Classis I Sector Langara's Story

Roughly 500,000 kilometers from Terra's high orbit, just beyond the Imperium's defensive perimeter and slightly off the formation of Grey Order vessels, several distortions could be detected as roughly a dozen ships winked into existence.

One of them was the Reverence II "Solemn Penance" which bore obvious markings of the United Aschen Empire. Completing its jump the ship found itself among several of its escorts. Specifically two Iconoclast class Battleships, two Punisher class Battleships, eight Hastati class cruisers and roughly a dozen Vigiles class escort destroyers, additionally the fleet was protected by a formation of Imperial Aegis cruisers, which would supplement the defenses of the reverence II.

Temporarily attached to the Solemn Penance, Admiral Éclaire Hanley would be in charge of the entirety of the planned operation.

With the anticipation the Imperium ships would shoot first, immediately upon exiting FTL, a massive canopy shield enveloped the small group, along with a Planck field to prevent boarders from teleporting aboard, a hard lesson learned from the Aurora incident.

With the shimmering aegis field up, capable of withstanding a sustained barrage from even the mightiest of weapons, the Aschen fleet settled into position, and waited to be hailed.

"Admiral! Energy signatures detected. They are the same as the forces that attacked Imperial assets." A crewman spoke as the Imperial Navy was arming weapons again. "I want a communication transmition to the enemy fleet!" The Admiral spoke as the crewman instantly nodded.

"Attention! You are now entering Imperial space hostiles. Turn around immediately or face destruction in the Emperor's name." The admiral hailed the enemy ship. In ten seconds the whole Imperial Navy armed with Lance Batteries, Heavy Macro bombardment cannons and long ranged torpedo's were now trained on the Aschen ships.

"You have much nerve to show your face to us after you dare strike at us. Give us one reason why we should not condemn you all to die and be done with it instead of letting you go free." The Fleet Admiral spoke as the ships Nova Cannon was aimed right at the center of their fleet.

"Defensive formation Foxtrot! Medical Ships and Tartans to the surface, oversee Base Construction." Kinara barked as the Grey Battalion ships formed with those of the Imperium. The Venators all formed the rear of the formation, the Two medical ships and four Tartan Patrol Cruisers continuing forward to the planet's surface. The Obsidian Eagle, the 5KM flagship of her fleet, was in the center of the formation, with the Venator Class Star Destroyers around her in a Heptagonal protective sphere. The Main hangars atop the ships slid open, and pilots readied the fighters and bombers. The Sabre Class Star Destroyers, newly made and upgraded to be more than double their original size, formed the bulk of the fleet, forming an anti-capital ship screen with what appeared to be only eight Super Heavy Turbo Laser Batteries at the ready, however, something was off about them.

The Point Defense of the fleet was weakest at the very front, however, every meter further into the formation would prove more and more difficult to navigate, and the level of Point Defense upped itself massively with the Venators and Obsidian Eagle, as well as the Acclamators. At Kinara's word, the entire fleet would begin firing, but for now, everything was silent.

Pressing a button on her chair, a claw came from the ceiling and picked it up, giving her mobility over the bridge. She moved to a large hologram projector, which projected hers, the Imperium's, and the Aschen fleets all clearly. "Fucking hell...." she grumbled. She opened comms to her fleet. "Grey Battalion this is Kinara." she started.

"Before us is the Aschen fleet. They're big. They're strong. They're smart. But you were bred for war, and if that's what they want, we'll give them one." Kinara spoke. "All ships await my command, let's hope this doesn't turn into a shit storm." she called back the fighters she'd sent to the planets surface, and they turned around, set to return in a few minutes.

The tension could be cut with a butter-knife, let alone a Lightsaber.

The CIC of the Solemn Penance was quiet as Admiral Hanley listened intently to the transmission, slowly cantering her head in slight confusion at two alien fleets that the empire had little contact with.

With a swift gesture, she keyed up the tactical display, a large holographic projection showing the three fleets shimmering before her, showing movements and tactical formations in real time, along with highlighted tactical suggestions and energy readouts.

Sweeping her hand she zoomed in, manipulating the hologram, and then panning back out.

"Hostile?" She asked herself, before querying the datalink with both ship designs, searching the logs of every ship in the aschen fleet for engagement reports, of which there was only one remotely close match.

"Hmm..." Hanley said. "There are contact reports here from the Navo Vasta Solitudine... entered by Admiral Clegg; but there's no engagement reports here, weapons were readied but not fired, the fleet observed and engagement between these ships and and two unidentified alien fleets, later identified as the Sith Empire and the 6th Order..." Hanley mumbled.

Keying up the communication, Hanley spoke, her voice firm yet her words clear as they rang across a wide band communications frequency.

"Vessels of the Imperium of Man, this is Admiral Claire Hanley, of the United Aschen Empires Imperial Defense Force. Be advised our intentions are peaceful, and we have no records of ever attacking vessels of your kind, I've reviewed all contact logs with your people and have found no indication of past engagements." Hanley hailed, looking at the logs.


"Be advised that opening fire will be considered an act of war, and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of our military capabilities. However I will reiterate that our intentions here are peaceful, and we will not attack unless provoked." Hanley said calmly.

"I have been sent by my government to discuss a matter of importance to all of us."

Bringing up a data file, she transmitted a video recording of the aschen engagement with the forces of Chaos to the Imperium Fleet, and then continued her message.

"A few days ago one of our patrol fleets were attacked by vessels similar to yours, yet they utilized some form of magic that was beyond our understanding and our fleet was lost, we were hoping you could shed some light on this matter."

Silently she awaited a reply.

"Chaos..." The Admiral muttered watched the footage, their greatest enemy and a great threat to the universe itself. However, this still did not excuse one thing. "You may not have noticed us because we were stuck fighting two fleets...however this may change your thoughts. We recovered data-slates from one of our ships that were destroyed." The admiral sent a feed of the massive space battle from one of the Imperial battleships as it engaged three different fleets with all of its holy firepower. The call to retreat was ordered, however a few remained behind to stall the enemy. And this data-slate was one such ship.

"We have faced this enemy for millennium. Despite your assault on our fleet, it is more wise to share with you all we know about that toe you encountered known as Chaos. Under the Empeor, he has decreed that we keep violence down, and to start negotiating with...aliens..." The Admiral almost spat the last words. But to do so would be heretical under many circumstances since to order came right from the Emperor.

"Chaos only has one goal. Drown the universe in endless war and blood until all life in the universe is estinguished. Wether it be man, woman, child or alien. No one is safe from the assault of Chaos. Chaos serves the Four Gods of Chaos, malevolent being swept that grant their blessings and minions to them. The first thing you should keep wary about is that once you see and engage the forces of Chaos, your very soul is forever tainted which slowly eats away at you. The more you face Chaos, the further the corruption spreads until you start to hear whispers, demonic voices persuading you. No matter how pure you are, or how faithful you are...Chaos will eventually claim you either in life or in death. Thanks to our venerable Emperor he keeps our souls safe from being dragged into the jaws of the Warp."

"The Chaos forces are comprised of fallen Adeptus Astartes, or Space Marines from the days of old. They are genetically enhanced super humans that are worth a hundred men in almost all cases. Other forces have also joined with Chaos being our brave soldiers from the Imperial Guard to millions of other people. Civilian or soldier it matters not. They also use demonic entities from the Warp, from a sacrifice to keeping a portal open to the realm of the warp, these demons under whatever foul God they serve can change the very battle. And with greater demons...their very presence could cause many people to retreat in terror. In any case, enough ordinance will force them back to the Warp but any attempt to truly kill them is only in the hands of our Emperor."

"As we said before, the Warp is like the 'spiritual' world opposite of our own. Warp travel is vastly different from normal means of FTL travel. To start, Warp travel can bypass almost all means of defense and go past physical obstacles making it a 'safe' means of travel. However, Warp based travel is highly dangerious for anyone without a Gellar Feild or an experienced psychic user to navigate the Warp. Warp based technology harnesses the power of the warp wether it come from a person or a warehead that even the mightiest ship would have no match for. The only defense against the Warp is a Gellar Feild. Without it, any planet with shielding will prove useless against stopping the Legions of Chaos for they can bypass it using the warp to enter."

"As for Chaos itself, they can also corrupt anything they with. From flesh or steel to even a planet, their very presence must be stomped out as soon as possible for there is one important thing to note. If you do not stop Chaos forces on a planet in time, it will change into a Demon Planet, in which case any means to actually destroy it will not work as it is now part of the Warp itself. Keep that in mind that no matter how small Chaos appears to be, it should be treated with high priority for lest you know it the entire planet and its defenders will fall."

"For the Chaos Gods themselves. Their followers are divided into five categories. Followers of Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaanesh, or Chaos Undivided. Servants of Khorne are war made flesh, blessed by the foul war God of Chaos, their followers boast even more strength and speed than any regular Space Marine and are resistant to magic. Followers of Tzeentch are usually sorcerers, or clever individuals who can craft many plans or even peer into the future. They use psychic magic, or can find means to better improve themselves through knowledge. Followers of Nurgle are walking, plagued filled beings that love life or death. They boast an inhuman amount of resistance against weaponry and can walk through an entire squad's worth of firepower for a period of time. The worst part is that once any infected blood gets on your skin or armor it will be a slow and painful death which will even rot the soul. And finally...followers of Slaanesh...Having fun is what they live for from parties filled with drugs and pleasures of the flesh. They don't seem bad until you realize they love to torture anyone until they are mind slaves to Chaos. They are rather...not useful on battle but when it comes to corruption, they are rather good at it. For Chaos Undivided, they worship all Gods equally."

After the Admral finished speaking, he cleared his throat. "I can explain about technology, however we do not have a few years to sit around. You may face the same foe, however after your assault we will not let you access Imperial Records for personal offtime research. Until amends are made, we will only speak with you at this distance. You now have what you need to know about our our greatest foe. In due time if our Emperor wishes you may scheduale a meeting with our venerable Emperor to talk about peace terms." The man soon finished speaking.

Kinara stayed silent when it came to the negotiations. She knew nothing of which they spoke; it would be out of place for her to speak. She listened however, to the description put forth by the Imperium, copying it down to a holo-journal on her wrist-mounted comms pad. She leaned back in her seat and narrowed her eyes, the fighters she requested returning to the fleet and docking in the hangar bays of their respective ships for refueling and rearming.

Chaos....an unending War....it sounded like Sith and their underlings. The numerous wars against the Republic for whatever reasons there were. She sighed, her microphone muted. The Aschen didn't want a fight. Good, neither did she. She rubbed her eyes and put her feet up, reaching out with the Force to feel the intentions of the Aschen, to try and discern if whether or not they were telling the truth. It was the least she could do in this situation.

Once again Hanley opted to check the records, the AI once again returned no record of any engagements with Imperium forces, this caused her to slightly purse her lips, and disconnect the search interface.

With another swift motion, she keyed the communication back to Admiral Dorn.

"We have no records of any aggression displayed towards your people, and our military keeps meticulous records, likewise we continue to harbor no aggression towards your people, and seek to work together to eliminate this Chaos threat you have described; as they are a threat to us both." Hanley explained.

"If we work together, we can swiftly put an end to this threat; or we can consider the alternative of a long drawn out campaign against these demons you speak of."

Heaving a sigh, Hanley paused and looked around the CIC, before keying up the communication.

"Even if we have no record of any hostility, if it's compensation you seek, name your price and I will bring your demands back to my Government for consideration."

"Lord Dorn, the fleet is willing to compisate. Shall we respond sir?" The fleet admiral spoke to the space marine Primarch.

"Aschen fleet, this is Rogal Dorn. One of the sons to the Emperor. All we ask then is for raw materials. Mostly steel if available. We have no need of monetary benefit. As for the demonic threat, we will be forced into a long drawn out war. For trying to crush the heart of Chaos is all but impossible...But we of the Imperium wish to establish a hopefully non hostile alliance. We have many enemies of man that's needs to be slain...we don't need to spill uneccecary blood when we can." The Primarch spoke.

The Imperial officers simply remained silent as his word was almost the word of the Emperor.

Admiral Hanley considered the request for several moments, they could spare the resources, light-mass-fabrication allowed for the easy fabrication of raw materials, which meant they could provide the Imperium limitless resources. The same limitless resources that allowed the Aschen Empire to wage it's wars of aggression.

She decided that they could spare something.

Keying up the communications, she spoke her reply to Admiral Dorn.

"I will arrange for thirty thousand cubic tons of Steel to be transported to this world, In exchange, I request the schematics so that we may construct these Gellar fields you speak of, if we're to defend ourselves against this threat."

After a long pause, Hanley spoke again.

"Do we have a deal?"

Rogal Dorn thinks for a minute, this trade would be a bit beneficial...however, he was not willing to trust this Aschen Empire at this moment. Not until their Emperor deems them a suitable ally. "I will have to decline that deal. The schematics for the Gellar Field are highly prized in the Imperium. Keep in mind we are still highly untrustworthy of your people. No records on such an attack on Imperial ships, continuing to deny involvement despite the evidence we have show you. Even if the Imperium require the resources we will not strike a deal until the Emperor himself decides to give your people a chance. You shall make due with what you have, even against our mortal enemy. We do not need to arm any Empire with Imperial technology. Unless the Emperor himself decrees such a thing." The Primarch declined the deal.

"You are on your own for now Aschen Empire. We must prepare against the coming storm. We do not need to worry about your Empire as well." Soon communication was cut. Even if Chaos was on the horizon, Dorn knew he could not just trust this people as easily he had hoped.

The Admiral simply frowned as they declined the deal. It was no matter, the Aschen had technologies they could compensate with.

"Then we will withhold our shipments until such time you've deemed us worthy to trade with." Hanley said, making a long somewhat disappointed face. "We're a pragmatic civilization and are willing to work even with our enemies, but only under the circumstances that benefit us. When your Emperor has deemed us worthy of working together, we will revisit these negotiations."


After a few more moments, Hanley keyed up one last transmission. "I am transmitting coordinates to the Aschen world of Tal'dor, if your Emperor wishes to pursue talks with us, this is the only world that has been set up to receive foreign visitors."

Once the coordinates were transmitted, Hanley turned back to her XO.

"Set course back to the Empire, even if it's limited this intelligence will be of value to us." She said, the word passed to her XO, the Reverence II and it's accompanying fleet promptly winked out of high orbit, disappearing without a trace.

75,000km Above Blackrock


The blackness of space was once again torn asunder by the appearance of not one, but a dozen starships, with the lead vessel nearly thirty kilometers in length. They seemingly winked in out of nowhere, flickering in one by one between the lone shuttle, the Militia, and the blackness of space.

Admiral Whitcomb had brought the fleet to full readiness prior to jumping in, having been alerted by Imperial scouts of Xenos activity around Blackrock.

Silently, she stood like an imposing guardian over a massive three-dimensional projection of the Blackrock system.

"Unidentified craft moving in at speed, three nine one carom one six three!" The XO reported. "I've got unidentified contacts in pursuit, and additional unidentified contacts all over the system!"

Whitcomb frowned, while her own ships moved into position, showing up as flickering green icons on her strategic projection, that frown quickly turned to a growl as she drew breath to issue a series of orders.

"Bring us to condition one, full combat readiness, I want Raptor Talons and Condors to intercept that ship, neutralize it's pursuers." Whitcomb ordered.

"I want secondaries on that Xenos fleet on the far side of the planet, Task Group beta will make flanking maneuvers and draw them out for the Reverence's big guns to take them out." Whitcomb ordered, keying in several tactical commands into her console.

The thirty-kilometer Reverence II shuddered, and broke from it's formation as it's massive engines roared to life, culminating as a brilliant blue-white fireball on the rear of the vessel.

As the Aschen ship moved forward, Whitcomb grabbed the communicator, per standard procedure.

"Attention unidentified vessels, this world is the sovereign territory of the United Aschen Empire; Identify yourselves and state your intentions at once, or be destroyed."

The order was stern, callous even, and broadcast on multiple frequencies to all parties inside the system, all while the Aschen fleet began to move into combat position.

Not thirty seconds passed before hundreds of Raptor Talon starfighters shot fourth from the belly of the Reverence, their appearance little more than their engine flares, which quickly flickered out as stealth systems engaged.

The Militia's Battle-fighters would be the first to go.

The peppering from the MEC-A10 25mm Thraxon Kinetic Weapons would hit hard, slicing through shields, and hull alike, like a hot knife through butter, the first of the fighters would likely not stand a chance, as it was chewed to pieces by one of the hundreds of Raptor Talons that entered the fray.

Roughly a dozen broke off from the main group to chase the shuttle that was making an attempt to exit the system, and the occupants would quickly learn that these strange Aschen star-fighters could easily keep pace.

The Aschen Empire had returned.

"Uh... what'ssss going on?!" Abraxas cried. The girl ignored him, and kept driving forward despite the Starfighters following them in close pursuit. Farther back, the Militia Battle-Fighters were being massacred by their new friends - or were they foes? "Sssshouldn't we jusssst sssstop and do what they want ussss to do?!"

"No. We must get you to the Protectors, and quickly before -" The girl paused, quickly looking back towards the lead Militian ship. "Oh no..." Abraxas squinted, trying to see what she was seeing; a lone figure, standing on top of the roof of the lead Militian ship. They wore something that looked like a cross between a void survival suit and medieval knight armor. They wore large, silver gauntlets. "Not her... no, no, no, we have to move." The girl sped the ship up quickly.

The figure moved their palms apart from each other, and then clapped them together in a thunderous boom. Immediately, there was what seemed to be a sudden short-circuit; the engines, blasters, and shields of all the ships immediately turned off - including the ones on the space shuttle. "Dammit!" The girl cursed, as the figure turned towards them with hand extended, from which a bright light was coming.

The girl turned back towards him, speaking hurriedly. "Listen to me, Abraxas. I know you do not know me, but trust me. I am about to send you out a space pod. That laser Captain Ashia is about to blast will destroy this ship, and you if you don't get out. But whatever happens, you must promise that you will find the Protectors no matter what, do you understand?"

Abraxas slowly nodded. "Then, Godspeed to you, and don't die," She said, and he became enveloped in darkness.

He was shot out in a space pod. The Classis I Sector Langara could do nothing but watch as the figure fired their laser, blasting through the space shuttle in a massive explosion, while the space pod containing Abraxas spiraled away into darkness.

* * * *

A moment after, the ships rebooted, and became at full functionality.

The Roman Fell Fleet sped to power. The emperor hurried and got in to the main fleet ship smiling a holy smile. He entered the large star cruiser that was fully repaired. The large 10 kilometer fighter class ships were the first up, with a brilliant blue and red light, were up in the atmosphere within seconds. Large craters were left from were the ships had taken off. Rome sent a transmission to the Aschen Empire, knowing it would reach them, and that they couldn't ignore the giant capital ship trying to reach them.

"If this reaches you, I want to let you know, we are not the enemy. We were attacked by a large, unidentified, bandit capital city ship. If we have intruded in you're territory, we will leave" Rome said in his light, charming voice that he has always had. "OH! and please ignore our capital ship, along with the others, you see, we do not have a planet to call home, so we travel and live on ships. Our fighter ships are just a precaution in case wear are attacked without warning, but do not attack unless they are shot at." And with that, his transmission ended.

Once he was sure it was not recording anymore, he had a pained face. Was this the end of the newly formed Roman Fell Empire? The question haunted him, as he waited for a response.

Abraxas was cold. Being a reptile, he was cold-blooded and thus relied on his surroundings for heat. In this cramped egg-like escape pod - which was barely big enough for his seat, let alone him - there was not much heat, except for a heater unit that seemed to be on the fritz. Probably from that giant explosion, he thought.

His mind turned back to the attack. He was still confused. To him, he'd just gone to a low-key bar for a drink, met this strange girl, got attacked by the Militia, was saved by the newly-formed Roman Fell Empire's ruler but whisked away by said strange girl on a space shuttle, and then they got attacked by the Militia again! Some other people came to their rescue, but some random guy blasted it apart along with, presumably, the girl, but not before she'd saved his life by putting him in here.

She'd saved his life, and he didn't even know her name.

Abraxas looked at Firecracker, his yew bow which was covered in glowing green runes. He'd never known how the runes got there and what made them glow. Hell, he didn't even know if it's abilities to make his arrows more harmful was magic or high science. Could this be what the girl said her group, the Protectors, wanted? Or, perhaps, the Quiver of Infinity, a quiver which never ran out of arrows? Certainly, both would be quite useful; however, he'd learned that their separate powers were only possible if used in tandem with each other. That would be quite the liability, indeed, if they only wanted one or the other.

Suddenly, there was a large amount of bumping, and Abraxas could see clouds through the viewport in front of him. There was a great amount of turbulence, and he most certainly would've cracked his head on the ceiling if not for the heavy-duty straps keeping him in his seat.

I'm falling through the sky! He panicked and tried to keep himself calm, even as the pod fell at breakneck speed down into the planet below...

* * * *

Sara awoke upon an operating table. She did not know whether she was on the Militia's ship or their newfound allies' - likely the former, as the Militia would've just killed her. It drained her quite considerably to keep her body in a stasis for so long in the void of space, and she had blacked out eventually.

Abraxas of Blackrock, stay safe, wherever you are, she thought to herself, as the door to the room opened and people filed in. The interrogation was in session.

A very small craft. Possibly the smallest one person craft to be seen within eighteen star systems with jump drive capabilities.tumbled out of a jump on a powerless collision course with one of the freshly destroyed ships in the area Although it likely would have wound up continuing towards Blackrock if the wreckage had not been there. the angle had it heading towards a bare section of the hull as the craft twirled and span doing flips that made it's sole occupant too dizzy and disoriented to do anything about her predicament besides fumble with the power system frantically swiping at the switch to turn on the emergency power bank.

"... I hate space travel" the occupant grumbled to herself as she finally managed to catch the switch, Power temporarily returning causing the inertia dampening system to kick in. Immediately the gyroscope sprang into action stopping the spinning while the ion thrusters blazed to life. Shining like a plasma cutter in a display that would be blinding to any crew without a polarized viewing port. Barely slowing down enough to bounce mostly harmlessly off the hull of the larger craft. Harmless to the hunks of metal. The small crafts occupant however was not so lucky. Her disoriented state preventing her from even thinking to brace herself resulting in her slamming head first into a wall sending her quickly into unconsciousness. Thus leaving the craft to finish slowing down as the power bank was greedily eaten up by the Ion thrusters preventing the craft from surrendering to the gravitational pull of the nearby planet. This system was only ever meant to keep the life support going long enough for aid to arrive for whoever might be within.

The Raptor Talons closed quickly on the Militia's fighters, technologically superior in every way to these local vessels, the Raptor Talons made short work of their foes, as small projectiles chewed through ship hulls and shields alike.

"This is Orthros leader, i've got... all fighters break!" The Squadron captain shouted into his comms as they picked up the energy surge from the impending psychic attack; an attack which washed over the fighter craft relatively harmlessly and without too much fanfare.

Aschen Technology was the culmination of years of research and understand, into both magical sciences, and of psychics, years of combat both tooth and nail against adversaries that were leagues ahead of even the mighty Militia; to the Aschen, this was a cancerous tumor that had been allowed to fester because of inaction, this was a mistake that Admiral Whitcomb intended to rectify.

She watched the readouts silently safely aboard the CIC of her ship, the three-dimensional holographic projections bobbing, and weaving about the battlefield.

She didn't say anything for a moment, a powerful surge of energy followed, and the small shuttle appeared to have been destroyed.

"Alpha team, capture any survivors and bring them aboard, have them prepped and readied for interrogation." Whitcomb ordered, before switching frequencies to address the Romans.

"Disengage your weapons, and your engines, and surrender." She ordered coldly. "You will remain where you are until we can ascertain the intent of your people; if you are truly vagrants, then you will have little to offer us, but resist our demands at your own peril." Whitcomb replied.

Her lips pursed into a thin frown, before turning to her tactical officer.

"Sitrep.."

The young officer checked his readouts, before nodding and offering his report.

"Sir, it appears from our intelligence sources, that our lack of influence in this sector has lead to the rise of several independent entities on this world. This 'Militia... is but one of many factions on Blackrock.. the Chairman will not be pleased at this development..."

Whitcomb nodded in agreement. "The one that we captured... prepare a psychic inhibitor, and antimana containment cell... the survivor from the shuttle... transfer them to Holding cell B-3... place them in the Aurora Chair..." She said, nodding to her XO.

"Colonel Ronson; you have the Conn."

With that, Whitcomb turned to leave.

---

Captain Ashia would find herself, once apprehended placed in a small room, a metal collar of some kind affixed to her neck, and her armor stripped from her, leaving only a simple red colored prison jumpsuit, the metal collar was a peculiar device, and she would likely find herself unable to access her psychic abilities, nor any magical abilities that she may posses.

The holding door chimed with an odd crystalline sound, before opening to reveal a pair of Aschen soldiers, clad in a powered Cuirasse exoskeleton and armed with rather sleek looking MC-1 assault carbines. Standing with the pair was a woman, slender in build and wearing all black.

She took a step into the room and the door snapped shut behind her, then she tossed a small stack of files to the Militia captain's feet.

Her only words were. "Who are you people?"

---

The young woman, Sara wouldn't awaken on an operating table, and though it would seem she was in some kind of lab, she was in fact seated in a device the Aschen came to know as the Aurora Chair; she would be strapped in, hands and ankles restrained to the chair as Admiral Whitcomb stood over her.

A technician moved slowly to affix electrodes to the girl's head, the Aurora Chair was designed to forcibly and painfully map the victim's psyche, forcibly extracting memories and displaying them on a screen.

---

A squadron of Raptor Talons quickly reoriented themselves to the arrival of the small alien craft, along with a Condor transport, they moved quickly to intercept.

He ordered the entire fleet to disengage and return to the ships. Once they reached the ships, they were to shut down all engines. As all of them floated in space, the emperor waited.

"What is happening on their ships that could possibly stop their leader from speaking with me?" He wondered. Not to intent on finding out, he decided, that he where to speak with the woman, he would not ask. It was mostly for the better of securing ties with the Aschen Empire, that he does not interfere with their work.

Soon, all of them were docked and off, waiting.

Sara wept alone in her cell.

They knew all about the Protectors. They had taken this information from her by force; location, lore, everything. Hopefully, since they'd attacked the Militia, they would see the Protectors as friends rather than foes.

Sadly, deep in her heart, she felt that this may have been just wishful thinking. These were heartless people. They had searched through her memories without a care for her well-being. And thus, she wept.

The cell door opened, and a bright light shone into the cell room. Sara shielded her eyes. She was tired, hungry, depressed and her neck hurt from the iron collar that suppressed her powers.

"Surprise. You have a cellmate," Said the guard mockingly. He tossed somebody in, then closed the door. With a start, she recognized the figure as Captain Ashia.

"You survived," Noted Ashia as she saw Sara.

"So did you."

"Did they interrogate you, too?"

"It was less an 'interrogation' and more of a 'forced memory revelation'."

Ashia nodded, then sat next to her against the wall. Sara felt a bit confused. Here was the commander of the group which hated the Protectors for God knows how long, and yet she was not trying to kill and/or demean Sara.

"Why are you doing this?" She finally asked.

"Doing what?"

"Trying to befriend me. We both know that under normal circumstances, we'd be at each other's throats."

Ashia chuckled. "Hey, there's not really much else to do. Besides, we got sort of a mutual need."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you heard me right. We've got to work together if we're gonna get off of this ship."

Ashia leaned close. "Do you see a guard out there?" She whispered.

Sara moved to the door. She was surprised to see no guard posted near the door. "I see nobody."

"Good. Now, turn away for a moment, I need to slip out of this outfit and get something."

Sara, despite not knowing her intent, respectfully turned around as Ashia did whatever she had to. When she turned back, the Militian Commander was holding a large, partially feces-stained bag. She flinched back, disgusted.

"I've made a rule to seize every advantage I can manage. I'm just glad they didn't do a cavity search." She reached into the bag and pulled out some tools, including a screwdriver and pliers. "Now, let's get that collar off of you, shall we?"

Sara had to hand it to Ashia; she really was quite a resourceful woman. Her collar off, she could now perform her empathic abilities. She sat down on the floor cross-legged, in a trance while Ashia worked on her own collar. She tapped into her psychic pool, the part of her brain that gave her psionics. She used this to heighten the levels of boredom in everyone, making them less observant and more relaxed. That way, they could escape easier.

"Done," Called Ashia as Sara got up. Together they pulled the door off it's weakened hinges and propped it against the wall.

"We shouldn't have to worry about anyone watching us through those cameras. I made everyone less observant."

"Good job. We'd better hurry, though." They approached a door. They quietly opened it. Inside was a bored-looking guard with a gun and a box with Ashia's armor in it.

Sara made the guard go unconscious while Ashia put on her armor and gauntlets. "Alright, let's go."

They sneaked along the hallway, knocking out any guards who happened to be there. At last, they approached a small hangar with a couple space shuttles. Perfect.

As they moved towards the shuttles, they heard the movement of many feet. They turned to see a troop of Aschen soldiers with lethal weapons.

The troop opened fire on them. Ashia and Sara dove for cover. A bullet grazed Sara's ear. From behind a shuttle, Ashia clapped her hands together. Immediately, the lights went out, and the guards weapons stopped firing. There was shouting.

"Why did you do that?! Now we can't use the shuttles!" Sara whispered harshly.

"I'd never planned on using them." Ashia walked to a rack of parachutes and brought back two. "Put 'em on quickly, there's not much time."

No sooner then they had them on, the lights came back on. Ashia blasted a wave of cold that jammed the guns and froze them to the ground. She opened the bay doors, and together, they jumped out of the ship and through the sky.

* * * *

Lilith and Abraxas had been wondering why the ship had suddenly stopped when they saw two figures jump out and float safely to the ground via parachute. One figure he recognized.

"Abraxas! We must hurry!" The girl cried, running towards him. Abraxas looked behind her and saw the Admiral of the Militia behind her.

She noticed him looking. "Don't worry, I'm with you guys for now." Abraxas was still suspicious, however.

"There's not much time. We need to leave, and quickly."