simply to insult the Maunkee and their beliefs, who did they think they were? They were nothing compared to the enlightenment of the Maunkee.

Chao nodded as Quincy spoke, "Most certainly! I am sure that both the Maunkee and the Qujoray Confederacy will benefit from this most historical agreement. Now, the orders shall be given out and," Chao didn't get further before the military representative stood up, no, he almost jumped up from his seat with the latest message he had received and began to call out in the native tongue of the Maunkee.

"Slow down, let our guest know what is happening," Chao demanded the military representative, who quickly bowed as a response and then said, "Our borders has been breached. It is a ship from the USSR, remember, the former mighty Empire the Maunkee Empire encountered almost seventy T'au years ago...They've returned, however in a much larger fleet!"

Chao's face went light blue, or pale for other humanoids. The USSR hadn't made the slightest contact with the Maunkee ever since they went into isolation and now they had crossed the borders in an invasion fleet? This was moving far too quickly for Chao's liking and he looked at Quincy and quickly nodded, "Transport will take you safely back to your ship and out of our system, we will deal with this problem accordingly. I’m sure, if you see the same opportunity as I, if you told your leaders that the we Maunkee may need financial and a quick trade route soon…War sometimes strengthen relationships," Chao explained and then turned, obviously now busy with this sudden event.

Three Maunkee soldiers came into the room, armed and armored and stood before Quincy, ”Sir, pleas come with us. We’ll ensure your safety back to your ship where you, and your fellow crew men, will be taken into space and safely guided through our territory, protected by our Space Navy.
We cannot, and will not, allow you to come to any harm,” the soldier stated. It was obvious that they wouldn’t accept a ‘no’ from Quincy, for they had made a deal with him and his nation, and they would be damned if they saw Quincy come to any harm within their own territory.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet T'au
T'au Central, External Government Building.

The representatives’ faces had changed from an excited facial expression to a more neutral and was now deeply offended by the Oracle’s speech, and so far it had only been the military representative who had been openly showing the Oracle any resistance, however, it was about to change now.

”Based on what you have told us, and how you have acted within this room…I have concluded,” the priest like figure said and then stood up, leaning on his staff, ”You are not a specie worthy to be a member of the Greater Good, nor are you civilized enough to settle over negotiations. My apoligies, but you shall receive no help from the Order of The Greater Good. All our technology shall not be available to you.”

With that, the priest left and the technological representative got up and said, ”I too must hold back any aid that the Maunkee has to offer. Your behavior is not acceptable to be shown on this Holy Land, and your offers are weak and pathetic.” With that he too left the room.

The economist and the military representative, and the two soldiers were now the only ones left. The military representative smiled and chuckled, ”Your offer is to lend us some of your mercenaries. Mercenaries we can buy cheaper and better from other systems? You’ve got to be joking. This is your grand offer? Gas and meat heads? You honestly haven’t even thought through how you were to clean your own arse!”
The economist quickly turned his head and snapped at the military representative, however it had no effect, and the military representative continued his speech, ”Your specie is now Semi-Hopeless to us Maunkee. We will place an embargo upon your system, and when you see some enlightenment, please…give us a call,” the military representative said and took a step closer, but then the soldiers reacted, ”Please! Do not get closer to the alien. We’re here to protect the safety of all present representatives, and prevent any unneeded blood to be shed upon Sha’O’Shi’s holy grave.”

A sound came from the Military Representative, a faint ‘beep’ and he took out a device, looked at the message, his eyes widen and then he turned to the economists, ”The USSR is out of its isolation!” and with that he turned and ran out of the room as quickly as his smaller legs could carry him.

The economist and politician looked at the Oracle and then stated, ”This negotiation has been fruitless. You’ve been an insult, you’ve been harsh and you have not behaved yourself before your hosts or even hinted the slightest bit of appreciation for the resources we sat aside for you and your people. The Maunkee Empire will not enter any form of alliance or agreement with you and your galactic nation, and since you talk of this Khan as if you were a monarchy, we will place an embargo upon your nation.
We will not allow any specie, no matter their traditional heritage, to be subjects to dictatorship, the people must be heard and their opinions must be valued by the government, and we will refuse to simply stand by and watch as our principles and our morals being mocked by a barbaric being, such as yourself.

The fact that you are still using pre-stone age methods to gather your food is just barbaric. Haven’t you tried to develop? Do you even have a health care system? A welfare state to support your people?
Your behavior has brought me to these assumptions and unless you prove that your race is much more advanced than what you have proved then you are, indeed, Semi-Hopeless.

Consider yourself Semi-Hopeless, any hostile actions taken against the Maunkee Empire will be answered with force, if not open war, from which we will not stop before we have liberated your systems from your sovereignty and given liberty to the people of your slavery. You are warned now. We will spare your nation from open war, however, break this
May the Greater Good restore some enlightenment for you and your race.”

With that the representative left the room and the guards said, ”Please, follow us and we’ll have you and your crew back on your spaceship, then two battleships will accompany you straight back to the borders of our nation,” the guards said firmly and awaited a response from the Oracle.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet Phophies I
High Orbital

Warlords and Arms of USSR were all in space, they had planned this invasion for months now, and they didn’t want to see the least of this invasion to go to spill.
Drop Pods came out of the Arms of USSR and flew towards the targeted cities and the sites, which were mostly cities of production and space ports.

The Blood Raven spaceships followed the swarm of Drop Pods, as they contained all the larger vehicles and resources that the soldiers needed on the ground in order to advance further across the planet.

Admiral Weirem and General Yougudsky watched from the HQ Warlord as the tens of thousands of Drop Pods flew down into the atmosphere of the planet.
”The invasion of this planet is critical, we need this planet to support our soldiers with food and space area before we can invade more of the Maunkee.
Also we must bear in mind that these…aliens have a more advance technology than us, so they will have a counter force here soon, we must take the Critical Points as fast as possible,” General Yougudsky stated and the admiral nodded.
”True, however, bear in mind we have an entire fleet of Warlords and Retribution battleships, so even if they come, our sheer numbers of battleships would give the soldiers on the ground a fair chance to dig themselves into the planet and get ready.”

Reports quickly came back that the troops had successfully taken what they were ordered to, and the admiral and general were both pleased to see their long work was going smoothly, and the sensors picked up that the Maunkee fleet was breaking out of hyper jump and they would soon engage in combat.

This wasn’t going to be pretty.

Tyrannis Space...

Worlds appeared strange, their surfaces seeming to ripple and move. In a way, they were, the living machine that was the Tyranid race constantly at work. On all but their agricultural worlds, the nothing lived saved for the creatures, each set in their own caste and place. But by no means were they unproductive. No, even in the midst of research, of construction, of action were they, bowing to the psychic control that was the Hive Mind.

In space, startling ships made of living tissues drifted about, constantly on patrol. They were menacing in their shape, plainly designed for the simple destruction of all enemies, which was to say, anything else. For the Tyranids cared not about trade or diplomacy. There was merely their own advancement and domination, which they waited, prepared, and plotted for. At the slightest sign of weakness, they moved in for the kill. Strangely enough though, never once did the seeming random drifting result in a collision, this resulting from the powerful psychic link that allowed the very ships themselves to acknowledge and avoid each other.

Within the hives of Tyran, the capital of the system, there lay a chamber. Within, five wraith-like beings dwelt, grafted into the walls as snails would be in their shells. They were the most direct command of the Tyranids, the Norn King and his four original queens. Onlookers would see merely shared glances and slight gestures. What was truly happening was completely unspoken, the Hive Mind providing the ultimate security of the running of the empire. Psychically, issues were brought up and addressed, discussed in nano-seconds between the mental computing power of the collective. From them, the commands carried with but a few seconds delay to other Norn Queens across the empire, throughout the fleet. And it passed on to the other Tyranids, and so on and so forth. It was a hyper-efficient way of communication.

And so, in reaction to a psychic command, pieces of the wandering fleet began to mobilize, achieve formation. They were readying, but for what was known only to their own race. It was what made them so dangerous to face, and rid them of the necessity of allies. When you could completely trust all other members of your own species, for they were just as deep under control as you, who needed untrustworthy outsiders for aid?

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet T'au
External Government Building
Conference Room 207

Quincy's face was calm and reserved. Noble.

Within he was full of joy, bursting with it. Already they had fallen for it! Already he was a valuable asset to Qujo-Maunkee relations. War? Was there anything more wonderful than war! Did anything ring so sweetly in a capitalist's ears? It was a well accepted rule. If you want to make money, invent machines that help people kill each other.

Quincy walked a fish-man triumphant. He let the procession lead him onward, all the while inside he knew that the Qujoray had their claws in place. Who needed a military now?

Of course... Quincy remembered the USSR, poor beyond belief, utterly backwards, and it fancied itself utopian! If a war was going on, it would never hurt to bet on both sides. Either way, you become a valuable, protected asset, and the more guns of your own you destroy, the more each has to buy...

Something he would have to pose to ThuyastaHrn.

Qujoray Confederacy
Fay System
Ewp: Mining Planet
Tunnel 8

The notorious leader of the Qujoray Confederacy, a self made man in every possible way, who crawled from complete insignificance to being the single most powerful Qujoray of all time.

He was old. Intensely old. So old that now he was entering his second life stage. Most Qujoray died before this, but he had kept immaculately healthy. He was beautiful to look at, his body was powerful and sinewy, and though his body was an intense cerulean, he cast a sort of violet hue on all the walls around him. His tendrils were longer than most Qujoray, perfectly smooth and now decorated with beautiful decoration, actually veins which, in the second lifestage, arranged themselves according to, of all things, astronomical (or astrological, according to the Qujoray) figuration. He floated in the water with total ease, his broad shoulders and chest move with perfect fluidity to his slender, flat stomach and down the twelve foot long tendrils, which occasionally had slender, lovely spines protruding from them.

His dorsal fine was long and slender, and his forearms were marked with beautiful retractable webbing, he looked like he could have flown straight out of the sea. In this lifestage, the Qujoray were semi-hermaphroditic. His longest tendril was now finned and ended in a great decorated blade of webbing. His head was smooth, and his eyes were each setting suns, just behind their glass-like container, they burned red, violet, yellow, and orange.

Tunnel 8. ThuyastaHrn's Treasury. So named because it was rumored it held ThuyastaHrn's personal funds, which were said to equal the entire confederacy's. It was not true. Here he had signed the many "Infallible Papers" creating leagues of corporations bound to each other by "New Nationalism" a craze which had brought the Qujoray together in their mutation, and allowed for the colonization of the Fay System.

The Confederacy was not legislative in any way. Its only purpose was to maximize profit. The main power was really the Confederate Reserve, which loaned money throughout the Confederacy and abroad, and otherwise overlooked contract and kept opposing interests down. It had created a hierarchy of businesses and corporations that was totally fluid, but effective enough to keep order.

And from Tunnel 8 ThuyastaHrn could keep all this in line. Now he looked on a massive map of the systems, it flickered in the water, and he swam through the tiny floating stars like some great aquatic god, planets smaller than his fingertips about him. His sunset eyes searching for the next place to let loose his bait and bind to the Qujoray economy.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet Phophies I
Town ; Huna



USSR Space
Deutchlieg
Governmental Building

Kirinta Kroudsky walked down the hallway, he was in a hurry, when wasn't he in a hurry? Meetings with politicians, grand meetings with all the politicians from the many planets and not to mention he always had to do something about the economy.
Their stock shares had been hit with another depression, and now the former values he had fought so hard to restore were being plunged into a much worse abyss than what they had just recovered from.

"Fucking hell, when will this stop?" Kirinta asked himself, but he knew damn well when it would stop. When he was carried out in his coffin from his office, that was when you would be relieved from all the stress from the daily life of the USSR.

Stressful life, that was what Kirinta was living, however this life also brought a lot of benefits, for Kirinta could command an army which matched the Tyranids and the other insect-like nations, and he could, with a single command, call on a purge against his internal enemies, or his external political foes, and they would all disappear. The USSR was, economically, doomed, however their military power was so powerful that it would take another thousand years before anyone would ever be able to oppose their strength...supposing the Tyranids and the Xr'lii'ra didn't do anything against them.

As Kirinta's meeting finished, he left for his office, took a good drink of alcohol and then sat down and began to smoke a cigar. High-General Valdimir van Smolka then entered his office, accompanied by a man who looked to be a scientist.
"What is it General Valdimir?" Kirinta asked and looked at Valdimir expectantly.
"Honorable Kirinta. I bring news about the front," Valdidimir said and Kirinta turned and listened interested, "As we have planned, the invasion of the Maunkee planet has commenced at the precise timing, the tactics has worked perfectly and now the soldiers are making their way to the capital of the planet and are fighting for it as we speak. The aliens, however, are more connected than we suspected and thus a fleet arrived after the first three hours of fighting, and they deployed a force to protect the capital, and outposts around the capital.
These aliens has a much more advanced technology, making our bullet proof vests useless against their laser guns and plasma canons. They have already fended off the first two attacks, and General Yougudsky is, as we speak, formulating a new offensive that will break through the heavily defended outposts and smash into the capital of the planet.

We are having large losses in space, the Maunkee, as we predicted, has a much more advanced form of fighting style in space, and in fact, it has mostly been our space torpedoes that has helped us in the battle, as their combat spaceships are too fast for our own spaceships and their battleships, although significantly smaller than ours, have much more powerful canons than our average, thus we have lost three Warlords and one Retribution ship, however we have claimed four of their ships, and although their small pesty combat ships have proven to be a pain in the arse for the admiral, he has managed to destroy many of them," High-General Valdimir reported and then looked at Kirinta for a response.

"How long do you expect them to last against our forces?" Kirinta asked.
"If they continue to fight as they do, they can probably survive for a few months, but no longer, our endless attacks will take their tolls from them, and in a worst case, we can always nuke the planet into a nuclear winter, its not like we're effected by nuclear radiation anyway," Valdimir said, and Kirinta shook his head, "Only if we can't find another solution, we may need the production of harvest for our army as we invade these aliens, also, if you feel the need to nuke the capital then by all means, go ahead, as long as you don't use our Virus Bombs, or Anti-Matter bombs, I want the planets to be usable for our benefits."
"Understood, now Doctor Reimherd here has something to explain to you," Valdimir said and the doctor stood forward and nodded quickly.

"Thank you, now, we have made a revolutionary progress in our Chemical Department, for we have just invented a formula that will create a gas, perfect against enemies such as the Tyranids or the Xr'lii'ra, for although they may have a tough hide, and powerful scale, they still need to breathe in air, and thus...we have created a poisonous gas that will kill billions of them at one, once this gas is dispersed into the atmosphere.
It is colorless and odorless and like the mustard gas, it doesn't need to enter through the mouth or nose, it enters wherever it can, through the skin, eyes, ears, you name it. This gas attacks the nerves, paralyzing the victim, and then it begins to slow down the circuit of blood in the body as well as damaging the functioning of the brain, it then attacks the vital organs functioning, and within minutes the victim would be strangled without being able to move or react to the sudden gas attack.

This gas, however, has only been tested on criminal subjects and animals, thus we cannot tell, for sure, if it will have the exact same effect upon insects like the Xr'lii'ra or the
Tyranids, however it is a great weapon to use against our foes.
Also, I must remind you, that it will have the same effect on our own troops, so we have designed rockets and missiles where thee chemicals can be stored and then fired off, the gas needs at least two weeks to break down, and even then you might want to give it another three days, for we have had times when not all of the gas disperses and joins the atmosphere."

Kirinta nodded, satisfied that the scientists hadn't let him down with this task he had assigned. It was a perfect gas they had created, and now they would soon make use of it.

Somewhere in the universe

Valkura System

Valkura (Capital Planet)

On the forest planet of Valkura, the Elders were meeting in the Council House. The Council House was quite a grand place – it was a small, golden brown, square-shaped wooden edifice that was approximately twenty Valkuran meters high and thirty Valkuran meters long. The roof was slightly bigger than the rest of the structure, and the building was raised on four tall stilts made from the same material as the Council House. There was no ladder or any other object for a person to get to the building, giving a small protection from intruders (Valkurans have wings so it’s an easy feet to reach the House).

Where was the Council House located? On the continent of Shimuroo, next to the great sea of Varf and bordering the Forest of Meat. The smell of hunters killing and cooking the flesh of animals, along with the chemical smell of the ocean, constantly wafted over the house, creating a scent pleasing to the nose. In fact, the twenty Elders sitting inside the Council House were quite pleased by the aroma, sucking it in and breathing it out in a relaxed sort of rhythm.

Inside the edifice, there was nothing that stood out to the eye. It was all plain, but not necessarily boring. The center held a circular table with twenty chairs, one for each of the Elders. In the middle, there was a giant scroll, containing all the rules and regulations that the Elders had agreed upon; it contained thousands, and yet it wasn’t even a fraction of being full yet. If you opened it up and looked inside, you could see hundreds of lines crossed out, indicating laws that had been repealed.

Four windows took up the vast majority of each of the walls, providing the Elders with a view of all sides of the little Council House. There was also a small table, holding refreshments in case the Elders got thirsty and hungry. And that was about it.

About two hours earlier, a planned meeting of the Elders had begun, and they had all entered the Council House, eager. Now, an hour later, they were all seated, and Aster was writing a letter. Aster was the eldest Elder, the one who had created them, and essentially made them the government; the Elders had control over all of Valkura. He was very, very old, but you wouldn’t be able to tell just by looking at him. Yes, he did look elderly, but not nearly as much as you would expect. His great, white, feathery wings were a little grey; his pale white skin was a little darker; he was a bit more fragile; he had a great, white beard that reached his chest; and his appins (tentacle-like arms that come from a hole in their backs) were no longer light purple, but brown. But besides these things, he looked like an adult Valkuran, albeit a weak one.

Aster was writing with a long quill, plucked from the wing of a Bow Bird. The parchment he was writing on was once part of a Bloodknot tree; it was crisp, dark yellow, and thin. The black mud he was writing with went well with it. His writing was long and flowing, like a fountain of water; it was more beautiful than any machine could produce, and was a long-sought after skill in Valkura that only came after years of practice. His hand danced across the page at an incredible speed for writing so magnificent.

The letter, in a political style, explained that the forest planet of Valkura was actually a barren desert planet, and the high-value system they lived in was surprisingly barren as well. The Valkurans were a mostly stupid people, who could follow directions very well, and had immense physical strength. They wanted to form an alliance with a nation who could provide technology in exchange for a small, but powerful addition to their army – or bodyguards. A lot of what Aster wrote was lies; though the parts about the strength of the Valkurans, and that they wanted to form an alliance were the truth. After he was done, the rest of the Elders were read it, suggest corrections, and then approve it. After it was approved, it would be copied, and then sent to every nation around. Hopefully someone would be interested.

Kamachi leaned against the window, his arms folded across his chest. A slight smile was plastered on his face. His grandfather was almost done writing the letter, but that was not why today was important; no, the important day would be when a nation responded. Today was important because his grandpa was taking him to the waterfall to teach him a powerful new move to use in combat – one that could destroy dozens of enemies with a single flick of the wrist. Kamachi waited silently for his father’s father to finish and the meeting to conclude.

Free Union Space
Taurus System
Various Places

Taurus
The fleet above Taurus quickly wipes out all space-based weapons in orbit, then move on to the ground targets. Their beam weapons can reach clear across from one side of the planet's orbit with pinpoint accuracy. Plasma lances are designed to hit fast moving ships at much farther ranges; drifting satellites are mincemeat for them. In a matter of a few minutes, over ninety-seven percent of defense systems in orbit are removed, with only a handful even firing back. None of the low-powered lasers or mass-drivers even penetrate the shields of the ships.

With orbit targets done, the ships focus on the planet. The Xr'lii'ra are not evil. They do not enjoy king, but instead treat everything with logic. It makes them appear pitiless, but in reality they are just efficient. Scans from the fleet begin to pick out ground-based defenses. Most are missile bases, some are energy platforms. Few missiles fly from the ground to hit the ships and are easily shot down short of their targets. The Xr'lii'ra do not know that the Free Union government has been stealing funds from the military budget for years, meaning that most of the stations either have little or no ammo, or have enough malfunctioning equipment to render them useless. The laser and maser stations are even worse off. The shield stations seem to be missing entirely. Either they are as worse off as the rest of the military, or there never were shields in the first place. If the Mind could laugh, it would. The Hybrids actually laugh as Plasma lances smear all of the bases and fortresses from above like some kind of orbital doctor with a scalpel. Not a single major population center is damaged beyond minor concussion effects. When a beam of plasma as hot as the center of a sun hits a base going a high percentage of the speed of light, the thermal bloom can travel for miles around, almost as much as a nuclear weapon.

Antimatter missiles would be a Bad Idea to use on the planet's surface. The price to remove the radiation is not worth the easy kills. Instead, the ships use their tractor beams on all the convenient rubble around them. Some of the ground stations resist the beam weapons due to extremely sturdy construction. They do not resist when a tens-of-thousands-of-tons space station is dropped on them. Using debris both saves resources and saves the biosphere below.

After about two hours of the above bombarding, a message is sent using an omni-directional signal. Even the secret forces that legally aren't in the system can hear.

"The Xr'lii'ra Empire will annex this system after the current pacification has ceased. All Free Union planets, bases, resources, population, and all other assets will belong to the Xr'lii'ra. To the Citizens: Your leader has decided to attack our shipping and kill our people. Thus, steps must be taken to alleviate this problem. If any citizen wishes to leave the system, they may do so only after hostilities have ended. Please, stay in your homes and do not panic. It will all be over soon." the voice announces.

Troops, what meager amount that are not engaged in the various stations and bases throughout the system, are dispatched to the capital of Taurus. Only the capital. There just is not enough troops left to secure anything else. Walking vehicles, tanks with spider legs for the most part, stride down the streets while infantry-sized combat forms scurry around them. Most fan out into buildings, checking for weapons. No civilians are molested. The insect monsters are... polite even. Most talk to the people, using proper, if wordy, language. They even say please and thank you!

Quickly the city is subjugated. What little resistance is cleansed from either orbit or with heavy weapons. Very few ground troops are sent in the suicide attacks happening in orbital stations. The vehicles use plasma emitters and their crystal-chemical explosive missiles to smash anything that looks threatening. In short order the poor excuse for a militia is routed into many little, slaggy, melted pieces. Messages are broadcast from loudspeakers on the tanks, asking for the militia to put down their weapons. If they do, they are not arrested or attacked in any way. If they don't, they die. In short order the capital, and the whole system, is under Xr'lii'ra control.


Rinewood

Inside the Omen, Captain Nellar wakes up in a room of black. It takes a second, but his night vision kicks in and he stares at a black, segmented ceiling. It is extremely dim. Xr'lii'ra see with inhuman clarity and have an inhuman nightvision. They can also see in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum. To them, the halls are bright and shining. To Nellar, it looks like the Xr'lii'ra have only a fraction of the light they need. He notices that he is laying on a table in a smallish room. A rank of tubes jutting from the wall attach to a rounded pad to his left. It looks like it closes clamshell style, but he doubts it closed on him.

He feels great to put it simply. No exhaustion, no aches, no pain at all. He reaches up a hand and feels the spot where he was hit with that flechette gun. I am going to kill her, he thinks as he touches a rough pad on his scalp.

That is a regrowth pad. It will facilitate grown of new skin as well as protect the wound. <Please, do not pick at it. It is too armored to be moved even if you wanted to...> a deep, echoing voice explains. The speaker sounds not quite bored, more distracted and polite.

It takes a second for Nellar to realize that the voice was not spoken out loud. He heard it in his head! "What the hell? Are there psy-adepts arond?" he asks the walls in a panicked voice.

<Not as you understand the term 'Psy Adept', Captain.> The voice tells Nellar, <All Xr'lii'ra are part of one mind. We are one being. Each Xr'lii'ra is a part of a single mind. Me. While we were fixing the minor concussion you had, we added a few changes that allowed Us to talk to you directly.>

"Changes?"

<For someone with an IQ like yours, you are woefully ignorant> The voice notes. It says it matter-of-factly, not as an insult, but as an observation. <Did you think that mental abilities just appeared from pure will? All mental abilites have a foundation in the brain. We simply added the required parts to connect properly.>

"Okay... why the fuck are you messing with my brain?!" Nellar blurts out. Frankly, he is freaking out. "You capture me, and now you're altering my mind? Get me off this ship! I need to get out! I-"

<We did that for a reason.>

"-need to... what? Why?"

<We would like you to join us. You are a powerful military mind, squandered in a useless backwater system. We can use your intelligence to the fullest.>

"Do I get a say in this?"

<Of course. If you decide not to, you will be taken to the planet with the second wave of occupation forces.>

"Forces? You conquered the system? Why!? What did we do?"

<Pirates have started to prey on our shipping, what little we have. This system was a major hub for their trade. To fix our problem, we had to cut off their home. Now that the system is in shambles from battle, we now must repair it.>

"Just like that? You just come in, kill everyone, and take it all in the name of peace?" Nellar snarls in anger. So many dead. Friends, family... all for pirate extermination! "Why didn't you just send out smaller cruisers to find the pirate ships and kill them? Or even just escort your goddamn freighters! You killed thousands for no reason!"

<There was plenty reason. This was far more efficient than your proposals. Why waste months with skirmishes when you can destroy decades worth of pirate buildup and most of the ships in their docks? Without their markets to fence their goods, the remaining pirates will leave. Now, with only a minor battlegroup we have removed the majority of the pirates. It is far more efficient.>

"Wha... what? More efficient! Why the hell would I ever join you?"

<Think about it, Captain Nellar,> the voice tells him. It sounds annoyed, but not angry, <you are the man that ran the fleet. The fleet that lost and couldn't do a thing to stop Us, the evil bugs from space. Yes, we know what the other races call us. Bugs. Space-roaches. Grubs. It is fitting, I suppose... but what do you thing the people on Taurus will think of you. Because you could not stop us, thousands of stubborn men and woman died. Hundreds of civilians as well. When miltia bunker in buildings full of people, they are just asking for us to kill unarmed civilians.> the Mind says with sadness, <Now they could hate us, and they will, but they cannot connect to us. We are too alien. But you, Captain, are human. They can hate you with ease. And they will. You are now one of the top five hated men in the Free Union. Even now the people curse your name. The Man Who Lost. You have no place here. Come with us. Also... these people are alien to us. For all of our knowledge, we do not understand them very well. A man on the inside could vouch for them, help us help them. Could you be this man?>

All through the conversation, the Mind has been reading Nellar's emotions. Curiosity and fear started, followed by blind anger and hate, mixed with grief. Now, it is eclipsed by reluctant agreement. The hate is still there, as is the grief, but that will go away once Nellar sees the event from the Xr'lii'ra point of view. Even before he speaks, nanobots built into the patch in his skull begin to propagate through his system. They start to replicate rapidly, while also modifying his DNA and body structure on a molecular level. In a week or so he will be a true Hybrid.

"Yes." Nellar mumbles.

<Good. Would you like to watch the pirates you most obviously hate be wiped out? It is ironic, is it not? The roaches are the ones exterminating, rather than the other way around.> the Xr'lii'ra notes with humor.

"Uhh... how?"

<All Xr'lii'ra are connected. We can see waht they see and hear what they hear. Would you like to?>

"I guess so."

Suddenly, Nellar can see Rinewood, a major warehouse in orbit of Taurus, probably from an optical sensor on the outside of one of the ships. It is a wreck in all respects. Half of the metal monstrosity is a slagged wreck, the other is swarming with black, instectoid forms. Nellar takes a look, then blinks and looks again.

"Why is that station so damaged?"

<We did not attack it. It was like that when we arrived. Also, there is currently a batteship-sized wreck nearby. It still retains enough heat to prove that it was destroyed recently. By who, we do not know.>

"Also, why is there a piece missing?" Nellar leans forwards, although there is no screen. Either way the image zooms in obligingly. A large chunk is gone, with a clean cut in one corner.

<That. There have been a couple of... odd events during the engagement. While we were engaging the Free Union fleet, we detected a couple of Somethings on gravitational sensors. Not sensor ghosts, but probably cloaked ships. Defiantly cruiser-sized vessels, with some kind of cloaking system. At the same time a small missile attack hit the nose of one of the dreadnoughts, coupled with laser weapons fire. The Free Union doesn't have DEW weapons, or not any that could hit at the ranged we were fighting from. From that, it can be concluded that a third party was here before. They cut a section of the base away, one of the storage hangers, then left when we arrived.>

"Interesting..."

<We believe there is a forth party as well.> The Mind starts. Nellar's view switches to that of a hallway. He can tell that the view is from another Hybrid. The ground is littered with corpses. It looks like an entire squad was ambushed and slaughtered.

"This the new guy?" he hears. "See these guys? We didn't do it. I just arrived. That means someone... or someones is here before us. We, men and the other three Hybrids are gonna go ahead and see who these someones are. Wanna watch?" the Hybrid says with a laugh.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet Phophies I
23rd Day of Invasion

General Yougudsky had taken a new way of invading the plane Phophies I, instead of directly attacking the outposts of the capital and trying to bring the Maunkee army to their knees, using sheer number and heavy artillery, he had turned and looked at the planet itself, it was filled with a rich soil which produced amazing quality of agricultural production, and thus General Yougudsky had ordered the invasion of area instead of cities, meaning that the USSR would focus on capturing land instead of cities.

General Yougudsky wanted to starve the Maunkee out, make them cornered here on their own planet, however the Commander of the Maunkee quickly saw this strategy and deployed his own soldiers and robots to secure key points and hold the USSR soldiers off from encircling them too much. There was only brief skirmishes during this time as neither side focused on anything else than to get the most land conquered or protected.

General Yougudsky called for help from the Forgotten Steel Legion, and they send officers and Battle-Commissars who helped with digging trenches across the planet, and the Maunkee too began to dig trenches, seeing it as a primitive but useful way to keep their enemies at bay.
Unlike the Maunkee, the officers of the Forgotten Steel Legion were experts in trench warfare and thus they knew precisely how the trenches were to be shaped, built, where the machine guns were to be placed and how quick the man were suppose to be when they fired and loaded the mortars. The officers of the Forgotten Steel Legion made the trenches twist and curve sharply, that way the soldiers would avoid being hit by metal fragments from possible mortar fire, anti-air guns were set up, light ranged, medium ranged and long distanced artillery was set up along with basilisks and Hell of Heaven were all set up.

Behind Friendly lines the USSR began to set up store houses for ammunition, they made routes to the front line, began production of agricultural goods. General Yougudsky made use of the locals, forcing the Maunkees, who hadn’t been able to flee to safety, to now work for the USSR, making them produce food for the army and the USSR nation.
The Maunkee Empire depended a lot upon the productivity of the two planets of the Phophies system and thus they immediately began to feel the affect of the conquered planet as food began to come in shorter supplies from the system, and thus more doid soldiers were send to support the commander in his battles against the USSR.

There was a constant distance of 500 meters between the Maunkee and USSR trenches, however the land between these two trenches had been blasted half back to hell as the two sides had been firing artillery weapons at each other during their offensives and defensives operations.

Certain areas in along the trenches, there never seemed to be the least bit of peace, as both sides fought hard to break through the other’s lines. The Maunkee with their highly technological robots fighting instead of organic soldiers had a hard time breaking through the powerful defenses that the USSR had set up, and the sheer artillery and barbed wires that they used to hold off the attacks.

The commander of the Maunkee had tried, on numerous occasions to bring peace talks to the USSR, however they had been rejected each time. The Maunkee used their Light Bringer spacecrafts to work as major offensives and their offensive tanks to blast massive holes in the trenches of the USSR, however, it didn’t seem to matter how many holes they created or how many times they attacked the USSR with these powerful vehicles, the USSR always had more and more soldiers to take the place of those who had been lost.
The USSR and their basilisks proved to be a moist effective way to combat the Maunkees, as they used their Grounder shells to blow the living shit out of the Maunkee’s so-called trenches (which were guarded, almost, only by robotic soldiers).

In space there was a cold war going on between the USSR and the Maunkee, both sides were prepared to attack however neither side wanted to be the first to fire the first shot.
The USSR outnumbered the Maunkees vastly and their battleships were massive compared to the Maukees, however the Maunkee and their hyper technology would easily penetrate the thick shields that the USSR Warlords and Retributions had. It would be a quick battle and neither side would have any victory.

Both sides, in space, allowed the other to send down reinforcements and supplies for the infantry soldiers, however the USSR had made a completely new plan for conquering the planet.

General Yougudsky had called for nuclear weapons and long ranged missiles. He was planning to bombard the planet from land and space, and thus the USSR was starting to prepare another fleet of Warlords and Retributions to attack the Maunkee fleet and break through their heavy orbital defenses.
In the mean time the USSR on the ground would blow devastating holes in the Maunkee’s defenses and then move forward and take the cities for themselves and destroy whatever resistance was left against them.

The Maunkee Empire, on the other hand were also preparing for a powerful offensive against the USSR, although unlike the USSR they didn’t plan on using orbital bombardment. The commander of the Maunkee army had ordered thousands of pictures to be taken from orbit, all centered on the USSR’s trenches and their defenses. From this data they would analyze their way of defending their trenches and they would make anew form of tactic that would break through the heavily defended trenches of the USSR.
The Commander had also ordered the creation of several beacons which would serve as a form of cyber-warfare HQ, as he planned to attack the USSR over their own internet and make them confused during his offensive against their trenches.


The External Government, who had given the protection of Quincy, send a message to the Qujoray Confederacy, asking if they could start a new trade. The Maunkee Empire wanted the Qujoray Confederacy to start building some of their robotic soldiers in larger quantities and in equal or better quality. The Empire provide with scientists and engineers who would support the Confederacy in the production of these ‘soldiers’ and they would be paid for the production as well from the Maunkee Empire.

Valkura System
Valkura (Capital Planet)

A Maunkee fleet broke out of hyperspace jump and was now in orbit of the planet, Valkura.

The Maunkee Empire had received the message from this planet and was now going to take actions, and possibly become the protectors of another race.
The commander looked at the planet and some of the quick orbital pictures that had been taken from the Command Spacecraft.
These beings seemed to be more like the Shaun-Tee, primitive, behind in technology, but physically powerful. Such beings had their advantages and disadvantages when it came to warfare and diplomacy, however, the Commander was surprised to see that these beings controlled a completely different planet.

The Valkura planet itself seemed to be more of a jungle than a barren, inhabitable planet, though the Commander wasn’t in a position to be criticising the planet’s ecosystem, he was merely commenting that the Maunkee citizens would be able to live in such an environment, which may bring the Valkura some problems in making a diplomatic alliance with the Maunkee Empire.

From: Commander Chi Zhu
To:Leader of the Valkura System
The Maunkee Empire has received your stress signal and would like to enter a diplomatic alliance with the Valkura System. We have diplomats with us who will participate in the negotiation of between out two systems, and bring us to a satifying conclusion.

What is your answer to this proposition?

The message was send and just as the message was send an unidentified fleet came out of Hyper Jump.
The Maunkee quickly identified the fleet as one of the USSR.

This wasn’t going to be good.

The Technicians of the Maunkee fleet quickly picked up a signal that was send from the USSR fleet to the locals of Valkura.

From: General Thompson Tridski
To Local leader.
The USSR has heard of your nation and will give you the needed aid that you require, we acknowledge the fact that you starve, are in dire danger and in need of immediate help. We will dispatch a military force to set up a base of operation which will also serve as a form of communication center between our nations.

We will gladly open up our trade routes and our protection for you, and we will proceed to ensure your safety from any external hostile nations.

As the message was send, the USSR fleet then began to dispatch drop pods which flew down to the surface of the planet. It wasn’t a dozen drop pods, but hundreds of them, some of them even brought tanks and other forms of weapons and material with them.

Although the Commander of the Maunkee wasn’t responsible for the protection of this planet, at least not yet, he didn’t want to simply stand by and watch as the USSR outflanked his nation, thinking that they could simply invade whoever and whatever they wanted.
The commander made another message which was send down to the local leaders as a form of a stress signal:

From: Commander Chi Zhu
To: Local leader
I must warn you that the nation whom has just contacted you is from the USSR, and they have no interest in making peace, rather they wish to enslave your people and exploit your planet's resources.
Currently the Maunkee Empire is at war with the USSR, thus, if you side yourself with the USSR, the Maunkee Empire will be forced to take military actions in order to ensure the safety of our nation, and liberate you against these war-infested tyrants.
Please try to bring a diplomatic solution to this rather than lead yourself and your people into a position where you will all suffer from your mistake.

Free Union Space
Rinewood Space

The Maunkee fleet broke out of its hyper jump and began to fly towards the orbit of the planet where Rinewood was located. The Admiral of the Maunkee forces saw that the Xr’lii’ra was there as well, and frowned, this was not according to the plan that the Maunkee Empire had prepared for this liberation invasion.

The admiral turned the frequency so that the Xr’lii’ra could receive his message.

From: Adimral Lee Chan
To Xr’lii’ra Commander
Xr’lii’ra, we, the Maunkee Empire has come to liberate this system from its corruption and slavery as the system’s government is inefficient and has proved to be an obstacle of the Maunkee Empire.
Please stand down and allow the Maunkee to proceed from here. We do not wish to be hostile towards the Xr’lii’ra Empire, we merely wish to liberate this system.

Will the Xr’lii’ra Empire stand down and allow the Maunkee Empire to proceed, or will we have to take this to further diplomatic terms?

The message was send to the Xr’lii’ra that was in orbit of the Rinewood. The admiral didn’t want to engage the Xr’lii’ra as they were feared by the Maunkee for their army size and their ruthless, and honorless, methods of fighting.
The External Government and the Internal Government had both deemed the Xr’lii’ra for Hopeless, however they had also stated that they were not to be engaged in a direct war without any form of support, allies, or powerful trading partners.

The Code of Honor strictly stated how the Maunkee should proceed when they negotiated/fought with nations much larger than their own, and at the moment, the Admiral could see why the Code of Honor stressed this part. Attacking the Xr’lii’ra now would be suicide, both for him, his men and his nation, and such an act would only bring shame on him and his nation.

Qujoray Confederacy
Fay System
Ewp: Mining Planet
Tunnel 9

"You see, the Maunkee are reckless, the ink has not dried on our first proposal, and already they wish to employ us to build their own machines!"

"We are more efficient than they, it's certainly not their fault, how can they live with so few appendages?"

"Ask Quincy, he's certainly enjoyed it, mostly foreign whores I imagine."

"That's enough!" Boomed the proud ThuyastaHrn, the most advanced, powerful, and valuable amongst the group of corporate owners.

"We are in a wonderful but rare place." He said, calmly, his voice songlike as it moved through the water, naturally and without any force due to the amphibian nature of Aoagngou, the Whale Language.

"We have the potential to wage a great and vast war, enjoying all of the benefits and none of the costs. I say treat this as total war, rehire any lazy worker and send them, for a factory of lazy Qujoray beats the most efficient of any foreign manufacturing attempts. Equip them well, send the dregs of society. Think of it? Treating them to the worst, having our own penal colonies, and reaping huge profits."

"What of our conditions with the trials in the Maunkee territory?"

"It would be too slow. I want a whole infrastructure ready and working by yesterday! Get out!"

The Qujoray rapidly swam out of the vast coral tunnel, back to their pods, back to their ships.

ThuyastaHrn observed with a grin as the ships began to head out. The great moving factories were slow, and highly vulnerable to attack. The Maunkee had been informed, and a transport was requested.

The best part, however, was that they could land and within 6 hours be working at full potential gathering and manufacturing resources.

Ah, nothing is sweeter than watching a war through the safety of a plate glass window.

Qujoray Confederacy
Krups System
Ghalge: Population Planet
To'onglamo'o district

Historically a prime trading route in the middle of an otherwise barren stretch of lava field, To'onglamo'o was now a fabulously beautiful amphibian city, with sweeping gardens and massive spires crawling up the side of the massive rock and coral formation. The island itself had only an arched sandbar which formed one of the edges of the city, and a natural spire had inspired the architecture of the city. The entire thing seemed to be built on spines and bridges, and anywhere platforms could be left to hover were ornamental gardens and domes like billowing sails.

The place was home to Rerfel Llerkoc, the first Qujoray recorded as "Richest of the Qujoray." He had invented a system which harnessed the lava fields to create incredible amorphous solids and harvest new minerals. The process had helped the Qujoray advance by leaps and bounds, and some of that technology was used clear to their first jumps into space, but with the Qujoray mastery of Adamantium was now laughably obsolete.

The City, however, remained little more than the slightly renovated division of his house. It was one of the lesser known architectural marvels, but the richest of the rich often bought apartments which Rerfel used simply to store Coral Sculptures in.

It was here that the Qujoray kept conference with the Ziqujoray, their now distant non-mutated relatives on Kektnu.

"But don't you see? The Universe is becoming less and less civil everyday! We must latch on to whatever species will sustain that! Don't you see that the universe is falling prey to untutored savages from the wastelands! We can not work exclusively with the largest of nations, lest we become little more than worker drones for some insect mind somewhere!"

The painfully out of date monitor hissed a little, and echoed out

"You must seek out, then, some other species to do business with. The Universe is shrinking, and those who would be snuffed out, indeed, shall be properly snuffed out. But you Qujoray dogs must remember that somewhere in those hideous bodies is a shred of Ziqujoray, and that ultimately you msut do what it takes to survive. We were never meant to rule the great stars, but we were meant to have more power than simple bugs. The elegant ways are gone. Gone are blackmail, bribery, and greed. Now all that's left is warfare. Find a shield or find a sword but either way you must find a way not to fall like so many have!"

"Yes Ngotaa'arlockfashs."

And the monitor slowly bleeped to hibernation.

Qujoray Confederacy
Fay System
Ewp: Mining Planet

A Maunkee Space Fleet broke out of hyper-space, and came towards the planet.

From: Maunkee Representative
To:Qujoray Confederacy Merchant leader
We have come here to escort you, and your infrastructure to the frontier of Planet Phophies I, where you will be placed 250 clicks away from the frontier.
Protection cannot be guaranteed from the Maunkee Empire as the Tide of War is forever changing like the ocean of a planet, however, we will be able to transport you, and your buildings to the front as fast as we possibly can.
We can, on the other hand, guarantee you a handsome payment for both working with the construction of our technology and working that close to the Front Lines

With that message send, the Maunkee opened their massive gates into the massive Achilles transportation ships, and for those structures that couldn't fit inside the Achilles ships, the Maunkee technicians activated a force field that locked the structures close to the Achiles, almost like they had become an attachment to the ships and they wouldn't be effected, at all, when they entered the hyper Jump through space and time.

As the Achilles took off with the infrastructures of the Qujoray Confederacy, the admiral of the fleet send them an additional message:

From: Maunkee Representative
To:Qujoray Confederacy Merchant leader
As I told you earlier about the payment. The Maunkee is willing to pay you 67 million Taus for working for us, as a starter and for working that close to danger, and they will be ready to pay 8'550 Tau per Combatant robot you produce, 9'550 Taus per Power Bots produced and 10'550 per Battle Warrior XX31.
We will provide with the plans for building them and we will also take care of the transportation of the raw materials. The Maunkee Empire simply ask that you produce as many as you can and in the best quality possible.
I would understand that, if you felt insecure about being so close to the front, we would be able to move you to a neighboring planet, however, you will only then be paid 45 million Taus as a starter and the price for each of the wanted goods will also drop by 35%

So, where do you wish to be placed when we arrive?

---

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet Phophies I
178th Day of Invasion

It had now been 178 days since the USSR had unprovokaly and without reason attacked the Maunkee Empire. Spring was coming to the planet of Phophies I, which meant that the planet was suppose to harvest its high quality and quantity food production, and without any excuse for holding back this annual working time. Despite the loud noises that could be heard miles away from the front lines, the Maunkee continued with their daily life.
The agricultural fields near the trenches had suffered badly from aerial bombings of the USSR, and thus they had been abandoned. It wasn't as catastrophic as the Maunkee had thought first time. The other agricultural planets had turned their productivity up and as a result they had exceeded the predicted amount of agricultural production, which was joyous for the local leaders.

However, it wasn't as good for the USSR and the soldiers that fought on the front lines, for although they got their food, they were still placed on the front lines for a reason.



The Death Korps had received almost 34 million extra soldiers for a frontal attack against the Maunkee, and in addition to that, 2 million soldiers and officers from the Forgotten Steel Legion had arrived and were now suppose to defend the trenches as the majority of the Death Korps would break through the Maunkee defenses and invade the rest of the planet. Also, three Dreken Devil squads had arrived and within a few days, they had adjusted themselves to the new planet and were send, through parachuting, behind the enemy lines with classified missions to carry out.

General Yougudsky had gotten orbital pictures of the Maunkee defenses and had identified a few general weaknesses within the trenches that they had, and he planned on taking these advantages to heart as he would break through their defenses.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet T'au
T'au Central, External Government Building.

The Oracle looked at the guards, his one biological eye piercing. In one sudden movement he swept forwards and knocked the weapons they carried and lifted both in the air by their throats. Such an action is likely to start a war but the Oracle intended to start one anyway. He growled into the Maunkees' terrified faces and snarled "Your leaders wish for a war. They will get one. I'll find my own way out." With that he dropped the suffocating pair onto the floor and swept out of the room and the building. He made his way to the star port and transport to his ship. On the way he encountered his guards and found his spy waiting inside his personal transport. The Maunkee ships were already waiting like sharks around his small fleet when he docked into The Ultima. Without waiting to be escorted to the edge of the system the ships moved out of T'au's gravity well and Reaped their way out system, leaving a smattering of Orbital Bombardment Anti-Matter Torpedoes floating where they once were. Instantly the guidance systems switched on and the Torpedoes rushed towards T'au's Orbiting fleet. Two of them targeted the escorts and quickly began to close the distance. The Kirata Empire had declared war.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet T'au
High Orbit

The Maunkee fleet had not expected the anti-matter orbital torpedo to be dispatched, however, being trained to react to any thinkable situation, the first thing they did was to hack into the system of the torpedoes, redirected them from flying towards the fleet and destroying it all in a few explosions to turning around and fly through the space while the technicians worked on shutting down the engines. Space drones were dispatched and retrieved the anti-matter torpedoes, and brought them back to the fleet. They would be examined by the Maunkee, and most likely copied as well, the Maunkee loved technology and would study everything they could get their fingers into, and now that they had not only prevented their own planet from being destroyed by these deadly torpedoes.

The Maunkee fleet send a report to the Internal Government of the Maunkee Empire, explaining what had just happened, and as expected, the politicians were outraged by the actions of the Oracle. If he wished to provoke the Maunkee and even destroy their precious planet, then it would mean war between the Maunkee Empire and the Kirata Empire.
The government of Maunkee, without any debate, declared the Kirata Empire for Hopeless, and gave orders to the Park'tau System that they were to dispatch a fleet to attack the Kirata Empire, in the sense of Hopeless War.

Hole two fleets of Achilles were dispatched, filled with battle droids that would fight in the Kirata Empire. The Maunkee wouldn't risk having organic soldiers to fight the Kirata, for they had proven themselves genetically superior, however, now the Maunkee would prove themselves for technologically superior.

The antimatter orbital torpedoes were send to the Illumi System where they would be examined and copied, for the usage of the Maunkee Empire, the Vispeer system were give orders to increase its military productions, and cut down on research fees as the Maunkee empire was entering a two fronted war and could not afford to lose either.

A ODS ship was prepared for the war between the Kirata Empire and the Maunkee Empire, and the Maunkee solar scopes pointed out the Kirata Empire's location along with taking tons of pictures of the many planets, which were used to formulate plans of invasion against the Kirata.
The Maunkee didn't know the Kirata's way of fighting, thus they would send in a testing squad of combatants to get a general idea of how the Kirata fought, and then they would take it to the next level. Genocidal warfare.

There was only one problem now, the Maunkee Empire didn't know the exact location of the Kirata Empire, thus orders were dispatched to calculate the direction that the Kirata ship had set course for, as the Maunkee had been watching the Kirata since they entered their solar systems, so they used this data to give them directions for where they could start looking for them, but it would take, at the very least, two hole weeks to locate any solar system that could belong to the Kirata Empire, and even then they would have to make additional calculations about the atmospheres of the planets so they would know what the gravity strength of the planets would be as well as if there were any nearby asteroid fields that the Maunkee could take advantage of.

---

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet Phophies I
178th Day of Invasion ; Commencement of operation : Wasteland & Chi-shoa

Sjet's Wrath, Flagship of the Legio XII

Taleth resisted the urge to scratch an itch as he locked his eyes on the front view screen on the bridge. Normally his legion didn't start the invasions, that was normally left to the Consuls and Emperors or their legates. His large Nova- Class warship was stuck in the middle of the formation as no one wanted to risk it being the first to be gunned down by Manukee defense systems. Two other legions accompanied him into the war, mostly as cannon fodder. He activated FLEETCOM and calmly said, " All captains, prepare to drop out of hyperspace. I want all shields charged and weapons ready. I want all pilots to report to the docking hangers and prepare to go planet side."
There was a sudden groan as the entire fleet dropped out of hyper space in the middle of the war zone. A sudden explosion rocked the ship as a frigate was blown apart from the crossfire. " Launch all ships, I repeat launch all ships. Just remember not to kill any Soviets... that wouldn't be good now would it." Now the Koramee Empire entered the war on the USSR's side.. with only 150,000 men, a steep contrast compared to the normally millions strong invasion forces. Drop ships and their escorts braved the AA fire and entered the atmosphere dropping troops or exploding from enemy fire.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet Phophies I
1st Day of Invasion ( for the Koramees),

Legionaries and supporting auxiliaries found themselves being slaughtered against the robots as they hadn't expected to dropped in the open. Some took cover behind burning vehicles are the bodies of dead comrades. They raised their laser-rifles and opened fire blowing off heads which sparked as their charred chassis dropped to the ground. But for everyone that fell, there were more. Also, their USSR allies were no help, their primitive gun powder and armour no match for the plasma. Suddenly, a MK. II Garuda burst through the wall of corpses and opened fire with its massive main gun blowing away a large amount of troops in the front lines and its machine guns cutting through the robots with ease, that was until combined fire blew it up. All hope was lost for the stranded soldiers as the realized they were just cannon fodder, but stubbornly fought on anyways. Fighters strafed the lines, only to be shot down by a hail of plasma. However, even with all the acts of heroism, the 13 cohorts sent as cannon fodder was starting to break, the Centurions not able to keep them in line, with standard bearers ( by now which were just motivators) also began to flee. Finally, they all broke and troops just threw down their weapons and began to run towards USSR lines hoping the humans could do something. From orbit as a battle raged around him, Taleth watched from the probe's live feed and snarled, not expecting them soldiers to rout so fast. " Romus, call back all troops there, send additional troops down and establish a foothold somewhere near those trenches. And we need to lure in the damn things into a urban setting, a city, not a god damn open field with trenches. Send a request to the Emperor for more legions." His second in command bowed and hurried off to follow the orders. Another cruiser exploded from a boarding attempt which succeed from battle droids by the damned Maunkee cowards. Marines even now were darting through the vast corridors on the flagship hunting down remnants of the intial boarding party which was turned back after a massive slaughter.

To: General Yougudsky
From: Praetor Taleth
Subject: Maunkee

I've arrived with your promised reinforcements, but you never warned us about them not using organic soldiers. I brought gas expecting them to be living, not a bunch of wires and circuits. I'm withholding my last legion for something else, pray that my Emperor decides to send more troops, or we're probably dead, unless you have sme ace up your sleeve? EMP bomb? My fleet is too small as of now, I can only put some resistance up here. I'll send my reserves down with artillery to your side of the battle. Don't screw them up.

SPQR, Capital of the Empire
Claudius looked through the many folders and files put on his desk. His sectary immediately grabbed them and began sorting through them; the Emperor didn't have time for this, he was due for a meeting at the bathhouse in 10 minutes, then go to an orgy. Munching on a grape, he got up when his secertary said, "My Emperor, there's a request from Praetor Taleth to send more troops, at least I don't know 5 legions." Claudius looked at her and laughed, " As if! Send him two more, and that's all he gets. Let him die for I care, less competition!" Slamming the door he left smiling...
Nero glanced at the leaving Emperor and shook his head sadly. Claudius used to be a good person, now he was just a corrupted twit. And twits had to be taken care of. Leaving the Imperial Palace, he stepped out onto the streets where the Imperial Guard zealously partrolled the streets. Walking into a pub, he met a group of shady figures and said, " Here's some money in advance. More when he's gone. Don't fail, or you'll feel his wrath." The hooded leader snatched the money and said, " The Crimson Ring has never failed in a raid or assassination. Consider it done. Remember, you never met me. I've never seen you."

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet Phophies I
179th Day of Invasion (USSR Calendar)

The reinforcement from the Koramee Empire had arrived as agreed between the USSR and the Koramee, however...they had come with less soldiers than General Yougudsky had thought; he had thought they would have come, with at the very least, 900 thousands soldiers, but they had only come with one fleet and 150'000 soldiers. It was far from enough to survive the attack of planet Phophies I, for already now, General Yougudsky was receiving reports from the Battle-Commissars, that the Koramee soldiers were being massacred by the Maunkee robots.

General Yougudsky read over the message he had received from the Koramee general and then shrugged and answered:

From: General Yougudsky
To: Praetor Taleth

I am aware that there are no organic Maunkee soldiers. We, the USSR forces, have been gassing the planet for almost a hole year. Whatever resistant life there was is gone now, and we have turned to other measures. Nuclear warheads has been deployed and are targeting cities of military and agricultural productivity importance. The average Deutch has a high resistance to radioactivity, so it should be a problem to take and hold any of the sites after they have been bombed by our nuclear weapons.

Now...As for your deployed units. Several of my Battle-Commissars have seen them flee in the face of the Maunkee forces. The Maunkee may be hiding behind robots, but my Battle-Commissars doesn't care if they are living or metallic. I have given orders that all Battle-Commissar uses any means necessary to make your troops charge against the Maunkee robots, just like any other soldier on that damned planet.

Well, as for the orbital battles...I would say, this battle is actually in our favor, before we would loose 12 Dreadnought battleships, so far we've only lost 6. The Machine Spirit must be with us.

As for your Emperor...I have been informed that the USSR will send a diplomat to negotiate with your Emperor, so there will be...better terms between our two nations.

Ah, reinforcements has arrived.

Koramee Empire
Systems To Be Purged.



SPQR, Capital of the Empire

A battle cruiser broke out of hyper speed, and a message was send from the USSR ship to the capital of the Koramee Empire:

From: High-Commissar Cedric and High-General Valdimir
To: The Emperor of the Koramee Empire
Subject: Diplomatic Agreement.

Dear Emperor,
I, High-Commissar Cedric, and High-General Valdimir, have traveled far from our home system, Deutchlieg in the USSR, to bring negotiations to you, concerning our future alliances.

The USSR is concerned that the Koramee Empire isn't fully aware of the situation that it is in, as the Maunkee Empire has, within the past month's time, invaded, destroyed and enslaved untold many systems for their own good, and we, the USSR, will not simply stand by and watch as our allies were being humiliated and beaten.
We have come to offer official Military agreements, Open trade, free flow of labor, diplomatic agreements, and as a gift from the USSR, we have deployed eight standard armies of 12 million soldiers, seventeen combat fleets, and two armies from the 13th Regiment, our utter best regiment whose soldiers will fight till they have lost arms and legs, and send them to stop the Maunkee's evil influence from spreading.

We only as, in return for this gift, that you consider joining the USSR and destroy the Maunkee Empire or bring them to their knees.

With that written the message was send and the two highly valuable diplomats awaited eagerly for a reply to come.

The Qujoray Confederacy had delegated much, much longer than they had hoped. ThuyastaHrn could not be reached for comment, and the consortiums were not exactly keen to risking such a huge investment, and possibly the future of the Maunkee as trading partners. A lot of what would become historic rhetoric was used, but ultimately the Qujoray agreed to be placed as close to the Front as necessary.

The time lapse had, however, given the Qujoray workers time to perfect their techniques. During the journey, they were already well prepared to work at beyond peak efficiency, every piston greased, every tendril dexterous and nimble enough for intricate procedures, but strong enough not to falter.

Before the ships had even landed they had reached the necessary standards and started producing more and more robotic parts, forced to keep them as units due to lack of storage space.

Of course, never to be found without a gift basket, the Qujoray had prepared two more ships, each about a third the size of the initial shipment, meant to produce more intricate machinery, certain technology meant to react to situations, communications, and the like.

The Qujoray had no idea that they were now funding what would become a galactic holocaust.

Qujoray Confederacy
Krups System
Kektnu
Low Frequency Transmission Converter Station 336

The Ziqujoray were frightening figures. Untouched by any foreign disease they remained as their species had been, before human corruption. They were something entirely out of the human concept of dimension and appearance. They were symmetrical and asymmetrical at the same time. They existed in three dimensions, and seemed to stretch to every extent that those dimensions could bear. They were enormous, some entering their third lifestage.

The largest, a creature nearly the size of a whale, fluid and covered in tendrils, three enormous eyes glowing with visible chemical reactions was one of the most powerful. In the third lifestage, Qujoray could actually gain psychic powers. No Qujoray had lived that long, however.

This Ziqujoray, however, was perhaps the oldest in existence, kept alive by many an artificial organ or tendril. His psychic prowess was the reason the Ziqujoray could use archaic technology to communicate with the Qujoray, of course, now they hardly dealt with those traitors.

The signal was a simple translation, which was having trouble catching any USSR communication satellites. The Ziqujoray were deep underwater, and incapable of leaving, they were attempting to forge a perhaps impossible connection.

"USSR. WE WILL PROVIDE YOU THE TECHNOLOGY NECESSARY. USSR. WE WILL PROVIDE YOU THE TECHNOLOGY NECESSARY. USSR..."

It repeated over and over, attempting to reach out across the emptiness, all they needed was contact.

Planet Desyuno IX

Legionares ran from charred building to charred building locked in combat with the robots. Typically, gas would be used along with thousands of tanks, but with the Emperor hogging most of the heavy weaponary for himself, they were stuck with APC's, light tanks, and if they were lucky, an entire heavy gunship. Already, nearly all the soldiers had been killed, the rest surrendrig with the Legate dead and more then 3/4's of the Centurions incapicated or also dead. It had seemed near the end until the USSR had come in and held off the onslaught. However, USSR or not, they were all dead unless reinforcements arrived. Most of the soldiers understood that and fought to the bloody death to buy time for their comrades, but so far, as long as Claudius was in power, no troops would come. No one would live, to see their family, friends, home, nothing, ever again. A tank roared by and ran over a few robots before the crew was burned alive by plasma melting through the metal. Rifle fire was exchanged between the two sides with the Legion giving ground as more and more robots advanced through the steadily lessing fire. A gernade went off and there was some rifle fire, then it went silent. The sector had been abandoned and the citizens to fend for themself. All across the provinces of the empire, planets fell one by one, with many glassed. most of the citizens refused the "Greater Good" and revolted, only to be gunned down brutally. what remained of the fleets along the borders were gathering again hoping that the fleets from elsewhere and other wars would be called back to defend the Imperial Lands.

Maunkee Empire Territory
Planet Phophies I
2nd Day of Invasion

The groans and screams of dying soldiers were ignored by the 50,000 remaining task force. Already, they had taken heavy losses, 100,000 by the second day of fighting. Over half of the losses attributed to the Death Korps gunning down fleeing men as they attempted to run for cover. Now they were being used as shock troopers and were cut down with no fire support. many troops despaired at the situation as the Praetor refused to help their plight and leaving them to rot. Already some had committed suicide then live in the hell they were in. Some soldiers were complaining of fur falling off and growing sick. Two soldiers dragged a third that was dying of radiation positioing and dumped him in a growing pile inside the camp. From orbit, Taleth decided enough was enough. A detachment of the fleet left the battle and opened fire on everything within 500 mile radius of the camp vaporizing forests and sending down supplies and additional troops in with anti-radiation equipment. Shuttles braved fire once again to deliver many needed medical supplies with the real shock troopers, the "Hellbringers" landed in the middle of factories and proceeded to blow everything up and leave quickly. With their heavy laser-Gatling guns, they mowed through the robots with ease as others simply picked them up and crushed them in their fists. With the initial threat neutralized, Taleth established more forward bases as two additional legions and their fleets had arrived with a fresh 1 million soldiers, but all were greenhorns and would die fast probably, with little to no combat experience. Tanks rolled past with ariltery digging in and opening fire with a tremendous thud. Even with the new troops, Taleth didn't belive they could survive.


SPQR, Imperial Palace

Two figures dressed in black sneaked through the gates and the sentries and went into the grand palace. A guard walked by whistling, then was pulled behind a wall and a snapping sound was heard. Again, the two figures hurried, towards the Emperors quarters. The Imperial Guard noticed something was wrong and suspected assisination and stalked through the corrdiers with the " shoot first questions later" doctrine. With an entire cohort protecting the vast room of the Emperor, no one could get through, at least so they thought. A trade barge that was chugging past above the palace suddenly burst into flames as a light frigate manuvered through the crowded skies and opened fire. With the discratoin in place, the two slipped through the vents and dropped out while Claudius was having sex. " Wha-- No... no.. NO!" He drew a pistol and fired wildly before being silenced. With the deed done, the two broke a window and left.

The Next Day
Nero stood proudly before the mass who were screaming in joy, Claudius was dead. The Imperial guard wasn't too happy, but who cared! Licking his lips, Nero raised his hands and again, the crowd was thrown into a frenzy as he was crowned Emperor. After paying the troops and all the citizens, he stalked back in for more important matters.

To: High-Commissar Cedric and High-General Valdimir
From: Emperor Nero I
Subject: Diplomacy

Dear sirs,
Claudius is dead and I'm the new Emperor. We thank you for your aid of helping us in this war, but I am not sure about your Communinst motives. But very well, I'll sign a treaty with you now, but I ask of you to stop gunning down my sons on that planet. I'm sending this to the Praetor over there and he has the power to use his troops he sees fit. I'm sending an additional 12 legions to back him up as well as well... you'll see. We have planet killers in our own possesion, sitting in the Imperial Crypts where old technolgy is hidden. However, if this was gets out of hand, I won't be in command, it'll be someone else who... detests humans and is very violent and has nothing wrong with killing every single one of your men and having all your planets glassed for our victory. Let's hope theres to reason to revive that person. I await your coming.

With that 12 fleets with their 12 legions set out for war, with all the Nova warships accompyning them with the doctrine " Blow the shit out of everything." Also, every legion that wasn't being used to to attack, were focused on retaking the barren worlds, or at the very least, hold them off. The Crimson Ring had taken their payment and spend off to harass Maunkee trade routes, and were doing a very good job of raising hell with their higher-then-normal-pirate tech. Cloaked missiles, stealth frigates, the works. Almost as if someone was funding it, a powerful empire....

To: General Yougudsky
From: Praetor Taleth
Subject: Legio XII
first off all.... my emperor has requested you stop gunning down my men and using them as cannon fodder. Second of all.... my personal Legio XII is landing. THey excel in urban combat. And they are personally under my command. Have a nice day.

Aciremian Empire reopened its boarders today. Transmission of the mysterious single ceased nineteen hours before a statement was released. Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlos Cantos was stated as saying, "The incident, details of which still remain fragmentary, has passed and our internal situation has normalized."

Civil War engulfed the Empire's territory as Nero attemmpted to quell the rebellions. Suddenly he was murdered in th supposdly fortified palace. Praetor Taleth Cicero withdrew his troops from the Manukee front and returned back to Koramee space and anihilated all of his opponest and took the throne. With the threat of the Manukee and the possible invasion of the USSR, every legion was being pulled back and the Desperado was reactivated. They closed their borders and waited for the worst.

Virus bombings reported all over the universe with magic ponies rushing out to eat everyone ^^