The Disruption (IC)

Ravage frowned, looking at the little device under the magnifying glass, "I'm not an expert, but I would say that device would be used to alter various nerve signals in the brain by interfering with small pulses of its own. Nerve cells naturally communicate via electrical impulses, and if the device in a non-lethal setting can give off pulses to alter brain activity, a good inventor would have no problem making it capable of using a lethal amount of voltage. That would be my own guess." She gave a huff of air through her four nostrils, "At any rate, I have a feeling in my gut that something very bad is about to occur. Call it an officer's instinct, but something about this whole thing seems very wrong." She said.

Up in space above Vathoris, Aarin rubbed his eyes. It had been a whole day that he had been up here, and neither he, nor any other ship had picked up anything.

Then something beeped on the console.

Aarin sat up. "What is that?"

The helmsman checked, and look of confusion appeared on his face. "Sir, there seems to be a great deal of disturbance in space in sector 0.03!"

Aarin examined the readings. "These look like wormholes forming," he muttered, "yet there seems to be hundreds of them."

Without warning, the sector of space just mentioned began to twist and convulse violently. Out of the disturbance emerged the fleet of the UFIAI. Not far away, there was a disturbance of another sort. One-by-one at first, and then by the hundred, the Despotic vessels that had approached unseen dropped cloak. Several bombards launched a score of missiles down at the planet below.

Aarin grabbed the comm link. "Red alert! Red alert! We are under attack! I repeat, we are under attack!" I need every last ship available up here!"
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Jiiran gazed at Vathoris. It had been more than twenty years since he had been there. Now he had returned - to destroy it all. He opened a comm link.

"UFIAI, I am now sending the troop ships down. The landing site will be at these coordinates. Your soldiers may make rendezvous with my troops there."

Jiiran sat back and waited.
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The words were barely out of Ravage's beak when suddenly a loud boom sounded out, shaking the building.

"What's going on?" yelled Mott. "Is somebody dynamiting?"

"Red alert!" came Aarin's voice through Vey's com link. "Vey, a large fleet has appeared and is attacking!"

"Who, and how many?" demanded Vey.

"I don't know exactly," replied Aarin. "They number within two score thousands, at least. One fleet seems to be a mix of different vessels, while the other is definitely more uniform."

"Alright," said Vey. "I'll make sure everything we've got comes up, and I'll radio the other nations as well." He turned to the others.

"Get everyone out of here. We've got to get an evacuation under way immedi. . ."

Suddenly another missile struck, much closer this time. The ground rocked. Power lines and outages blew. Several chunks of masonry were knocked from the wall and ceiling. One of these struck Tirri, killing her instantly.

Ravage looked over at the pile of rubble where Tirri had been crushed. "Tirri!" She cried, horrified, but aware she couldn't do anything now. Nobody could survive weight like that falling on them and live unless they were naturally adapted to do so. Sudden anger quickly replaced her shock and anguish, her face hardening, and her clear eyelids closing completely. Once again, her eyes were that horrifying, milky look that seemed in many ways to be a kind of visor. This Jiiran, whoever he had once been, surely was beyond saving. His actions would kill countless innocents, and Tirri's loss was one of many more, if his conquest could not be stopped. Ravage shook her head, and turned to Vey and Mott. "Forget the evacuation for the moment!" She yelled over the sounds of bombardments. Her voice was extremely harsh, but her military experience truly shined through, this time. Her voice was loud, powerful, and in some way demanding immediate obedience, the way a commander sounded to his soldiers, and the way Ravage needed to sound now if she wanted to prevent further loss of life.

"It's too dangerous to be here! I'm taking over until we get somewhere safe! Prince Vey, your safety is my highest priority, and Vathoris cannot afford to lose its leader! Now move, I'm getting you out of here, whether you like it or not!" This was the first time she had shown any flare in temper, and it truly was menacing, in various ways. Her feathers ruffled, making her look twice her size, and her pupils behind their milky lens had contracted to thin slits. Her beak opened, the nostrils flaring, becoming a snarl. She turned to her Spiromander, who batted aside a small piece of falling debris with a great paw, "Xenos!" She said, her voice stern. The beast looked up, already knowing his name, and ran over. Ravage then got on the other side of Mott and Vey, so that they were protected between the two of them. "We have to get out of this building!" She said, and with this, they started to move towards the exit of the building, Ravage using her tail and wings to discourage dropping behind.

Vey's face was strained, his breathing harsh, his fists and teeth clenched; he seemed to be struggling with an enraged outburst of his own. Another message came through his comm.

"They're sending down troop ships! It looks like they're headed right for you! We'll try to hold them back and prevent them from landing."

"Acknowledged," said Vey hoarsely. He turned to Mott. "Help get everyone here to safety." He turned to Ravage. "You and I must locate the Grand Admiral. If any of those troop ships get through, we'll need a defense force together." He quickly sent a message to the Admiral, ordering all troops and militia to ssemble, ready for battle.

Ravage gave a single nod, "Let's go, then. Xenos and I have you covered. He should be somewhere not too far from here, but if we can't get a location, I'll track him by scent. If those ships land, and the troops come, any enemy that gets too close is dead." All of this was too familiar for her not to be extremely fierce and harsh, even towards her friends and companions. Her wording was more polite, this time, but her voice had a sharp edge to it. This was just like the infection pods landing on Krylon, the Karthla coming and spilling out, shooting her people with infection ammo. She saw them turn, she saw them become mindless beasts, and the sky was filled with thousands of the Dominion ships. She had escaped the planet before it was destroyed, somehow, despite her injuries. Now, however, was a different story. Ravage was in a position to fight, and pose a threat. Some soldiers were scared to take a life, because of what it was. Ravage was not. She was numb to it, and after having already suffered one grievous loss, she was not willing to let a loss of nerve beat her. She would kill them without a moments hesitation.

Warmind organized the fleet to gigantic claw-formation and began to approach the planet. It received Jiirian’s message and precise coordinates for the landing-zone, and replied briefly: “Roger that”. Warmind viewed the planet, drop-zone and especially the planet’s defense-forces. While Warmind noticed that the forces were not puny or apparently outdated, one could have doubled or tripled their power and still they would have been outnumbered by the Jiirian’s forces alone.

Warmind divided its fleet to five segments, to four “claws” and one “palm”. The flagship Limos was leading the largest palm segment in a straight line towards the planet while the four claws headed towards pockets of defenders to engage them and open way for the Limos. Limos and its retinue of capital- and smaller ships pushed their way through the layer of disoriented defenders quite effortlessly. Warmind focused on using disabling weaponry, like precision lasers and EMP’s in conjunction with boarding troops. As a younger and smaller AI every captured ship mattered.

Limos disabled the last of the defenders standing on its way with a volley of EMP bombs from its main turrets, and sent dozens of mechanic drones and boarding drills to capture their systems and to eliminate their often troublesome inhabitants. Limos glided past the crippled ships, followed by its retinue, towards the planet. The Jiirian’s ships had already reached its orbit and small flashes at the surface revealed that the bombardment was already on its way.

Warmind positioned the Limos with its retinue to a high orbit, leaving the ships without proper hangars to guard the ships launching the planet fall. A mix of different sizes of dropships and guided bombs started to pour from the ships capital ships’ hangars. The guided bombs were there to force the AA to choose between immediate destruction and risk of occupation. The bombs aimed at large civilian targets, like hab blocks and hospitals and bunkers. The swarm of ships immediately took a direction at the planet, descending towards the atmosphere in same kind of chaotic order that can be seen in flocks of birds.

"How many ships have come so far?" asked Aarin.

"Five thousand," replied the helmsman. "Another ten thousand on the way."

Aarin's face was grim for moment. That wasn't nearly enough. All of Vathoris' forces probably wouldn't be enough. He sat up. "Let's go then."

The Vathorin ships advanced, and powered up their weapons. A salvo of torpedoes were launched. As they approached their targets, the cones on their tips spun rapidly, ready to drill into the hulls of enemy ships. As this happened, scanners within the torpedoes scanned the enemy shields, determining their frequencies. The torpedoes promptly formed their own miniature force fields with the same frequency, so as to help them pass through the enemy shields more easily.
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The Mondarian fleet fired at the torpedoes and destroyed several of them. The ones that got through successfully destroyed several Despotic vessels. The Mondarians returned fire with photon torpedoes and mega-lasers.

Jiiran sat silently through this, only speaking to dispense an order or two. He sat quietly and waited.
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Three dropships made it through, landing just a mile outside the city. General Bossle examined the the complement: about seven hundred troopers, along with an equal number of rapid-fire droid, plasma thrower droids, turret droids, and missile droids, along with two mega-mech droids. "Now all we have to do is wait for our robotic friends to show up, and we'll be set," he said.
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"Three drop-ships got through, Sir," reported the Grand Admiral." We count about fourteen hundred troops and droids came out, and are assembling outside the city."

"What are our forces on hand?" asked Vey.

"We have one thousand troops and militia," replied the Admiral. "We've also called for assistance from outside the city as well. They should be arriving within three hours."

Vey frowned. "Too long," he sighed. "Let's fortify the perimeter for the moment. I want stealth-craft to keep tallies on them, and have the turrets ready. Recall all aircraft we have to come and attack them before they arrive."

He frowned again. "I have a feeling they are after something rather specific." He glanced at all present. "I don't think I need mention what it is."
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The agent of Jiiran watched from a window. "My my, quite a spectacle isn't it?" he observed casually.

"Is it safe for us to be here, Sir?" asked his associate nervously.

"Most likely not, I should think," replied the first. "Let's go join the evacuation, shall we?"

Ravage viciously hissed at the news, "We're outnumbered, if the planet's under siege like this, we're not escaping that easy." She looked at Vey, "Vey, there's only a few good options left open to us. We need to secure the Dark Matter Convertor, but to do that, we might have to fight our way through enemy lines. If we use my Stealth Strider, we can escape Vathoris without being detected, so long as we don't crash into another ship. Its got enough shielding in it where it might conceal the convertor, but even so, that would mean leaving Vathoris to the enemy. I can use it to send some troops into the enemy, though, if you need me to. I can maybe single out a lead ship, see if I can find anything out. What I do next, though, depends entirely on you." She then flicked her tail with frustration, muttering under her breath. "Just like Krylon...I could've just rejected the Confederacy's offer, but no, I had to break the isolation policy..." Only someone who had studied Krylon's history would know what she was talking about, and the truths that such confessions carried.

At first Warmind applied the standard PD-lasers to fend of the torpedoes launched by the defenders, but the shields made them ineffective, and after the first torpedo hit one of the capital ships and its whole front section open, Warmind decided to change tactic. After a quick scan it noticed the torpedoes technical nature, and decided to use the same EMP-based weaponry it was using against the ships.

Same time at the orbit the first wave of dropships reached the atmosphere. They light up as their drop-fields started to negate the enormous heat caused by the friction. Each ship also pulled multicoloured tail as their fields influenced with the atmospheres gasses. One by one these multicoloured meteors light up until they numbered several thousands. About two thirds of them were guided bombs, and most of the dropships were small, capable to carry only about two tanks or a squad of infantry units.

About five minutes after the first ships entered the atmosphere the horrible howling caused by the dropships and their powerfields reached the surface. Several minutes later first dropships reached the designated dropzone. They stretched their four thruster legs to cut the fall and finally settled down hovering few foots above the ground. They quickly detached their cargo and then ascended again to fetch more troops.

Troops organized themselves, tanks tanks and walkers grouping up squadrons and infantry assembling to squads. A medium-sized walker, significantly more humanoid one, paced from the midst of the troops towards the Jiirian’s troops. It was rather similar to the King Baphometh, as it was an upgraded and modified version. Main differences were that this one had an extensive thruster array resembling a pair of wings mounted on its back, and multiple smaller ones located all over its body, including its limbs. Its armament was also different, with both hands geared with shield generators and equipped with three fingers and a thumb. It had two missile pods on its shoulders, and six rapid lasers mounted on its cheastplate. It walked slowly towards the Mondarians, its seemingly rigid body moving with almost animal-like grace, much like some large predator. It stopped dozen feet away, gazing the Mondarians with its one bright blue eye.

Strangely, Vey seemed not to notice what she muttered under her breath. He frowned considering what Ravage said. "No," he said at last, "I don't think that is a good idea. You see Ravage, although it is a stable and productive power source, if it's hit by something, it could potentially explode with enough force to wipe out the entire planet and everything around it." As he spoke, a howling noise filled the air. Looking up, the Vathorin forces beheld the UFIAI's invasion forces descending. "More company," he sighed. "I far it may be impossible to leave the planet undetected. There's simply too much going on."
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Aarin took note on the tactics used by the UFIAI against their own torpedoes. Lights flashed as the Mondarina fleet returned fire. Aarin noticed that the Mondarians had also launched fighters. He quickly dispensed orders.

As the Mondarian fighters approached, a squadron of torpedoes were fired at them. At first it seemed like they would shoot past the fighters, when they exploded right in the midst of them, causing chaos and destruction. Another round of torpedoes were launched at the UFIAI and Despotic forces, combined with strong laser beams.
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General Bossle stepped up to the walker that faced his troops, gazing at it with an air of detachment. In truth, he rather despised using robots in military situations, believing men to be better.

"I presume you are the commander," he said addressing the walker. "I am General Bossle. What exactly have you brought with you in the way of reinforcements?"
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As the ships of the Markovan fleet were escorted through space, Admiral Lirr sent out another transmission. "I hate to trouble the Confederacy further, but I believe we could use some assistance in the venture we are undertaking. Is it possible you could lend us some of your forces to aid us?"

Winged walker turned its eye towards the general. "You are mostly correct general. This unit acts as my command relay. What comes to other troops, about four thousand made it to the surface, half of them scattered around and at the city and rest assembling behind this unit." Last of the dropships had just unloaded its cargo and was joining the others going back to the orbit. "Half of my troops forces consists of heavy units like tanks and assault walkers. The other half is naturally infantry-class units" Warmind added. It cept a short pause, and then continued: "As my role here is to offer you support, I am awaiting for your instructions."

The transmission sent out by Lirr was intercepted by a nearby Krathunian shield world, on board which military officials debated what to do with the Markovan's question for several minutes. Finally, another transmission was sent out.

"This is the military command center of planet Ilunven of the Intragalactic Krathunian Covenant of Sethega. We would like to aid you, representatives of the Markovan Empire, as you are in good standing with the Jorro'kil and we believe that both of our races would benefit from military and political trust. This could help strengthen that. However, first, we need to know what enemy you face and the location of said battle. If you can provide this information, we will relay the message to Sethegan command."

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Barborin responded to Dravin's request, giving access to into the shield world, and several Run-Wreae ships floated ready to escort the Samian Prevalence's ship into the atmosphere of Muthara.

Ravage huffed again, "Then what should we do? I'm not supposed to be a tactician Vey, my directive is to receive orders and carry them out with precision. I can do many things, but this situation is a very bad one, and the only thing that I see that separates this from when my home planet got destroyed is that the enemy isn't Karthla coming in infection pods. I had to flee for my life in that situation, and no matter what I suggest, nothing is going to be easy, or without risk of conflict. I do not intend to be put in another hopeless situation again. I've seen one planet die, I do not need to see the same disaster befall another." Ravage looked up at the sky, her eyes squinting. "I ask you again, what do you want me to do?" She asked.

General Bozzle opened a holographic schematic of the battlefield. "What we do is assault the city, with the main strength (meaning us right here, you understand) going full on the wall. Once the wall is breached, we push them inwards to this point." He touched a point on the screen, the location of the power plant. "Once we have them there, we keep them pinned down, and make it look like we're trying to actually get to that point. However, this will only be a distraction. While we keep their attention on us, Lord Jiiran is going to be sneaking in and disabling the weapon and its power source. Just be careful where you shoot at that point," he added. "If some weapon hits that place, it could send the whole planet up in flames, and us with it."
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Admiral Lirr made a prompt reply to the Krathunians.

"We are heading for a world called Vathoris, at this location." He sent the coordinates. "The inhabitants of this world gave some of our people aid once, so we are honor-bound to assist them in their need. And we have good reason to believe that they are need of help right now. We picked up a large force of ships heading towards them. About half of the fleet was made up of these ships." He sent an image of a Mondarian vessel. "These are the ships of the Imperial Despot of Jiiran, enemies of my people. However, the other half seemed to consist of ships we do not recognize." He sent an image of one of the UFIAI's vessels.
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A cry from a frightened child came from down in the streets behind the wall. Vey glanced in that direction, then turned to Ravage.

"I want you to help get the civilians to safety. That would mean a great deal to me. There is a door on the south side of city that goes out into some forested hillsides where some bunkers are located, that will the safest place." He handed her a comm link. "You can report back to me when the civilians are safe." He looked Ravage in the eye. "Please do this for me," he said in an earnest voice. "Scree," he added in a far quieter tone that only Ravage could hear.

The message was promptly recieved, and after discovering what it contained, was relayed to Sethega and all Sentinels. Theranis, who is in charge of the Old World military defenses, recieved it when he was conversing with Wreae Unit 1 on Ieegar. Quickly he asked the Wreae to pause before looking at it.

"Vrakk aal, it's the UFIAI," he muttered. "I want offensive fleets sent to this location," Theranis stated, relaying a message back to Sethega, also sending the location of the Markovan fleet. "The situation seems to be dire, we will need a strong force capable of doing severe damage to UFIAI ships. I also need planetary surface troops and vehicles sent to the location."

Within a couple minutes, the Krathunian forces arrived at the Markovan's location, around the size of the fleet that defended Muthara. There were several destroyers, along with many ships of lower class. At the center of the fleet, along with defense cruisers, sat a large flagship, a Dreadnought, the offensive equivalent of a Fortress Ship. This one was called the Dralvik, named after the Krathunian deity of water.

"This is the 4th Sethegan Offensive Fleet, ready to aid you, Admiral." The head officer onboard the Dralvik stated, an Admiral by the name of Rakluth Bretuin. "We are also equipped with a potent ground force. We are standing by for your lead."

Warmind merged the given data with the orbital survey, and gave look at the mysterious building that was their target. Not match could seen from the orbit. Warmind turned its attention back to the general and said: "I am ready to start the assault. Also, what comes to the wall, I have three siege walkers that should sped up that process" Upon mention, three super-heavy walkers stepped up from the formation. They had four sturdy legs, supporting a body that looked like a sharp pyramid lying on its side and split to four. From between those halfs stiked out the long, thick barrel of the powerful particle drill. Winged walker stood still, staring at the general, waiting.

Ravage's eyes widened with shock, Vey had given her a mission, but it wasn't the weight of rescuing civilians that stunned her. He had used her name, not her alias, but her real name, the one she was known by before the destruction of Krylon. She had known eventually that people on Vathoris would begin to figure out who she was, but it never accepted it wholeheartedly, and it still left her surprised. In truth, perhaps it was obvious, overwhelmingly so. Even though her feathers were dark, and much of her appearance was changed by mutations, her current self and her past self from photos taken during envoy visits from alien races still bore striking resemblances. Although she had been for over a decade known as Ravage, her real name and title was Lieutenant Colonel Scree. Knowing this wasn't the time to say any more, she just closed her beak and nodded. Although Mott hadn't heard what the prince had said, he would have known it was something very important, considering the surprise on her face.

"Very well, sir." Ravage said, clipping the Com. link to the collar of her armor, so that she could call at the press of a button. She then turned and darted away, moving with a blazing speed she had never before displayed. Chimerosu, by comparison to most other races, had superior physical ability, which was why their weaponry was sometimes regarded as low-tech by others. When your physical strengths were good, you didn't often think you needed fancy weapons to make up for them. Ravage's mutations, though, strengthened this statement. She was in many ways a living weapon, one created by the evolution of her kind boosted by a substance of likely Karthla origin. She was made for these situations. She mysteriously vanished into thin air, utilizing her natural camouflage to conceal her procession towards where the civilian populations were being threatened. Stealth would prevent enemies from stopping her before she could carry out her mission.

Not much long after, she materialized before the young child who had screamed earlier, among others in a similar situation. Of course, her odd appearance, different from the typical soldiers of Vathoris, would prompt some confusion, but she wasn't giving much of an option. Pandemonium was not needed now, when the city was being bombed. "Alright, people, listen up! The city is being evacuated! By the orders of Prince Vey himself, my job is to take you all someplace safe. So all of you grab a partner, and stick close to me, I'll keep you safe. Whatever you do, don't let go of your partner, and don't lose sight of me!" She spoke loudly, so her voice projected over the screams. Although initially strange, however, Ravage wore official-albeit-dented-looking armor, with a Lieutenant Colonel badge on each shoulder plate. She looked official enough to be believed.

"Excellent," replied Admiral Lirr. "We are honored to have you fighting next to us."

Soon the combined fleets sipped off into slip-space, heading full speed to Vathoris.
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General Bozzle viewed the mechs and nodded. "We had in fact brought some preparations of our own, but these will certainly be helpful. Let us divide forces. I shall attack from this side of the city with half of our forces, while you take half of your forces and mine, and come from the other side." He indicated one of the goliath mech-like droids. "Take one of those with you."

These droids were heavily armored and fully twenty-five feet in height, equipped with missle launchers at various locations, and large blades and blasters on each of its two arms. In the center of the body of each was a massive plasma cannon.
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The civilians quickly followed instructions, a few militia and volunteers helping Ravage to keep things smooth. Two Vatarri, rather heavily cloaked happened to pass Ravage, the second of which accidentally bumped her. She caught a brief glance at his face, red with a yellow stripe going through each eye. He mumbled and apology and quickly hurried after the other. Not exactly something one would give much thought to.
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"How are the reinforcements coming?" asked Vey.

The Admiral sighed. "I don't think they'll be here fore an hour at least. However, we have some aircraft ready." He peered out into the surrounding landscape. "Good thing too. Here they come!"

"Send the aircraft ou," commanded Vey, as he donned armor and took up a rifle and electro-sword.

A small squadron of fighters flew out to meet the approaching forces.

Ravage had been at first prepared to ignore the Vatarri who had bumped into her, along with his companion, but something caught her attention. It wasn't so much their appearance, but their behavior, that vexed her. Why were they so hurriedly rushing past? She was more and more often getting these suspicious vibes, even from people that were innocent. She didn't quite know if strangers could be trusted, not that it was without good reason. She had dealt with enough troubles to be considered just in her opinion of people she did not know. Shaking off her worries, she proceeded to keep leading the civilians to the bunkers, aided by the soldiers. Xenos, until this point, had been assisting her as well, using his long tail and neck, as well as his blazing speed, to herd people into the group, and rescue them from falling rubble, if they were caught underneath a structurally unstable building.

Now, however, Xenos swung his great head in the direction of the two Vatarri, tilting his head slightly, and a very faint, barely audible rumbling beginning in his throat. Like Ravage, he, too, was extremely suspicious, and perhaps had more reason to be that way. His eye-slits and sense of smell rendered things impossible to hide. If these men hid something under their cloaks, he saw it, and if there was something unnerving about their scent, he knew what it was. Perhaps he was just instinctively reacting, acting on the suspicion of his master, but more often than not, Ravage's suspicion and the Spiromander's instincts were seldom wrong, or far from their mark. Though both kept working, Xenos frequently looked in the direction the men had vanished to. Something about them made the beast's skin crawl, and something felt distinctly wrong.

Soon, the fleets of both the Markovans and Krathunians exited space near the planet of Vathoris, behind the attacking ships of the Despot and UFIAI. The Krathunian ships all deployed tactical cloaking to ensure none of the enemies could detect them. Admiral Rakluth, standing on the bridge of the Dralvik Dreadnought, activated the communications systems.

"Any ideas on how to approach this, Admiral? My thoughts were that we could send a decoy to grab their attention and flank them from the sides, but this is your fight."

The turrets of the Vathoris fired at the approaching forces. Missiles from the aircraft detonated amongst the soldiers of both UFIA and Mondar. Vey noted the approach of several large mechs that seemed to be carrying drills. He directed some turrets to fire on them.
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The group of refugees under Ravage and the militias guidance had reached a small gate. However, before they could get close, the gate and wall around it exploded, sending rubble flying. Standing near the hole was an immense mega-mech droid, its central plasma cannon having just fired. Mondarian soldiers poured, firing heavy assault rifles. Rapid-fire droids and plasma-throwers accompanied them, the former letting loose with machine gun-like laser ire, and the former bathing the area with streams of super-charged plasma.
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Admiral Lirr responded: "Sounds good to me, Admiral. I'd be happy to send a diversionary force. In the meantime, I'd suggest sending dropships down. Scanner are indicating fighting on the surface in the one city."

A group of Markovan vessels moved in, struck some of the enemy vessels, and rushed off before a response could be sent.

Jiiran leaned forward in irritation. "What is going on?"

"Markovan vessels, Sir," replied the helmsman. "They just struck us and have withdrawn a short ways."

Jiiran looked closely. Surely the Markovans wouldn't have engaged them with that small a force. He sent a message to all Despotic and UFIAI vessels to be on high alert for a potential ambush.

Ravage instantly went into an attack stance, her third eyelids closing like a visor, as she camouflaged herself, seemingly turning invisible to anyone watching. She unsheathed her claws, but nobody saw, except for Xenos, who couldn't be fooled by any form of camouflage with his incredible vision. He turned to her, and Ravage looked at him, "Xenos!" She began, before lapsing into Chimerosu tongue, which was practically impossible to replicate, now, since her kind had been wiped out. The command she gave, though, was obvious, regardless of the language. "Attack," She ordered, and was met with an immediate response to the command. The Spiromander snarled once, and then lunged forward, moving with blazing speed that would be practically impossible for any of the soldiers or droids to react to. Before they knew it, Xenos was already among them, viciously tearing apart the soldiers, along with the rapid-fire droids and plasma throwers. A Spiromander's strength and power was legendary, and even in modern times, with so many advanced weapons, it would terrify someone to battle one such as Xenos. Not only was he very strong and fast, but Xenos was smart, as well. If he suspected an attack, he would have the common sense to either move out of the way, or destroy the opponent before they could actually do anything.

Invisible, Ravage crept up on the mega-mech droid, before suddenly moving with lightning-quick speed of her own, launching herself into the air with her wings to get near the upper part of the mech, before punching as hard as she possibly could into where she thought the machine's sensors were. Refugees were already going to die in countless numbers, she and Xenos couldn't kill off all the enemies, but they could certainly put a dent in their forces, and take down the more dangerous machines. Her claws had never met any sort of material that resisted their sharpness, and just like anything else, the blades began to cut deep into the heavily armored droid. She slid her fists around, trying to make sure to take out the war-machine's sensory input devices, hopefully completely blinding it. She kicked out with her hind legs at the side of the main cannon, her pointed talons doing nothing more than leaving shallow scratches. To anyone watching, it looked as though the damage being done were just mysteriously appearing as though on its own accord.

Warmind noticed the new forces arriving, and soon received the warning from the Jiirian. Warmind ran an all-pervasive scan on the sensors data collected prior and during the arrival of the Mondarian ships. The scan revealed a trace of much more ships arriving than there were currently visible. Warmind transmitted this data back to the Jiirian and begun to pull the four “claws” back, closer to the Flagship.

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(particle drill is not an actual drill but an particle beamer with high penetrating power)

Warminds troops started the assault, armoured tanks and heavy walkers mowing at the front, infantry swarming behind them in their cover while the long-legged spider-tanks strode above both. A hail of lasers, rockets and other projectiles were pouring from the oncoming mass, hammering the defenders position. A squad of Vathoris aircraft zoomed over the horde, scattering missiles among them. Most of the missiles were deflected by energy shields of larger units, but a dozen infantry droids fell down, and four hellborn flamer-walkers burst into flames.

Warmind noticed that defenders’ fire soon started to concentrate on the siege-walkers. It quickly gathered the jump-units, like archangel medium-jumpers, to several groups, one of them centering around the commander-walker “Moloch”. Warmind pinpointed wherefrom the highest torrent of fire was coming from, and the launched the jump-units there. Moloch dashed off the ground, propelled by its large thruster array. A dozen of archangels followed right behind. Couple of them was shot down from the air, but the Moloch was protected by its double force-fields mounted on its hands. The archangels arrived at their jump’s high point, and started to ascend with their anti-graws while also firing with their medium pulse-lasers. The Moloch broke away from the formation, using its considerably more powerful thrusters to stay in the air.

After locating one of the turrets that was firing on the siege walkers Warmind flipped the Moloch to a high-speed dive. Warmind cut just before hitting the ground, the Moloch landing heavily right next to the turret. Before anyone had time to aim or even react the Moloch concentrated both of its shields to long wrist-blades, colourful and shimmering in and out of vision. Warmind made a lightning-fast, scissor-like cut with them, shredding the turret violently open. The blades were more like chainsaws than swords when It came to cutting, their interfering fields shredding and ripping everything they touched. Moloch continued to dash and slash across the defending forces, occasionally stopping to release a hail of laser fire from its carapace-mounted weaponry. The archangels were also rampaging behind the main defense, harassing them while the main force and the siege walkers among them were preparing to breach trough.

One of the siege walkers had just got into position, and launched its main weapon. It shot a bright, yellow beam that hit the wall. The beam drilled through the wall with little effort, causing a small part of it to collapse. The walker shot several times at the vicinity of the first shot, creating a sizable passage. After that it concentrated its fire against the fixed gun emplacements and bunkers across the defense line. The rest of the force picked up pace, storming towards the opening at the wall.

Rakluth noticed the Despot and UFIAI ships becoming more defensive as they became aware of a larger presence, and he transmitted another COMM to Lirr. "This is the best chance we will get, Admiral. Better to strike now than let them become more prepared."

The Krathunian ships uncloaked as they orchestrated a devastating opening strike against the two invading fleets. Long range magnetohydrodynamic cannons activated, firing red streams of molten metal across the darkness of space into the hulls of multiple enemy ships. In addition to these were the torpedoes, some specializing in destroying armor and others in energy shielding. These fired mostly from the smaller Covenant ships, slamming down upon the other ships. The larger Destroyers were instead equipped with particle guns that would constantly fire at an enemy until a hull breach or their shields went down. When this happened, the magnetohydrodynamic cannons would rip through the ship. A couple of the ships, most notable the Dreadnought, also had weaponized Genesis Devices. Only one of these, on a Destroyer at the center of the fleet, was activated, drawing in energy from UFIAI ships and then slingshotting it back. This was to feint a weaker fleet than the one from Muthara.

While this happened, dropships sped towards the surface of Vathoris. Rather than use space to ground transport pods, as Krathunians troops usually do, the dropships all headed to the surface, unloading the soldiers. While not in the numbers of the UFIAI or Mondarians, each soldier was highly specialized to a specific task, with customized and powerful weaponry as well as armor. The group was located relatively close to the current battle, and at the command of an officer, would rush in to aid the soldiers of Vathoris and the Markovans. For now, they prepared and waited for the arrival of Markovan ground support and command.

Vey looked with dismay for a moment as the Moloch did its work. But then he shed his sword and gun and turned to the machine.

As most people on Vathoris knew, a Dark Energy Convertor was linked to a device on the back of his cranium, providing power to support the device that took over some brain functions he had lost in a near-fatal injury he had once received. However, the device had had side affects. The normal brain cannot produce waves strong enough to influence matter, unless mutated somehow. But Vey's brain was now linked to an almost unlimited source of power, granting powerful telekinetic abilities. Although most people on Vathoris knew this, visitors typically never saw this, since we was sparing with his use of these abilities.

Now he faced the Moloch and raised a hand, pulling it back as if getting ready to throw. The light on the Dark Energy Convertor began to glow more brightly, indicating that a greater amount of power was being used. The air around his hand seemed to shimmer, bending and waving with greater and greater intensity until, with a flinging motion, he shot what was essentially a highly concentrated shockwave, straight at the Moloch.

Some soldiers rushed to stymy the flow of enemy soldiers heading for the wall, when an immense explosion shook the wall. Another even bigger hole gaped in the wall. The single mega-mech droid present had fired its plasma cannon. The UFIAI infantry was joined by Despotic forces as they charged the wall. Turret droids shot down several of the Vathorin aircraft. Causing the others to wheel back. They quickly rushed back and concentrated some of their fire at the forces streaming towards the two holes in the wall.

Vey opened his Comm link. "Ravage. Report!"
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General Bozzle quickly gave the order for all units to concentrate fire on the Spiromander wreaking havoc amongst is forces; he was careful to make sure he himself was out of its reach.

Meanwhile, the mega-mech was detectign the damage it was receiving, yet could not locate an assailant. Still, it reasoned that whatever was attacking it must also be touching it. "Alert!" said the programming within its robotic brain. "Unknown assailant. Sensory array is being threatened. Electrify outer surfaces."

A strong electric pulse ran through the outer shell of the droid. If any part of Ravage other than her claws were touching the droid, she would most likely get a severe shock.

Meanwhile the soldiers and militia were doing the best they could to get people away while Ravage and Xenos bought them time, calling desperately for assistance as they did so.
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The Markovan fleet attacked the forces of the Despot and UFIAI. The Markovan ships of medium size were far smaller than any of the other ships present, but in terms of speed and maneuverability, they were second to none. Attacking in forces of ten, they would swoop down on individual ships, slicing their hulls with cutting beams from their front towards the backs. Meanwhile, the heavier ships, sent a rain of torpedoes at the Mondarians and UFIAI.

The Mondarians fired back at both the Krathunians and the Markovans with ion and shock torpedoes, as well as plasma beams and hyper-turrets. They had a hard time hitting most of the Markovan vessels, which agilely dodged attacks launched at them.
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Aarin looked in delighted astonishment at the unexpected aid. He opened a comm link. "Whoever this is, I must say we are delighted to see you."
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Jiiran looked at the progress of the battle without comment. He made a quick status check on the activity going on below, and then waved his hand. Two Mondarian, wearing black cloaks, stepped forward. These, like the one Mondarian who had attempted to hold up the Jorro'kil at Muthara, were members of the Cult of Jiiran. Some time ago on Mondar, there had been many dark cults devoted to witchcraft and the worship of darkness and evil. The rise of Therivism had largely eliminated these cults. But a few had survived in secret. At the coming and conquest of Jiiran, one had risen from the shadows and pledged themselves to him, seeing him as a Messianic figure. They were his chief spies and assassins.

Jiiran beckoned them over. "It is time," he said quietly. The three of them then left and headed to the beaming room.
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The Krathunian groundforce didn't have long to wait. Several dropships landed nearby, and the Krathunians soon were joined by a thousand Markovan troops, most armed with the standard plasma rifle and sword, others with super plasma guns, and a few with missile launchers. With them came a small force of light tanks. At the head of this force was none other than Admiral Lirr himself. He had his two swords with him, and a small handgun at his side. That was all he needed.

Striding to the Krathunian commander, he saluted. "Lovely day for a battle, eh?" He drew his swords and presented them hilt-first to the Krathunian who towered over him. "Here's my blades and here's my heart," he said in the time honored Markovan piece-gesture.