The War of Survival: FT RP

"ENOUGH!" Riorn yelled, reaching out and lifting both men in the arena higher than the projectile aimed for them and slamming them down.

"This fight is over!" Riorn yelled, his voice echoing around arena.

"Riorn?" Hunter said incredulously as he opened his eyes and picked himself up out of the dirt, looking at the massive, white wolf-coated man standing above the arena.

"Who are you?! How dare you interfere!" Balthazar yelled at the intruder, the shaman still trying to understand the ball of pure elements Balthazar just threw at Hunter.

"I am Riorn Snowclaw! Chieftain of the Northern Tribes of the Roxan Peoples! Who are you?" Riorn continued bellowing, standing almost double the height of everyone in the room.

"I am Balthazar Bloodtalon, Bringer of Ashes, King of Feliona and Lord of the Lionids! You just interupted a duel of honor! Why should I not kill you?" Balthazar growled to Riorn as he stood at the bottom of the stands.

Riorn growled and tossed his halberd into the dirt blade first in to the arena and jumped over the railing, "Because I don't care for titles. I was not informed an honorable duel among your people involved two combatants and 1, 2, ...10 onlookers with odd powers. I interrupted because this is not a duel to the death, obvious by the healers, and you both are trying to kill the other. If your people are going to heal, at least make sure they can!" Riorn said as he picked hunter up by the back of his neck and stood him on his feet.

"Hunter! Hunter are you alright?" Riorn asked, leaning over and looking at Hunters eyes to see if he was responding.

Hunter smiled and laughed a little and nodded, "Yeah I'm great! How the hell did you find me?" Hunter asked as he reached around and embraced Riorn.

"You have the commander that send a message to the Citadel to thank for that," Riorn said, then he turned to Balthazar.

"Bloodtalon! I, Riorn Snowclaw ask for a meeting. Not of blades but of minds! Do you accept?" Riorn asked disregarding Hunter now that he knows his friend and brother is okay.

"

"Are you satisfied now? You came close to ruining relations with my people, in your lust of 'Curiosity'. We have a saying in my country, it is that curiosity killed the cat," Hunter said.

Balthazar turned his head to the side, "Are you mocking me?"

"No, I'll just say a promise. Next time you challenge me on a field of battle such as what we have just experienced, I don't care if you have an army at your back, I'll kill you," Hunter said, with narrow eyes.

"I wasn't trying to make you angry or kill you," Balthazar said.

"By my gods, I lost that duel. That could affect me entering the halls of Valhalla. I told you time and again, for the past few days, that I didn't want to duel you. I offered to talk to your people for you, yet you didn't relent. I'm getting off this ship," Hunter said, then rose out of his seat and went to the door.

"Hunter stop," Riorn said deeply, and Hunter stopped and turned to glare at him.

"Do as you wish, but your gods don't frown upon a duel of strength," Balthazar said.

"You know NOTHING of my gods! A duel of strength is a duel to the death. A duel of Honor is a duel to the death," Hunter growled.

"Gods don't demand death. No god is that cruel," Balthazar said with a slight smile.

Hunter brought his hand to the side, getting ready to eject his sword, when Riorn stopped him. "Hunter, stop. No blades brother," Riorn said in Dotarian.

"Riorn, how would you feel if I insulted your people, your home, your gods. What would you want to do?" Hunter asked in the same tongue.

"I wanted to kill you, but I shrugged it off, as you should," Riorn trying to use the Dotarian Language to calm Hunter.

Hunter ejected his sword and pointed it at Riorn, Then shouted in thick Dotarian, "You see, you are JUST like the other races! You... Of all people... Understand our ways. Last time, I didn't understand. You do now, yet you still are against me, as always. Fuck. You," Hunter said, then stormed out.

"He can be like this, but his temper comes and goes. You get used to it," Riorn said.

"What did he say to you?" Balthazar asked.

"He thinks that because I know his ways, I should take his side. He told me to go fuck myself," Riorn said, chuckling.

"How do we know he won't retaliate further?"

Riorn sighed, "As much as I'd hate to admit it, Hunter's anger is both his weakness and his ally. If he was angry with us, or hated us, we'd be in a different situation. He'll be fine."

"Let things work it's path. In the meanwhile, do you have a place to stay for us?"

"Sure, we have supplies on Roxas, but the Dotarians are more fit to resupply you, yet you just pissed of the most important one," Riorn chuckled.

"Anything of help is something," Balthazar said.

Riorn nodded, "Good, I'll make the necessary preparations. I still have to ride home with Hunter though, and even though he'll be fine, I'm still going to hear it from him and he may never help you again. The Dotarians are good people, and they have given more than they have taken. From what I have gathered from him, he has given to you and in return you have destroyed his honor. Make amends with him, or he will think twice about spilling his people's blood for you. Just an advisement."

"We'll think of something. It is a tricky situation when someone believes heavily on dying," Balthazar said.

Riorn chuckled, "You, me, and all of the other races see it. It's what makes them outsiders, because they don't care about this life, they only care about the next. There is always war to a Dotarian, as they have experienced it since their birth from Humans. they were enslaved, all of them, that is why they're so strong. They've been made into what they are because of what they've been through, and he led that Uprising when he was 50, and now he is in his 1600's. Change comes at their pace, you force it upon them they're more stubborn than a Rox. You may change them, but let them accept it, don't force it."

Balthazar nodded in agreement.

A Dotarian soldier walked in, "Chief Riorn, Hunter asks for your presence on the ship, and he also bid me to tell King Balthazar that he will be taking you to Requiem, to help you with refitting and resupply, and to show you the Dotarian ways."

Riorn got up from his seat, "Well, time to head back."

Balthazar chuckled, "Dotarian ways huh? Must be fun..."

"Blood and sex, it's what they live on," Riorn said, laughing as he walked back.


Requiem

The planet was blue with rich, fresh water, with ports and military ships orbiting the planet like clockwork. Ships came to the ports and offloaded cargo, which was transported to the surface of the planet. Radio chatter blared the speakers of the communications systems of the Dotarian ships. Balthazar stood behind Hunter with Riorn and watched Hunter look at his planet.

"Home... It's been so long since I've been here that... It's changed," Hunter said.

"You've been gone a while, Hunter," Riorn said. "Longer than 20 years friend."

"I know..."

"It's a beautiful planet, reminds me of Feliona," Balthazar said.

Hunter cooled of a little since they were by the Ring, though he still had an attitude, "You took my Honor, want my planet too? I'll gladly give it to ya..."

"Don't be a smart ass, I'm commenting on it's beauty," Balthazar said, sighing.

"We'll, we're going to the Citadel. Try not to challenge any more people, they won't be as understanding and I'd hate to have you get Dotarian blood on your hands, especially with warships patrolling throughout the system and gravity wells disrupting any FTL travel," Hunter said, glaring at Balthazar.

Balthazar rolled his eyes, "You have nothing to worry about."

"Good, because we're going right now," Hunter said, then led them to the docking bay of the ship to hop a Pelican.

They found themselves in the Citadel 5 minutes later, walking to the Parliament chambers. They walked in and saw Bors and Rayne arguing with a Dotarian, who was arguing about the Titan's Throne.  //From now on, everyone speaks Dotarian.//

"Hunter Mathias is dead! As per the rules of Honor and Law, The throne and your cunt are mine!" the Dotarian said.

"Think twice before talking about my wife like that," Hunter said, low.

Everyone turned to the Ryse. "Milord?" Bors asked.

"Aye."

"Hunter!" Rayne said, running to him, then getting caught by the Dotarian who was disputing the throne.

"You're mine," he said, then turned to Hunter, "You're not the Ryse anymore, I have the Honor."

Hunter nodded, "That was my throne, my wife, and my home you took. That is grounds for Dispute by Combat."

The Dotarian was confident. "Where, then?"

"Krifiik Por," Hunter said, "Fighter's Island."

They then went to the island, he brought Balthazar, Bors, Riorn, and Rayne. Rayne and hunter didn't touch at all, as no affection between a husband and wife was to be shown around outsiders. Plus, Rayne knew that the Confederacy hung in the balance in this challenge. The Pelican was quiet for the 5 minutes it took to get to the island. Once there, the area was already set up for the fight.

"I am Ghiska Harros, Ryse of Dotaria and Drog of Requiem."

"I am Hunter I Mathias, Ryse of Dotaria and Drog of Requiem."

They stripped of their armor and clothes, leaving nothing but bare skin as their armor. They then picked up their swords, and advanced toward each other. When they clashed, the ring echoed across the island. A duel of death ensued, with limbs being cut off here and there and were regrown with the help of their telekinetics. Blood sprayed everywhere, until Hunter was stabbed in the pectoral muscle with Ghiska's sword steaming with blood. Hunter reeled back, and dug his fingers into his wound to scrape the charred flesh away to heal his wound. That was when the battle turned deadly, and soon afterward, after 2 hours, the duelists became tired. Ghiska slipped on his own blood in the sand and Hunter pressed his attack, hacking away at his enemy until his skull was split. Hunter then rose his sword up again, willed his sword to heat to the point of almost melting, then sliced down, straight through bone, brains, and sand. The battle was finished.

Hunter limped over to Bors, "Well?"

"You were playing with him, as I could have killed him easily," Bors said.

"Then why didn't you?"

"A Rysedeiniik was considered a proper champion of Rayne's Honor.

Hunter looked at his Rysedeiniik, and saw that one was missing. "Keras?"

"Aye."

"The Light of Hope take his soul," Hunter said, then walked up to Balthazar. "This is a challenge. I took my wounds to regain the Honor you took, but this is the result of a challenge. There is no playing or sparring, only death. It is killed or be killed, and you keep what you kill."

Balthazar nodded, showing respect for the Dotarian, "I understand now, but I only challenged you to show you how my people are. Your people are strong, and still feel the wounds inflicted over 1500 years ago. Let me show you how I should have shown you how my people are and their ways. Tomorrow is The Challenge, a week-long challenge of any of those who wish to challenge me or others. It will be fun, you'll see if you come."

Hunter looked at the lion, studying him. He finally nodded, "Fine, as long as I am not forced to do anything or called upon to do anything."

"Of course not, you shall be the guest of honor. See you tomorrow," Balthazar said.

Gout

Gout's fleet sat above Requiem, waiting for the go ahead to return their own solar system. They had nothing to report to Commissar Juna, and obviously shit happened. An entire new species was found out of no where. No way they FTL'd into the star belt, that would be suicide. That ring though... what could that be... and how is it related to the new species. Time for some answers. After confirming his descent to the planet he moved to find Hunter. After a load of asking where he could find Hunter and the Lionid. he never actually caught the Lionid's name. After arguing with the guards for some time Hunter, accompanied by most of the high ranking officials and that Lionid. "Thank the gods. Hunter, I need to talk to you and..." Gout said gesturing towards the Lionid.

"It's Balthazar Gout." Hunter said.

"Ok, I need to return to Helimond and I have no clue in hell what to tell Juna."

"It's a long story, let us sit and I'll explain..." After a while of explaining they returned to prepare some sort of festival. Sadly, Gout had to report to the Commissar and couldn't stay for the celebration. he returned to the Dannwa and prepared the fleet to jump back to FS space. They had alot of trouble coming to them. They made it back in no time and once returning they were summoned by the Commissar and the Counsel. He explained what happened.

"So your saying that a race of super machines is going to destroy our galaxy." A Yuto scoffed at the report, "This sounds unbelievable. There is nothing that strong."

"According to the Lionids and Hunter they're real, and I believe Hunter." Gout stated.

"Well, you are the Admiral of the Navy. If your wrong you will be court marshaled Gout. Dismissed" Commissar Juna said to Gout. They prepared everything they had, they even sent demolition teams to attempt to destroy the ring. It failed very badly. The ring actually started to attack the demo teams and their ships. After 5 of the 15 teams were electrocuted by the ring and 2 killed by hidden defenses, Admiral Gout banned any offensive measures towards the ring. Commissar Juna called all the leaders to a meeting about this ring.

Juna

"I have called you all here to talk about this ring or 'Gate' as the Lionids and Hunter call it. Our attempts to damage or destroy it have resulted in it retaliating against us. If what Hunter and the Lionids said is tru-"

"dkgfTrdus //I don't know the lionid's language//" Balthazar said to Juna obviously saying that it is true.

"Well, what are we to do?"

admiral Hayes

after receiving clearance to land Hayes entered a UT-47 Grizzly troop transport shuttle with two SPECTRE presidential guards, one Asari commando and Turian engineer. They took off from the Normandy and flew to the massive palace that Hunter and his wife called home coming to a low hover above the street and climbed out. They walked through the doors and were greeted by Bors.

"hello my friend" said Hayes

Bors

"Hayes," Bors said, "It is good to see you in these trying times."

"Trying times? What is wrong?" Hayes asked.

Bors explained what Hunter told him, about the machines who were coming. He explained to them what they were going to do.

"You need to prepare for war, my friend," Bors said, sighing. "We have been fighting for so long, but now another enemy is on the horizon. Spread the word to everyone."


Hunter

"What we have to do is unite all of the armies of Strategos Prime and prepare for a Galactic Assault. We won't be able to hold the gate for very long, they're too numerous. I put a star there, to buy us some time, but they WILL destroy it," Hunter said.

Balthazar continued, "We, I'll admit, were arrogant. We had defeated countless sentient species, but never faced anything like this before. They went from planet to planet, burning and destroying anything in their path. We attacked them, only to find their planet impossible to defeat."

"Then what hope do we have?" Juna asked.

Hunter sighed, "Not much. The Gate... We can use the gate to find other worlds to get help, if we knew how to use it. I would advise trying to destroy their planet after we can get a big enough army to move to their planet and actually stand a chance. We all have weapons capable of destroying stars, even though they were outlawed. Let's dust these things off and use them."

Lee Hayes

lee looked around with a puzzled look on his face and said "were is Hunter Hunter,Bors...we have had some unidentified ships on the outskirts Alliance Space for the last two days then we try to scan them or send a patrol they disappear as fast as they arrive"

his commandos stood shoulder to shoulder behind him and looked around for any possible threat to the admiral.

the turian leaned to talk to the Asari "Jador, looks like the Admiral knows this guy well"

Jador whispered "Victus, you remember the Armali Coup?"

"Of course its where the admiral made his name and received the Alliance medal of honor back when he was a Commander"

"Well the two Dotarians....Hunter and Bors helped take back the capital" replied Jador

"The Verdict is in."

The message was broadcasted all over Collective space. "The Council has decided that we shall continue our campaigns, and act upon seeing these new contacts. Halcyon Archon Nezuno's fleet, High Archon Streialia and Grand Archon Osworix will lead four fleets into uncharted territory, where these contacts, these unidentified space-faring objects, are coming from." There were cheers and claps coming from the bleacher-like seats in the Council Chamber's hall. "Whether these unidentified people come in peace, or come in hostility, has yet to be seen." The Versluis High Council leader stepped back. "Session dismissed." Dozens of the aliens in the stands clapped and cheered.

For the first time since the Sonazarian/Jurgir conflicts, the Torogian Collective was officially moving out of it's borders. The Torogian Collective was now going to be apart of the Galactic Community once more...

-

The massive Sonazarian "Axtriri" Class Dreadnought fired up it's engines, and the power was being distributed through the ship from it's awe-worthy power plants - designed by the Joorg and the Vshorizi. Ships started to move, starting with Frigates moving out first to scout the initial area. The bigger ships would need time to warm up any ways. It's been years since any real movement was required, and these old girls needed some exercise. Halcyon Archon Nezuno, the Sonazarian, was in the bridge of his ship, examining the crew. "All systems check!" A Sonazarian crewman called out. The Halcyon Archon nodded. "Engines are warmed?" The Commander asked. There was a moment of silence. "No..." Someone finally responded. "No they aren't. Will still be a few moments." The Halcyon Archon nodded. "Right. When they are all warmed up form up with the High Archon and the Grand Archon's fleets." There was an affirmative response that came from someone, but Nezuno couldn't tell where it came from.

"Oh. And I want to get information from those scouts...now."

-

The Versluis "Celu" Class Frigate named Calclite was doing an average run, leading a small recon fleet of three other "Celu" Class Frigates. Under the command of Halcyon Archon Nezuno, this small fleet would stumble upon an unidentified patrol. Who that patrol belongs to is unknown. After all, these new contacts are unknown to the Collective. Their language, their actions, everything is unknown to us. Whether or not the Collective goes to war rests within this Recon Fleet's actions...

Or does it?

Does it rely on the unidentified contact's actions? Or the Collective's actions?

//Someone, anyone encounter me plox. First to respond is the first to encounter the Collective within Strategos prime. Whether or not you want to go to war is up to you, but I kinda portray the Collective as the bad guys. Quite stereotypical alien bad guys if I may say so.//

//I volunteer to meet you first, but you do realize that death is about to descend upon the whole galaxy, right?//

//Death upon the whole galaxy? How so?//

//read the intro. Death machines that'll come through the portal in a couple of posts//

//You may want to roleplay you finding that out so they don't wreck you. I know this will be a hard fight with us all as a team//

//Would've been perfect to remember that   But I might end up joining the robits. I mean, I am the stereotypical bad guys. As long as they aren't reapers I'm good. But I might -might- join Strategos Prime in their fight.//

//Thats your choice, but just like with the reapers, they will kill you after everybody's dead.//

Commander Darei had 1 Ares Class battleship and 4 Xenos Class destroyers under his command, scouting for possible targets when they came upon a scout fleet of a different race, much different than the ships encountered by Hunter and the Lionids.

"This is Commander Bearison Darei of the Dotarian Naval Corps, identify yourself." There was some chatter over the comms in a different tongue. Darei turned to his Flight Specialist. Scan their ship for any mechanical lifeforms. Make sure these bastards aren't the Athal."

After a few seconds, the specialist replied, "They're all organics, but they are in different shapes and sizes. Must be multiple races."

Darei nodded, "Bring all ships about and show them our starboard side. If they start to charge weapons, blow them to the Titans."

"Aye aye Commander."

"We understand you're alien lifeforms. I am a Knight of Dotaria, and I speak with my Ryse's voice. We're coming aboard, you fire on us you won't get out of here alive," Darei said, then turned to an officer on the deck, "Prep me a Pelican and a Vanguard escort."

"Aye sir."

Within 15 minutes, Darei was on a Pelican moving toward the biggest ship there. He was in the Titan's hands now, but he was confident these ships could see that to fire was hopeless.

//Three way war then, AWW YEAHHH//

Answers and Orders

The Captain of the Celu Class Frigate received the message, unable to decipher it. //The Collective has it's own standard language.// Curious, the Captain listened to the transcript again and again. The Versluis Lancer //Captain//, Wovis, looked around once he heard an alert. "Something's approaching us!" A crewman shouted. Wovis turned his head towards the crewman. "What is it?" The Lancer asked. The crewman paused, unmoving, unknowing. "I...I don't know." The Crewman finally replied. Soon enough, three other Lancers appeared on Wovis's screen. They were looking for two things: Answers and Orders.

Just like them, however, Wovis was just as confused. "We do not know what they are saying, and we do not know what they want. They have contacted us, but they speak a different language." Wovis looked around. Clearly, the three other Lancers were still confused. "I'm not sure if we should open fire or not." Wovis admitted. He was not sure of what to do in this situation. The Versluis Lancer was unsure of the contact's capabilities. Sure the Celu Class Frigate was fast, but were the contact's ships faster? Sure the Celu Class Frigate had amazing shielding, but did the contact's ships have better? Wovis let out a deep, heavy breath. "Arm weapons, but do not fire."

And as such, the weapons warmed up on all four ships. The Celu Class Frigates were ready for combat were it to come to them. The Magnetohydrodynamic lance weapons glowed as the molten metals stored within the magnetic field was heated so that it would tear through most elements. The Particle Beam cannons buzzed as the energy inside built up, ready to fire. The Light Magnetohydrodynamic projectile weapons glowed a bit, but then were silenced as they solidified quickly, ready to fire. In case the enemy were to fire, the Recon fleet was ready.

But yet, Wovis was still curious of the little craft heading towards them. He was unsure of what it was, or what it was doing. Wovis knew that he would have to react, and fast. The small craft was drawing closer. Wovis thought about it. The Celu Class Frigate only had docking ports and a small cargo bay. Afterall, the Celu Class Frigate was used for hit-and-run tactics. But he was unsure if the craft would even be capable of docking in the first place. Wovis watched the craft on the screen, waiting to see if it would do anything. Even so, a boarding party wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to any of the ships in Wovis's little faux fleet. A small assault team of marines were on each ship and every crewmember had a sidearm and had access to the weapons bay.

But even so, their ships dwarfed the Celu Class Frigate, which was only 231 metres long. It would be a hopeless fight, the Calclite and it's small fleet would be decimated. A message could be sent, and a distress beacon placed, but they would be lucky to bag one of the smaller ships in their fleet. Wovis snapped back into it, watching the small craft again. With the engines, shields and weapons all ready to go and at maximum power, Wovis had to make his choice, and quickly.

Or did he?

"Commander Darei, they've charged weapons, are we clear to fire?" the XO of Darei's Battleship, Loroon, asked.

"Hold on," Darei said, trying to meditate to read what his enemy's intentions were.

These people were scared, and knew that to fire was futile. They wouldn't fire un less fired upon, as per self-preservation. Still, there was something off about them.

"I think that's their docking bay, sir." the pilot said.

"Good work, make for it."

They flew to the Docking bay, and as they approached, the doors opened up. The pilot skillfully brought the Pelican in, and landed it in a empty spot on the "tarmac".

He and the Vanguard team walked out of their Pelican and looked around. They checked their weapons in their armor and awaited orders.

"Keep your swords sheathed, and all of your other weapons sheathed. I don't need us having to rip the ship apart because of a gunfight," Darei said.

Their helmets were on as they were scanning the atmosphere of the ship. It was the same air as Requiem, they found, but still kept their helmets on in case of attack. They turned a corner and there were armed combatants aiming weapons at them, making the Vanguards draw weapons as well. Their leader then came forth and spoke to them in a different tongue.

"I don't understand you. Tell your men to lower their weapons!" Darei said, using hand gestures to reinforce what he was saying. Negotiations were getting nowhere with them not knowing each other's language, so he was going to resort to something Hunter Mathias taught him.

He cautiously walked toward the alien, and the aliens charged their weapons. He continued, telling them he meant no harm and that he was coming over. He retracted his helmet, showing them his face. Once he came up to the leader, he told him with his voice and hands, at least the best he could, that he was going to touch him. Once the connection was made, Darei focused on the connection and soon found himself in the alien's brain.

Their language was guttural, their politics chaotic, yet there was a sense of honor in all of the races. It was a collective of races that made up their country, and they all fortify each other's weaknesses. Darei smiled, and in the midst of the being's brain, the being walked up to him.

"What are you doing?"

"I am trying to learn your language, your culture. Your name is... Wovis?" Darei asked.

"How...? Get out of my head!"

Darei was snapped back into reality, and both people reeled back gasping. Darei, thinking the alien was about to get hostile, ejected his sword and readied himself for battle.

Balthazar

The Lionid King walked through the corridors of his ship, looking at all the others making preparations for The Challenge. This week long celebrations requiring many healers, and much food. Each Lionid knew his or her job, and did it fast. With the festival fast approaching, they all new it was imperative to get their tasks done swiftly and perfectly.

Soon everything was ready and races from all over Strategos Prime, would participate in their first Challenges. This would be like any other festival except one Chieftain was out for blood. Shanzo Ironclaw, was ready to become the King, even before the sons of Balthazar the Ash Bringer, were yet o be born. While he contemplated on how to bring the great King to an swift and merciless end, he failed to realize that he himself would not be prepared for the powers the King weilded with deadly accuracy.

Stand Still

Wovis's eyes widened. This was madness, fantasy! There was no possible way that this thing...was in his head. Wovis retrieved his Athexese sword after seeing that the being had readied it's weapon. The Dushraki soldiers behind Wovis shouldered their rifles once more. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. How could Wovis have possibly understood the being's language? It didn't matter anymore.

Wovis was dazed and angered that the being had drawn it's weapon on him. Wovis slowly walked backward, the lower arms of Wovis held a Klowaeon Carbine, while an upper arm held his Athexese sword. The Marines behind Wovis held the Klowaeon Carbine as well, ready to fire.

Of course, no one did fire. It was a standstill - a standoff if you would. Wovis and his marines staring down the beings in front of them. The hall was quite cramped. Wovis almost wanted to order to fire. He didn't know what the being could've done while it was in his mind. For all Wovis knew, the being could've installed a bomb, or something to destroy Wovis from the inside. Now he was just making himself paranoid. Wovis thought of this a surreal. Everything he thought echoed in his mind. Was this all a trick? Or was he dreaming?

It did not matter anymore.

Wovis started to slowly walk backwards, maintaining eye contact with the being's leader. When Wovis walked behind the last bit of Marines in the hall, he moved to a spot where he was in cover. A small increment in the wall for occasions like these.

Soon the other marines positioned themselves in these increments in the walls. No doubt that once they beings saw Wovis's and the Marine's movements, that they would do the same with the increments in the hall.

Wovis leaned out of his cover, disabling his Athexese sword. He aimed his Klowaeon Carbine, directly towards the beings leader. In Torogian Collective Standard Language, he shouted: "Fire!"

Darei felt the moment before it happened. "Get down!"

"Fire!"

All hell broke loose, and Darei was right in the middle. Right before the command was given, Darei raised the metal flooring in front of him just as the bullets slammed home. He then got up, slammed his helmet over his face, and kicked the metal toward his attackers. "Fleet, open fire on every ship instead of the flagship! Stand by for further orders!"

"Aye, Sir. negotiations went badly, got it!"

"Back to the Pelican!" Darei said, bring another piece of flooring, tossing it, and a grenade. They hauled ass back to the Pelican and saw that the aircraft was surrounded by enemies. The Vanguards easily overwhelmed the 3 aliens in the doorway and bolted to the Pelican, getting on.

"Get this fucker out of here!" Darei ordered.

"Can't sir, they closed the airlock!"

"I'll fucking make one!" Darei said, then focused on the floor beneath the Pelican. He then punched a hole through the ship big enough for the Pelican to be sucked out. The pilot frantically tried to get the engines started as the soldiers in the docking bay were sucked out, hitting the Pelican. Once he finally turned the engines on and got the aircraft under control, Darei gace the order to fire on all ships.

"Fire on all ships, and crate a Gravity Well so the fuckers can't jump away! They'll be ripped apart if they try, and I hope they do!"

It was only a matter of time before the ships were destroyed.

One Last Effort

Wovis limped back into the bridge, dropping his weapon. "Deploy distress beacons and call Command! We have engaged the enemy!" Wovis sat back down in his chair as the crew was working frantically. "Fire all weapons and disperse! I want as much damage done as possible to them until the fleet can arrive!" Wovis shouted, looking down at his leg. It was shot pretty badly, but it wouldn't matter in a few moments. "Give them one last effort!"

The Frigates knew that the enemy would dispatch of them quickly, and with efficency. The amount of weapons on the enemy ships was astounding, especially the largest one. The Calclite and it's small contingent opened up, guns blazing. The Magnetohydrodynamic weapon fired it's lance of molten metals at the smaller ships, knowing that getting at least one of them would be a victory. The Celu Class Frigates dispersed in all directions. The Calclite fired it's Magnetohydrodynamic lance weapon, the metals dragging across the hull of one of the smaller ships in the enemy fleet. The other three ships started to fire their heavy magnetohydrodynamic projectile weapons, flinging them near the speed of light towards the enemy. Particle beams fired towards the enemy, slowly piercing armour.

But this was a hopeless effort. Luckily, the beacons were deployed, and the message was sent. It wouldn't be long before Grand Archon Osworix and his fleets arrived. For now, the Frigates just had to keep them busy. But that wasn't working too well. Wovis flinched when he saw one of the ships under his command split apart and subsequently explode. Three ships remain.

Wovis knew that he wouldn't last much longer. Neither would his allies. Wovis took a deep breath and braced himself. "Focus all weapons on that one!" He pointed towards one of the damaged ships with a finger from his upper left hand. "We must destroy what we can!"

Darei found himself back in his captain's chair, and once he saw the situation, he saw the little bastards were giving almost as good as they were getting.

He nodded, impressed, "Good! Death Roll them!"

The ships, using a tactic studied from the alligator, started to roll on their sides, using all of the MAC cannons on the ships to fire continuous volleys at the enemies. He saw another ship rip apart and explode, and the back half of one was ripped off. Looking at their flagship, he suddenly had an idea.

"Focus only on the smaller one. Get me a Shock Cable ready and go after the bigger one."

Shock cables were projectiles fired from the ship that had a grappeling hook and a cable, much like a whaler on a whaling ship. upon impact, the cable would inflict a massive electrical charge, frying all electrical systems on board making it easy to drag across space.

The ship moved to the smaller, deployed the shock cable, and drug it to the other side of the field just in time to see the other ship, that was holding on valiantly, explode.

"Get the Ryse on the horn."

"Yes, sir."

A pause was heard, "Commander Darei, good to hear from you."

"Good to hear from you too, sir," Darei said, "but we have a problem. We happened upon a patrol from a different confederacy of races, when we were fired upon. I'm bringing one of the ships toward you right now, where are you?"

"Requiem. Drop it at the artificial moon we've terraformed. I won't desecrate holy ground without good reason," Hunter said.

"Aye, sir. We're jumping now."

They made it to Requiem in a few minutes, and they docked up to one of the drydocks orbiting the artificial moon. They used Pelicans and Hawk Gungships to lower the enemy ship onto the surface of the moon, where it could be examined by the Ryse himself.

Juna

"I like the idea, but this will end up like those 'Protect' missions that are in almost every game that children play. Not to mention the planet most likely has massive defensive structures." Juna said in response to Hunter.

//Sorry it's a bit short//

//Since Hunter is back in Requiem, I'm going to act as though we did this conversation in a video conference.//

"It may end up being like a child's game, but this is as real as it gets ma'am. Even if we win this, billions of people are going to die in this war," Hunter said.

"Planets will also be destroyed, either by glassing, nuclear winter, or literal explosion. We never figured out how to defeat them, because with every one we slew, 3 would come in their place. They massacred us," Balthazar said, in a voice full of sorrow.

Balthazar and I will confer on our plans for the future, and we'll keep you and Admiral Gout in the loop. You are the ones I trust over there," Hunter said after a short pause.

Gout

It was Gout's turn to keep watch on the Gate. He had just relieved the first Dotorian Scout Fleet, who was guarding it just before. As the day dragged on, the star seemed to flicker and dim. Not slightly either. "Warning, radiation spike detected." ARA said in Gout's ear.

"Get the Dotorian Scout fleet and get them back here. Bring all the leaders up on the screen. Arm weapons and prepare to jump."

Juna

"Well, we might as well send the planet crackers anyway. Rather die fighting with all we have than sit and wait for them to kill us with our pants down." She said as a call came in with a 'Code Red' importance on it.

"They're going to blow the star soon! Prepare all your fleets and defenses!" Gout said to the leaders.

"Oh shit..." Juna whispered, paling a bit.

Back to Gout

"Sir, weapons charged!"

"Send some bombers out and deploy mines! Then prepare to launch TDR's!" Gout ordered. //TDR = Terror Drone Rocket, essentially a rocket full of terror drones. A bit like in the third star wars.// The star seemed to flash then go dark. Then came the explosion. It ignited the gas again, only to destroy the gravity and send a massive fireball in all directions. Luckily, fireballs are trumped by shields. Although the ring remained ominously silent and dark... Nothing seemed to move. Minutes seemed like years as they trained their weapons on the opening. After about 30 minutes, the ring ignited. "Here they come..." Gout whispered preparing to give the order to fire.

Wovis limped into the armoury after getting his leg patched up. Every crewman that survived the attack was gearing up. Janus Heavy Rifles and Klowaeon Carbines were being handed out to every crewman by the Marines. The few Mineervi stationed on the ship would provide great help against the enemy. Wovis looked around. There wasn't that much personal armour left, but he knew there was one back in his Captain's cabin anyways. Wovis slowly walked over to a rack filled with Janus Heavy Rifles and grabbed one. He slowly grabbed three magazines. He loaded the first one into the rifle, and the rest he carried in his hand. Limping out, he noticed that a few of the crewmen and Marines nodded and saluted - these weren't the crew that were busy gearing up.

"I want marines to lead armed and armoured crewmen to strategic points throughout the ship. In case they board us." Wovis said quietly to the Marine Tyro //Lieutenant Commander// as he walked by.

Wovis felt his ship hit the ground. Just several minutes ago gravity kicked back in. So wherever they were, they were in atmosphere. Wovis slowly walked the halls, making his way to his Captain's cabin to don his armour. He sidestepped to the side of the hall as a group of crewmen marched in the hall, presumably to guard a strategic choke point on the ship - as is installed on most ships within the Halberd of the Torogian Collective.

Wovis opened the door to his captain's cabin. It was still nice and clean, but he knew that was about to change. Wovis slowly walked over to his personal armoury, grabbing his suit of power armour. Within minutes Wovis had the armour on, despite his leg injury. He turned on the power and waited a moment. He felt lighter, and was now able to move without injury. Wovis walked out of his captain's cabin and head on his way to the bridge. That's where he'd make his final stand...

The ship had a few chokepoints, all of which led to the Bridge. These chokepoints were designed for boarding parties to have to go through most of them, and be gunned down by autoturrets and soldiers. Unfortunately, the autoturrets were down, so soldiers gathered as much junk as possible and made their own cover. Hopefully it was enough to slow them down. There was all but one species stationed on the Calclite - the Drozonan. There was no need for them on a reconnaissance mission. The ship was mostly crewed by Versluis, and the minority were the other six species.

The Marines stationed on the ship were of all races but the Drozonan. Particularly the Dushraki and the Jurgir made the bulk of the marines stationed on the ship. Marines and Crewmen alike took their positioned near the exits of the ship and the chokepoints. The armoury was cleared out, the weapons and ammunition not used by the crew were placed where the crew were making their final stand.

Wovis could only hope that they would have mercy on them. Either that, or give them a quick and painless death, albeit an honourable death.