E.V.E.'s Story

Somewhere on the fringes of Aschen space...

"I have completed my analysis of Agent Solis' report, compiled all relevant data, and completed deep space telemetry scans, and have extrapolated the planetary system described in the video included in the report..." EVE Chimed in.

"Analysis indicates that these amulets are crucial for opening the object the locals have described... as the impervious door. It has also been deemed crucial for the security of the state, that we take action on this matter... therefore I advise that we deploy a fleet to the coordinates indicated in the video recording, and recover the magical amulets." EVE Added.

"The Planet in question has been identified in local records as Pramia, it is an underdeveloped world located in the Obsian'lik system, just past the red line." EVE Explained, highlighting the system on the Aschen star charts.

Inviere considered them for a moment; they could deploy a fleet from Tal'dor, and relatively quickly given the planet's location.

"Transmit mission data to Admiral Montrose." Inviere instructed.

"....Plan accepted... disseminating mission objectives to Admiral Whitcomb.."

The blackness of space around Pramia would find itself home to about a dozen new occupants, dozens of flashes flickered in and out roughly half an AU from the planet itself.

The Command Carrier, Pride of Langara was the first to jump in, along with her escorts, roughly four 2.5km long Hastati class cruisers, two Hera class robotics cruisers, three Hesperides class drone carriers, six Athena class missile carriers, four Aegis class sentinel cruisers, and roughly a dozen Gemino class escort frigates.

They maintained a classic Aschen frigate line formation, with the Command carrier making up the rear portion of the formation of Aschen ships, the frigates making up the front, and the cruisers taking up defensive formations around the Command Carrier.

The only variation of this formation was the Athena class cruisers, which kept their distance from the main gathering of Aschen ships, each Athena cruiser were positioning themselves to provide long range fire support should hostilities break out. Each Athena class missile cruiser was armed with long range Thunderbolt missiles, with a single thunderbolt missile capable of wreaking extinction level destruction upon any unfortunate world.

Once the Aschen fleet settled in, Admiral Montrose turned to a flickering display of EVE, the new Aschen intelligence that accompanied almost every ship.

"Initiating surface scans..." EVE Chimed in. "Energy signatures detected... possible hostile actions... recommend combat readiness at once! EVE Called out, as she analyzed the events unfolding before her.

Montrose nodded, bringing up a large image of what appeared to be a frigate, with anomalous energy readings inside.

"We need to move quickly..." The Aschen admiral said quietly.

"Get the Planck fields powered up! We can't let these people escape! EVE coordinate the fleet, standard formation... bring all hands to battlestations!" Montrose ordered.

"Scanning... energy signatures matching those in Solis' report have been detected aboard that vessel. It is imperative we act quickly." EVE Added.

"All ships, advance!"

The small Aschen task force began to move into attack formation, accelerating quickly towards the frigate in low orbit, and Pramia.

An AU away from Pramia itself, a cluster of ships would suddenly appear against the backdrop of space.

Upon close inspection, they would be revealed to be warships of the Aschen Empire; a Command Carrier and her escorts, which quickly began to move into attack formation, and advance towards the planet.

"Madam! Look out the window!" In the Acklewood Forest, a stagecoach driver tried to get the attention of his client.

Meanwhile, a young thief with big dreams hadn't stopped watching the sky from Knightheart Valley ever since the moment she lost everything she had.

At the same time, the owner of a bakery would swear to himself that his day was far too long, and surely he was hallucinating.

Blackheart's ship would proceed to shake itself apart, and the Light Array in Irral's palm would activate, utterly obliterating the inside of the bridge with Bolts of Holy Draconian Light. From the wreckage, which by now would begin sinking to the earth below, Irral's massive wings erupted, spreading out and catching the wind. The sight was terrifyingly Awe-Inspiring, and then as quickly as they appeared they shrank, becoming more compatible with the size of Irral's human-form as he looked around to the landscape around him, looking for a suitable place to place his Transport Array to get back to Terra.

He had the other Amulet, so he wasn't worried about Blackheart opening the Door without him, that would be impossible. Turning, Irral turned his Gaze to the incoming Aschen ships, sensing their hostile intent. His body began to radiate Holy Draconian Light, and his Lance gleamed in the sunlight. If they wanted to try their luck against the Dragon of Light, they were welcome, but they'd only find their death.

Bits of the frigate began to crack and rumble, breaking apart and falling to the planet. Omnia's hologram smiled, as Blackheart's Goddess in the Machine, it was easy enough to manipulate the unstable dragon's thoughts and perception. Even easier since he'd been so thoroughly irked by the Captain's provocations.

"Pride doth goeth before a fall," she whispered to herself, watching Neumann self-replicating Nanites play out the ship crumbling and crashing to the ground through complex holograms or shaping themselves into pieces of the ship. She even allowed a few servitors to be sucked out of the ship, burning up on entry into the atmosphere. It was harder than it would have been had she been connected to more of her mega-structures, like a few dozen Dyson Swarms, but she managed.

Neumann Nanites quickly rebuilt the pieces of the Frigate that had been purposefully damaged to fool the dragon, until the ship was whole. A half-sphere of femtometre sized robots, invisible to the naked eye, floated around Irral shielding the vessel from his sight, and projecting exactly what the dragon wanted to see. All the while, Omnia and the Frigate drifted away, soon they'd warp to Terra, but not before ensuring the Aschen wouldn't open fire on them.

"Ave, Aschen Mothership," the broadcast went out on an encrypted Aschen channel, one she'd bought the cipher for not too long ago. She hoped the ship still used it, Gods knew how quickly Aschen changed their encryption. "I am an Omnicompetent Meta-Intelligent NUMA Inspired Artilect, you may call me Omnia. My vessel is currently empty of living organic life, and we are willing to comply with orders, but it is imperative we end this matter quickly as I must be going. We are an independent contractor and owe no allegiance to enemies of the Empire."

Montrose kept her eyes fixated on the displays, while the command carrier smoothly accelerated towards the planet, with it's fleet in a tight escort formation.

"Alert, energy spike has been detected, origin; The dragon like creature... three nine seven carom one two one..." EVE Called out, a screen highlighting Irral as he unfurled his wings.

"Registering exponential increase in energy output, initiating tactical analysis. Analysis indicates that subject highlighted on display is dangerously viable... advise mission abort." EVE Reported, as Montrose narrowed her eyes.

"Continue our advance, maintain defensive formation and instruct all ships to go to full combat readiness." Montrose ordered.

EVE Offered a brief frown. "Admiral Montrose... registering objection; this task force is rated for underdeveloped planetary assault, and inferior fleet engagements, units are unsuited for prolonged engagements with Super-Magical entities, casualty predictions are high, and collateral damage predictions are also high."

Growling briefly, Montrose brought up the point-and-click interface.

"Maintain our course."

"Plan accepted..." EVE Replied. "Dissemenating revised objectives to all units..."

EVE Interruped her once more. "Incoming transmission... on encrypted priority one channel... unauthorized codecs are being used... de-authorizing codecs... checking transmission for malicious code."

"Registering second artifact... advise diplomatic approach, offer compensation and assistance for surrender of artifact..."

"I am an Omnicompetent Meta-Intelligent NUMA Inspired Artilect, you may call me Omnia. My vessel is currently empty of organic life, and we are willing to comply with orders, but it is imperative we end this matter quickly as I must be going. We are an independent contractor and owe no allegiance to enemies of the Empire."

Montrose considered her response, as the Aschen fleet moved into attack formations, shields flared to life, and weapons batteries began to come online one by one.

Bringing up the interface, Montrose keyed a response.

"Your vessel has been found to be in possession of Imperial Property, surrender it, and we will arrange proper compensation; Failure to comply will result in interdiction, and seizure of your vessel." Montrose stated cooly.

Citizens from all over below would watch the stars move rapidly around. They glimmered, they flashed, and they put on a show. Some were scared, some awed, and some wanted to know so much more.

Great pieces of debris fell, catastrophically, across Trivington Hills. News of the event hit the press immediately, papers from Abingdol Falls to Goldengear discussing what fell from the sky.

Great pieces of space debris burned in the atmosphere, some falling to Trivington Hills. A series of craters was created, holding debris that was literally out of this world. The news hit the press in time for dinner, and Trivington Hills went from quaint farms to rural hotspots.

There were thirty six humanoid casualties, twelve cogmanoid casualties. Three businesses were ruined.

Samantha Himmel chose to watch the display above, horrified, from the safety of her hovercoach. She demanded a breakneck pace towards their destination. The stars were moving, and if she wasn't mistaken, something fell from the sky in the distance.

Irral's Energy readings would likely be off the charts in a matter of seconds as his body continued to glow in Draconian Light. The Gold tainted with Purple swirled around his body in a flame, and he turned towards the incoming Aschen fleet slowly, lifting his chin to gaze upon the ships as he flapped his now proportionately sized wings, and lifted higher into the atmosphere to observe them closer. From behind the Shadow of his Helmet's view-port, Irral narrowed his eyes. These ships were weaponized, sure, but he sensed no anti-magical properties from them. At least, not enough to harm him, anyway.

Raising the point of his Lance to what he assumed would be the command ship based off his limited knowledge of Human (And otherwise) fleet tactics, he spoke. "You would be wise to turn around and leave while I do not deem you hostile." his voice boomed over the landscape, and likely, into the ears of the Aschen aboard the ship. He was using his magic to project his voice through most materials that lacked proper anti-magic insulation, or were too thin to protect against the sheer might of the sound-wave.

Below, citizens of pramia would see the sky brighten. In most places, everyone would look up to see the same thing: a great glowing dragon rising, high above where any airship has ever flown, so high that it’s size was seen in whole and began to shrink as it departed Pramia’s atmosphere. As it left, the skies flashed their brightest on a planetary level, light dispersed throughout the entire planet for a few instants. Where it was night, for a moment, it was also day.

Below, citizens of Brightmaiden would see the sky brighten. In most places, everyone would look up to see the same thing: a great glowing dragon rising, high above where any airship has ever flown, so high that it’s size was seen in whole and began to shrink as it departed Pramia’s atmosphere. As it left, the skies flashed their brightest on a planetary level, light dispersed throughout the entire planet for a few instants. The shadows of the Acklewood Forest narrowed, disappeared, then swiftly returned. Knightheart Valley lit up even in the shadowiest of places.

There was some semblance of silence aboard the Pride of Langara, as sound seemed to inexplicably cross the vacuum of space, four light minutes in the span of an instant, reverberating the hull of the Command Carrier.

"Update; energies detected from the creature... it appears that the primary objective is not aboard the fleeing vessel..." EVE's voice chimed in, as if though she didn't even hear Irral's ultimatum.

Montrose did, and in response her gaze narrowed, her expression darkened while her fingertips worked the fleet management interface.

"I'm going to take it out, give me something to work with, EVE." Montrose spoke up.

"Analyzing... two tactical scenarios identified that minimize casualties; as the entity intensifies it's magical energies, I have been able to study them closer, My analysis of the entity's magical composition is complete." EVE replied.

"Considering all relevant parameters, I re-advise mission abort." EVE added.

"Mission abort is unacceptable, we'll signal for reinforcements, and try to keep this thing busy for as long as we can, until additional fleet elements arrive." Montrose rebuked, while bringing her hands across the holographic fleet interface.

The atmosphere of the Command Carrier was that of trepidation, but everyone intended on committing to their duties to the end.

There was a long pause from EVE. "Advise tactical approach... re-calibrate, and activate AEGIS Field for null-magic capabilities, All ships adjust shields double front, thermal dissipation with magical dispersal properties, load-out M-7." The AI Hologram explained, while a large display of the field flickered to life before Admiral Montrose.

"Position Hastati cruisers in a capital phalanx, with frigate, and corvette escort to draw attention away from the main command vessel, the emphasis will be a swift first strike, with long range capabilities. Positioned at the rear, Athena cruisers will fire long range Ajax missiles armed with a tricobalt warhead directly behind the entity, twenty five thousand teracochrane yield."

Missile trajectories were highlighted briefly.

"Follow up with a salvo from frag cannons, while Hastati cruisers engage with long range Ajax missiles carrying High-yield antimana warheads."

"Anticipate likelihood of mission salvage, at fourty-nine percent... considering all possible variables." EVE added, as displays surrounded the Admiral.

"Do it... We'll execute the plan, and signal the fleet, I'll bank on this... thing's arrogance to keep him in the fight... fire and maneuver... keep FTL Drives hot, tactical jumps... let's keep this thing on it's toes!" Montrose called out.

EVE Simply nodded.

"Plan accepted... disseminating objectives to all units, commence diversionary tactics until fleet arrives." EVE then turned to face Montrose. "The remainder of Classis I will be on station in three millicentons, minimize casualties for this period of time, and mission success will increase to ninety four percent."

---


The Aschen fleet continued to advance, but something started to change. The Aegis cruisers moved out among the formation of Aschen ships, and began their first move.

A brilliant beam of blue light began to bounce among the four cruisers, until the entire Aschen formation was engulfed in a massive, but brief, shimmering bubble of energy. Inside the shimmering barrier, magic would mostl likely be useless, no matter the strength, or the caliber. Magic would likely simply fail to catalyze within this barrier, rendering the Aschen ships, and her crews largely immune to indirect magical attacks.

Shields on the individual ships began to flare to life, moving, contorting, and adjusting to accommodate for possible retaliation.

Armored panels aboard the Athena class cruisers retracted, exposing the nose cones of roughly a dozen Ajax type long range tactical missile systems.

The ships continued to advance, at their current speed, they would be within attack range in minutes.

Omnia remained cordial, the Aschen were moving into an attack formation and energy reading suggested they were expecting a large conflict, and likely reinforcements. It was never good to pull the tail of a tiger, especially not when she was operating at minimal capacity.

"Your vessel has been found to be in possession of Imperial Property, surrender it, and we will arrange proper compensation; Failure to comply will result in interdiction, and seizure of your vessel."

"I can assure you, proper paperwork has been put together for all property on board. I concede that some of our deceased organics indeed originated from Langara, but a bounty was put on their head, collected, and their bodies legally obtained through the correct channels. If your scanners are picking up residual energy from the artifact, I'm afraid it's been transported to Terra. Should you collect the first, I'm certain my Captain would be more than happy to surrender the second."

The AI contemplated warping to Terra, but she hadn't been called for yet, and was excited to see the Aschen in action. Her ship retreated a safe distance away from the dragon, watching it begin to glow like a Yule-tide tree. She always felt so powerless when she was disconnected from the mega-structures that housed a majority of her processing power.

She re-oriented six of the ship's twelve cannons, locking onto Irral, just in case. There was another Artilect with the Aschen, one that wasn't held back by the same constraints Omnia was. "What a brilliant battle it will be!" A swarm of nanites hovered around the frigate, forming many impromptu telescopes, each one relaying what they saw back to Omnia. The show was about to start, and she eagerly watched with her many 'eyes'.

Irral narrowed his eyes as the Aschen Ships continued their advance and began to shift formation, their anti-magic generators projecting a shield around them. Typical Humans and their toys, he thought. Not knowing that this shield was Anti-Magic, however, he did as predicted, and launched an attack at long range.

Quickly twirling the Lance in his hand, Irral drew the Magic Circle before him, and then slammed an open hand in the center of it. Arcs of brilliant, blindingly Gold light shot from the circle, heading straight for the bridge of each front-line ship the Aschen was sending his way. He would watch with confidence as the bolts of Light made their way straight for their targets at blinding speed, only to slam into the shield with all the Force of a Supernova. Due to the anti-magical properties, however, each bolt was fizzled out before it could reach each ship, no matter the force behind them.

With an annoyed grunt Irral spread his wings, and darted for the ships personally, breaking the sound barrier and heading to Mach 7 within a matter of two seconds, the shock wave from his sonic boom rumbling the earth beneath them as he headed towards the ships, Lance at the ready.

A great emerald beam of light, the beam being only visible to Irral, stretched through space and time. It hit the Emerald Eye Pendant, which started to brilliantly glow.

The beam of light sailed through the blackness of space towards the Aschen fleet formation, and as expected, struck like a mighty lance against the aegis field, which shimmered with dazzling hexagonal patterns that rippled outwards in every direction. Much akin to a rock hitting water.

"I have detected an impact against the AEGIS field." EVE Reported. "AEGIS Field is holding, and registering minimal fluctuation."

Montrose let out a scoff, as the highlighted icon flickered on the display. "Seems to be advancing towards us..."

Keying in a set of commands onto the fleet interface, the Admiral called out to both EVE, and her tactical crew.

"Execute the plan! Neutralize him and seize the artifact!" She ordered, and like a well oiled machine, the Aschen fleet fell into compliance.

The Athena cruisers moved first, two Ajax type missiles surged forward from their armored racks, darting forward in the blink of an eye before vanishing entirely.

An instant later, the two Ajax missiles winked in roughly a thousand feet behind Irral, as two brilliant flashes of light, then surged fourth at blinding speed, much faster than the mach seven Irral was traveling.

They detonated simultaneously behind Irral as two blinding flashes of blue light that expanded in every direction, tears subsequently formed in the very fabric of space, drawing everything around them closer with intense gravitational pull.

Irral didn't take long to register the threat of the Ajax Missiles, but by the time he did, they had already detonated. Turning to face them, he raised his Lance defensively. The Initial blast would send him further outbound towards the fleet, and the tear in Space would begin to pull him back. With a grunt, Irral's Wings stretched outwards and he launched another Salvo of Light towards the gravitational Pull-point, aiming to use it to shut it down and release him from said pull.

At the same time, however, a Draconian Portal opened beneath him, and he dropped into it as quickly as he could. He would appear on the outside perimeter of the Aegis Field, glowing with Holy Draconian Energy, keeping him alive in the Vacuum of Space. Flapping his wings once or twice to orient himself, Irral then darted forward as fast as he physically could, easily travelling to 500 times the speed of sound before he slipped through the Aegis shield, and the glow around his body instantly stopped. The Anti-Magical properties of the field took affect, and everything magical about Irral stopped, including his transformation into a human form.

With a brilliant Flash of Light, Irral's One Hundred-Forty meter tall Birth Form stretched itself out in the Vacuum of Space. It was as gloriously beautiful as it was terrifying, for junior crewman of the nearest Aegis Cruiser as Irral's Draconian body continued to lumber towards them at the same speed he had when entering the field. Broad, nigh-impenetrable outcroppings of scales covered Irral's most vital areas - his chest, head, and throat as well as additional spiked scale formations on his forward and rear legs. His tail seemed to be a massive broad-sword at the end, with a pointed end made to stab and tear apart. This Dragon was built in his entirety for combat, even his nose sported an additional horn that he could use to ram and stab with. Perhaps the only obvious weakness he had was the malleable flesh of his wings, and the softer areas within the most inner parts of his legs, and his belly. Even then, however, they were protected with tough scales.

Folding his Wings back, Irral managed to pick up more speed, and outstretched his forward claws, aiming to grab hold of the Aegis Cruiser he was currently soaring towards. His tail likewise made minute adjustments to keep him on course, and his Golden Eyes closed briefly as they adjusted to the Vacuum of space before opening again, glowing dimly as brilliant flushes of Red and Purple ran through his scales and spines, normally White or Gold. Whether the flushes of color were blood or inherent Corruption from his torment at the hands of the Shadow Dragon back on Terra only Irral and a select few close compatriots knew.

If contact was made Irral's claws on both sets of clawed feet would likely immediately sink into the hull, giving him a perfect grip to begin his physical assault. Granted, the weight of a Kaiju-Sized Dragon would make the entire ship rumble if not make a sizable chunk of the hull crack with his impact, having used his body as a kinetic attack to begin with. Once Irral secured himself to the hull, his massive wings would flare out for balance as he growled, the rumbling bass likely rattling the bones of one unprepared.

At velocities approaching relativistic speeds, at which Irral was approaching at .05 the speed of light, the Aegis cruiser would stand little chance, with his full dragon form in force.

It would take a paltry second to cross the vast distances between the edge of the aegis field, and the Aegis cruiser closest to his position, and upon impact, Irral would first strike against a shimmering curtain of light, the Aegis cruiser's shields flared brilliantly, but was ultimately incapable of repelling kinetic energies of that magnitude.

If the impact at near relativistic velocities didn't liquefy the insides of the dragon, he would after a split second find himself still sailing through space, with the Aegis cruiser broken in two, and drifting apart.

Flames, gases, and electrical arcs, along with hundreds of bodies danced through the blackness of space. But he would still be within the influence of an albeit slightly weaker anti-magic field, which meant he was likely unable to orient himself until he passed through, and outside the aegis field.

---

Aboard the Command Carrier, Montrose grit her teeth, as EVE informed her of the loss of an aegis cruiser.

"We cannot afford to lose any additional cruisers, if we do, the creature will regain it's magical capabilities and be able to attack us. His current velocity also makes any firing solutions ineffective. It's anticipated he will attempt to disable all of our aegis cruisers."

She keyed the fleet interface once more, ordering the robotics cruisers to begin launching drones, and they began to comply.

The two Hesperides class drone carriers began to release their compliment of Furie class drones, each Furie drone was spherical in appearance, wielding four MEC-A6 30mm KEWs, which fired a High-Explosive Armor Piercing round with a carbide penetrator.

Hundreds turned to thousands, thousands turned to tens of thousands, like bees spewing fourth from an angry hive, Irral would find himself contending with nearly two hundred thousand Furie drones that began to quickly close in.

"Initiate diversionary tactics, keep him from attacking the Aegis cruisers." EVE Recommended.

"Launch all fighters!" Montrose called out.

Two of the Hastati class cruisers followed suit, coming about, their shields flashed angrily as they moved into attack position. They too began to open fire, discharging brilliant green streams of turbodisruptor energy towards the dragon.

Each turbodisruptor bolt contained millions of degrees worth of thermal heat, enough to liquefy metal, and penetrate most ship hulls with ease, it was the standard mainline weapons platform of Aschen capital ship warfare.

Roughly 150,000km away from the Aschen formation, additional surges of energy came fourth, and another dozen ships jumped in.

A single Reverence II, the Perdition's Flame, escorted by a trio of powerful Iconoclast class battleships, a duo of Punisher class battleships, four Hastati class cruisers, and two Hera class fleet tenders.

The Fleet Tender began to make course towards the broken Aegis cruiser, where it would attempt combat rescue operations, and salvage.

The Reverence II slowly began to come about, bearing all one thousand five hundred starboard turbodisruptor batteries against Irral.

"Concentrate your fire on that creature!" Admiral Whitcomb bellowed aboard the CIC of the Perdition.

"Launch fighters!" She called out.

The Reverence II began to launch it's contingent of Raptor Talon, and Apollo fighters, by the dozens they streamed out of launch tubes located within the ventral sections of the ship, hundreds of glimmers of light, as squadrons of fighters began to deploy.

Aboard the Pride of Langara, EVE Chimed in.

"Additional fleet elements on station, Identified as Task Force Beta... Task force Constellation will arrive in two millicentons!"