Wave of Destruction - Story Finale
Written by Captain Carnotaur
------------------------
Admiral Voi'Nek of the Voinian 3rd Fleet looked at his massive armada. For months the Voinians had been gathering up ships for the finale assault on the Emalgha homeworld, and now they were ready. Two dozen cruisers, and 50 some frigates were ready, and all they were waiting for was the final order to commence the assault.
Finally, the word came, straight for Emporer Redeye. It was simple and to the point, but it would make Voinian history; "Commence the assault on the Emalgha."
Admiral Voi'Nek grinned as his massive fleet moved into position and hyperspaced towards the Emalghion system.
Arriving seconds later in a flash of white, the Voinians found the Emalgha ready and waiting for them.
A hail of rockets hit the Voinians while they were still recovering from the hyperjump. Their fleet was in a sort of wall formation, which allowed them to hit the Voinians with all they had in mere seconds. Ten frigates were taken down along with five Voinian cruisers. Many more ships were damaged, and Admiral Voi'Nek was enraged at the heavy losses so early in the battle.
"Those Emalgha will pay for this, open fire!"
The Voinian fleet responded with an equally powerful burst of weapons fire, but the Emalgha were ready for this as well. Thirty Emalgha Fighters flew forward, and each one launched a spray of five defense pods, which had been given to them by Miranu mercenaries. As if on que, the pods exploded, taking with them over half of the rockets that the Voinians had launched.
But the Emalgha could not counter everything, and that included a full charge by the Voinians in a reef formation. The Emalgha charged back, firing all they could at the Voinians, but they were met by a hail of neutron fire and more rockets. The Emalgha were pushed back, unable to break through the impenetrable Voinian line.
As they got closer to Emalghia, the Voinians increased speed and tore through the Emalgha fleet, which scattered in all directions. Admiral Voi'Nek grinned evily, knowing that the Emalgha space force had been crushed, and they could now get on with the attack on the other moons.
Sending out hundreds upon hundreds of rockets, the Voinians decimated two moons within minutes, but before they could attack the third, they ran into an unexpected problem. In truth, the Emalgha fleet was not crushed, but a large force had been hiding behind one of the three moons. This force now came out of hiding, hitting the Voinian rear with dozens of rockets.
The Voinians moved to intercept this new threat, but they were then flanked by the Emalgha defense force, who had only scattered to escape the Voinians. They were now regrouped, and quite powerful. The Voinians couldn't take two fleets at the same time.
Finally, as Voi'Nek's ship was rocked by rocket explosions, the Voinians made their move. They sent a hail of rockets towards the second group, taking out many ships and distracting the Emalgha long enough for the Voinians to make their next move.
They then turned around and hit the first group full force, neutron pulses and rockets blazing away. The Emalgha were smart, but they couldn't stand up to Voinian warships for long. As a few cruisers distracted the second group, the first group took the brunt of the Voinian onslaught. As Cruisers flanked them, a long wave of Frigates pummeled the Emalgha head on. Soon, the Voinian fleet destroyed the first group entirely.
The last Emalgha ships rallied together, and made one last desperate charge against the Voinians, but to no avail. Their small, wooden-hulled ships were no match for Voinian armor, and their weapons were the only thing that allowed them to fight so long. The battle raged on and on, but they were torn apart and destroyed, their last ships ramming Voinian cruisers in a last bit of resistence. This, however, proved to be quite useful; two cruisers and five frigates were taken down as a result, but the Emalgha had still lost the battle.
But as the Voinian supply ships moved into to invade the planets, suddenly, a massive fleet of 6 Voinian Cruisers, 10 Voinian Frigates, and 8 other vessels that the Voinians had never seen before jumped in. Then again, another small Emalgha fleet jumped in. The newly arrived Voinian ships, however, we not Voinian; they were Hinwar.
The Hinwar fleet quickly attacked the already weakened Voinian fleet, and with the help from the extra Emalgha ships, they soon tore the enemy vessels to shreds. The rest of the battle was quick and decisive; not a single Voinian ship escaped, except for a single damaged Voinian frigate, which had Admiral Voi'Nek onboard.
The Hinwar and Emalgha had just signed an alliance treaty to help fight the Voinians, and the Hinwar had arrived just in time to save their new allies. The Hinwar fleet was mostly just composed of standard Voinian ships, but they were renamed and were painted grey and yellow instead of grey and purple and red. The Hinwar also came with the new Hinwar Destroyers; heavily modified Voinian Frigates that were proving quite useful to the new nation.
The Emalgha and Hinwar, both races persecuted by the Voinians for over a century, were now allies, and would not fall very easily at all to the Voinian empire. Soon, Otid and Romit fell to the combined fleets of the Hinwar and Emalgha, and then fell Fridion. But in the battle for Niot, the Voinians crushed the massive Hinwar and Emalgha fleet, stopping their offensive in its tracks.
The Voinians stabilized their borders; so did the Emalgha and Hinwar. No one could puncture the defense line of the other; no ones offensive could work; but that might soon change... Sometime... Somewhere...
-------------------------
The Azdgari system was filled with activity. Hundreds of Azdaras zoomed here and there, while aradas and warships moved into fleet positions. Azdgari shipyards were working overtime to try and pour out enough ships for the upcoming attack, which included the newly completed Predator Battlecruisers.
The Predators were three times the size of an the old Azdgari Warship, and five times as powerful. Armed to the teeth with phase turrets, disruptor beams, SADs, pursuit missiles, and even two Azdara bays, the Predator was extremely powerful, and would come in useful for dealing with the numerous defenders of Council Station.
The Azdgari had built a total of 19 more shipyards in their empire to deal with the enormous task of building up suck a large fleet, but the shipyards aquired from the Igadzra proved quite useful in turning out lots of Predators really fast.
In order to provide enough ships for the Dark Angels, the Azdgari raided the Igadzra and Kayans on numerous occassions, capturing vessels for the use of the mercenary group. The Renegades had also assembled a quite powerful fleet, and would also aid the Azdgari.
Meanwhile, the Azdgari had completed work on their latest weapon of war; the new Azdgari Demon-class Supercruiser. The new vessel was as powerful as ten Predators combined, as was armed with the latest weaponry availible. Now that it was completed, it was only a small matter of time before they would strike.
Within several weeks, at last, the Azdgari finally had their battlefleet, and they would soon engage in the largest naval battle in the history of the galaxy...
-------------------------
The Gadzair system was quiet, not a thing disturbed it, not even a lone frieghter.
The planet Gadzair lay their, blasted and in ruins from a war now centuries old. Long ago it had been the home of the strands, but it had been torn apart by war and strife. Though it had been without war for over several centuries, it would now see war again...
The massive Azdgari warfleet of 10,000 jumped into the system, weapons armed and shields raised. Along with them came a total of 2,000 other Renegade vessels and Dark Angles vessels. They hailed Council station as they surrounded the area, demanding that the Council surrender immediately. But it didn't go that easily, for instantly afterwards over 750 Crescent Warships were launched from the station and opened fire on the Azdgari.
The Azdgari returned fire, but they were horrified to see that these warships were unlike any other. They were armed with psionic power weaponry and sub-space shielding, making them twice as powerful as they normally would be.
But the Council Warships, although they had been outfitted with the latest Council technology, could not stand up to the massive Azdgari onslaught for long. The Azdgari Supercruiser, the Chimaera , led the assault against the warships as the Azdgari charged.
However, the Council was never to be underestimated. Council Station launched another wave of 750 Council Warships, which beat back the Azdgari again and gave them heavy losses. But the Azdgari charged again, tearing through the final Council Warships in a flurry of phase fire.
Suddenly, a fleet of 750 Zidagar warships hyperspaced in, which was followed shortly by another 250 Igadzra vessels. The Azdgari engaged them in a massive firefight, the two sides battling on and on and on, not ceasing for a moment while the Council watched and watched.
As the two newcomers were slowly beaten back, victory seemed achieved, but it was not to be. As wreckage of ships floated around the system and the Azdgari surrounded the station, the Council then sent out a special message to a hidden net of attack drones that they had installed in the system centuries before after the end of the Gadzair War.
The Attack Drones phased out of sub-space, surfacing in normal-space to the dismay and horror of the Azdgari. The Drones, each of which was the size of a standard crescent station, opened fire with deadly psi energy beams, which cut through and devastated the Azdgari easily.
As wreckaged floated about the system and explosions continued to rage, the Chimaera began to fight back. It assaulted drones one by one, destroying them while Azdaras and Aradas kept them busy. Two other drones fell to a wolfpack of Predators, while several more fell to the Chimaera as it rampaged across the battlefield.
Then, Council Station itself began to open fire, dealing out even more losses to the Azdgari as debris began to clog the system, blocking sensors and distracting missiles and SADs. Azdaras, however, proved to be quite capable of maneuvering around the debris, but they were too weak to do anything about the drones or Council station. Many were killed having not fired a shot, while many more simply rammed Council Station, but barely denting the sub-spacial shielding of the massive base.
Suddenly, another fleet of 500 Zidagar vessels hyperspaced in and aided the Council fight on. The Azdgari tried flanking the Zidagar, but they were two fast for them and the Zidagar charged, trying to break up the Azdgari line. But the Azdgari counter-charged, and soon more and more wreckage began to add to the already large field of debris in the system.
The Zidagar and Igadzra forces fought and fought, and soon they came head to head with the Renegade portion of the fleet. The Renegades fought hard and bravely, using mostly tactics instead of pure strength against the more powerful enemy fleets. When the Renegades were finally fought off, then the Dark Angels moved in and tore the Zidagar and Igadzra to shreds.
The battle raged on and on, and only after much casualties did the Azdgari finally destroy the drones, but there was still Council Station, and another 1,000 Council Warships which had just been launched. The Azdgari began to get desperate; as Predators and AWs rammed Council Station, weapons ablaze, the Chimaera and huge flights of aradas and Azdaras swooped down on the Council fleet, hitting them hard with the new plasma bombs and Disruptor Beamers, which proved quite useful against the advanced Gadzairan technology.
Then, the Chimaera approached Council Station, and began to exchange a massive amount of firepower with the station. Anything caught in the firefight was instantly incinerated or vaporized as the two behemoths fought. As the Chimaera retreated, damaged, the Azdgari commander of the fleet, Admiral Yakuza, hailed the council.
"This war is lost, and you know it. Your fleets are doomed, and we have reinforcements on the way. Surrender now, or you will be destroyed."
He grinned with pride and watched the Azdgari dealing out heavy losses to the Council Warships, but then something strange happened.
The air began to feel hot and heavy, time seemed to slow down, and the supercruiser itself shook somewhat. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and everyone onboard seemed to feel a sort of tenseness is the air. But then, something even stranger happened; Yakuza heard a voice inside his head, not from somewhere nearby, but actually inside his head.
Do not worry... You will not be a problem for mind... Mind will destroy you... Mind begins...
And with that, the voice faded off, and power was restored. Yakuza was so tense, his claws were digging into the handrests on his seat. Everyone was silent, looking intently at him, waiting for new orders. The admirals face was pale, and his eyes showed that he was scared. Finally, he spoke.
"Continue the assault."
No one responded.
"Continue the assault!!! Do it, now!!"
The Chimaera charged forth, fighting on as another wave of ships was launched. But these were different. They were the size of Crescent Fighters, and somehow resembled that design, but other than that the design was alien. No weapons were detected, but the small ships were nimble and well shielded, and used some form of psi energy, which was directed by the actual pilot at a ship. Pilots of Azdaras were killed by pure psi force as the Azdgari fought these new foes. However, they were confident of their success, especially seeing that 1,500 more Azdgari vessels were heading their way...
-------------------------
A large fleet of 1,500 Azdgari, Igadzra, and Renegade vessels flew through hyperspace towards the Gadzair system. They were the much-needed reinforcements that were now the only hope that the Azdgari had of winning against the Council, or so it seemed.
But it was not to be.
The Council somehow saw that the Azdgari were coming before they even left the base of Mark. They had erected an immensely powerful field of psi energy inside the hyperlink, jamming com systems and sensors. The Azdgari slammed into the field...
...And hours later, 250 scorched and battered ships exited the hyperlink and arrived in the Gadzair system, accompanied by 40,000 metric tons of debris. Both the surviving ships and the debris were radiating with residual psi energy from the field.
The Azdgari called in more reinforcements, but none arrived. The Council had completely blocked off the Gadzair system with their psi fields.
-------------------------
The battle raged on and on, with no one really winning at all. The Council, who obviously had immense telepathic and psionic powers, fought on defiantly against the massive Azdgari hoard.
Warships exploded left and right, aradas were liquefied after being hit by a psi pulse cannon, AWs and Predators rammed and rammed Council Station, Igazras took down Council Warship after warship, and through it all the Chimaera kept on the fight.
But it was soon obvious that something HAD to be done, or the battle would soon be lost. Yakuza realized that there was nothing he could do to counter the psi weapons, and the fleet would be impossible to deal with, but Council Station itself was a rather large target and easy to hit.
But suddenly, a Council Warship came alongside the Chimaera , and somehow beamed aboard a large group of Council fighters, armed with Psi Pulse Rifles. The Azdgari were caught off guard, but fought against the Council hard. As hand-to-hand combat raged across the decks of the Chimaera , with the Azdgari winning with their superior reflexes and speed, a lone Council warrior managed to get aboard the bridge.
Before anyone even noticed him, half the people were dead, their brains fried by psi energy. However, the others reacted quickly and attacked the Council, who stunned the rest of them with a grenade.
But Yakuza was still standing there, watching.
He held up a medical sensor, scanning the Council. He smiled. "As I thought, your DNA is very similar to the Azdgari. In fact, your DNA also has matches to both the Igadzra and Zidagar."
"Not as close as you might think," the Council said, pointing his rifle at Yakuza. You couldn't see his face; he was completely disguised in a black cloak. His face was also hidden by his hood, which made it look like a faceless demon was staring at you.
"Yes, so I noticed," Yakuza said in reply, trying not to look scared. "It seems that Azdgari DNA, Zidagar DNA, and Igadzra DNA are all just parts of the full strand of Gadzair DNA."
The Council was silent, but Yakuza could seem to feel that he was angry. Somehow, Yakuza could almost feel like he could just sense what the Council was thinking. Trying to learn more, he spoke. "The Council are Gadzair, aren't they?" Yakuza thought to himself He'll say yes...
"Yes," the Gadzair responded. "The Gadzair are the superior race. We were the ones who first expanded through the stars, and created ourselves a great empire. But then..." He paused. "The rebels came. They rose up against us, critisizing our strict rule, and then came war. Gadzair, Grooz, Emnin, Kelmoan, Kade, Racet, and Mecha; all the core worlds, all destroyed by the rebels, who used thermonuclear weapons against us.
"But we conquered them..." as he spoke, Yakuza sensed a thought that he was hiding... ...with minds own thermonuclear weapons we conquered them... But the thought faded as the Gadzair continued. "...And we tried to rebuild, but it was too late. Our core worlds were destroyed. So the Council was formed, and we built Crescent Station to preserve our race. We lost contact with the outer worlds.
"That was over a millenia ago. Since then, the radiation disappeared, but it altered the DNA of the survivors. There were now three of them; the Zidagar, the Azdgari, and the Igadzra, all left on their 'homeworlds'. They were primitive and slowly built up their society..." Another thought came.... ...And Mind watched... And Mind gave them tools...
"I see..." Yakuza said, thinking deeply, trying to hear thoughts from the Gadzair. "So you gave them technology to help them rebuild, and then they became stronger than you thought they would. You were worried that they would destroy you, so you had them fight among themselves in order that you may live on. It all fits into place now..."
Yakuza suddenly sensed an anger; an immense anger that was building up. Apparently, the Gadzair now knew that Yakuza heard some of his thoughts. Suddenly, another thought came, but it was directed from the Gadzair purposefully. Fool! Mind should have known that the Azdgari retained the telepathic genetics needed to sense thoughts! Mind will now kill Azdgari...
The Gadzair threw aside his weapon, then stuck his clawed hand out towards Yakuza, throwing him back with telepathic energy. As Yakuza fell, he tried to resist the growing pain in his head. Apparently, the Gadzair could somehow create pain telepathically.
Yakuza tried to stand up, but the Gadzair walked forward and threw him against the wall. Now Mind will kill Azdgari.... Mind will show the Azdgari pain.... PAIN!!!
The Gadzair threw Yakuza threw the air into another wall, but that was his mistake, for Yakuza landed nearby the Psi Rifle. Summoning all his strength, Yakuza jumped towards the Gadzair, kicking him into a consol. As the Gadzair got up, he threw Yakuza back again.
Yakuza got up. "Hayar!!" Yakuza yelled, using the old battle cry of his father as he stuck out his own hand and threw the Gadzair back, tripping him over a railing. As he tried to get up, Yakuza grabbed the psi rifle and pointed it at his enemy. He was slowly learning how to focus energy, but he still didn't know how to focus psi energy into the rifle. He hoped the Council, or Mind, didn't know that yet.
You have been defeated, Council! Yakuza said to the Gadzair telepathically.
No, not Mind. Not yet. Mind is strong...
What is Mind?
Mind is thought... Mind is thought of Gadzair... Mind is everywhere... Mind will kill you now...
Yakuza now understood. Mind was the interconnecting telepathic link between all Gadzair. It was sort of like a hive mind, a collective consciousness of hundreds of Gadzair, that bound them all and made them do the will of the Gadzair. It was Mind that used its telepathic powers to bend the other strands to their will, because all of them still had the basic telepathic link, though none of the strands could use it. Mind used this to its advantage, so that the strands would fight each other for no real reason.
As Yakuza thought, his mind suddenly thought of the Zidagar. Instantly afterward, a suddenly piercing pain filled his mind.
No! No think about Zidagar! Zidagar are enemies... Zidagar can resist Mind, so Mind will use Azdgari to destroy Zidagar...
Yakuza suddenly had a strange hate building up inside him. But hate of what? The Zidagar? One side of him said it must be, but the other said it was mind. Suddenly, Yakuza realized that Mind was trying to make him stop fighting the Council, and fight the Zidagar. But he couldn't resist it; it was too strong.
Yesss.... Yesss.... Fight Zidagar... They hate you... They hate Mind...
The voice went on and on, and suddenly, against his will, Yakuza dropped the psi rifle.
"I will help you fight the Zidagar..." he said, and the Gadzair began to walk forward to pick up the rifle.
"NO!!!"
Yakuza kicked the Gadzair into the wall, then picked up the rifle and summoned all his power. Yakuza fired at the Gadzair, killing him, and the pain subsided and so did the hatred for the Zidagar.
No! This cannot be... This cannot be! Fight the Zidagar! Mind says so! Do it now!
No.... I am Admiral Yakuza, and this is the end of you, Mind...
NOOO!!!
Yakuza sat down in the captains chair and looked at the situation. The Azdgari had suffered extreme losses, and the Council fleet was winning easily. The Chimaera charged forward into the fray, blasting away enemy vessel after enemy vessel.
As the supercruiser moved ahead, straight for Council station, Yakuza looked grimly ahead. He was going to ram Council Station, and end it all right now.
The Chimaera screamed forward towards the station, guns ablaze. The vessel hit the massive station, and shuddered as an explosion engulfed the forward part of the ship. The hull began to break and strain, hull breaches and explosions started going off all over the ship. As the Chimaera shook terribly and floated away, disabled, Yakuza looked at Council Station.
Though not destroyed, it had been heavily damaged, and was disabled. And with it disabled, suddenly, all the small Council Fighters ceased to function and exploded. The Psi Energy field surrounding the system disappeared and ships began to pour in. The Council had used a special amplifying crystal onboard the station to project their psi energy across star systems, and to power the drones and fighters. WIth it disabled, the fighters and field ceased to function.
As the remnants of the Council fleet were delt with, Yakuza ordered the Chimaera to be abandoned immediately. It's hull was beginning to break up and implode, and its generator was about to have a meltdown. As he watched from the bridge of the Predator battlecruiser Acheron , the Chimaera imploded in massive ball of fire.
With the Council fleet gone, Yakuza now surveyed the battleground. Only 1,000 Azdgari ships remained, and wreckage filled every corner of the system. As Azdgari vessels began to clean up the system, the Predator and several other AWs docked with Council Station and cut through the airlocks with mini-disruptor beams.
Swarming onboard the station, the Azdgari found many automated defenses and many automated robotic droids, armed with phase rifles. These were destroyed slowly and carefully, with many casualties along the way. Finally, with the outer ring secure, the Azdgari began the slow and tedious work of getting to the inner core of the station where the many hundreds of Gadzair resided.
Suddenly, as Yakuza overlooked several soldiers cutting through an airlock with disruptor beams, a sudden thought came to him...
Mind is breaking up... Strife... Too.... mu...ch striiiiife.... Mind will lea...v...e.....nowww..... The thought faded off and the station shook terribly, throwing everybody to the ground. As Yakuza got up, a lieutenant ushered him back to the Acheron.
Boarding the bridge of the Acheron , Yakuza watched as the station launched a cylindrical pod, which used to be at the very inner core of the station, out into space. The pod was about the size of the Predator, and Yakuza and the bridge crew watched it intently.
Suddenly, the pod stopped midflight, and suddenly started to emit a near blinding lind. In a final flash, the pod vanished, leaving behind only stray tachyons and a strange blue hue to the surrounding space, which soon vanished.
The Azdgari eventually got to the core of the station, and found 400 dead Gadzair. Many had committed suicide, others had been killed by other Gadzair. It turned out later, after Yakuza questioned a female Gadzair, that the Council had split up. They all had conflicting views on what to do, now that their amplifying crystal was disabled and the Azdgari about to board the station. They had turned on each other. Many were killed, but a few escaped in a small tachyon transport pod. Where the pod went, nobody knew. The last remaining Gadzair killed themselves, but many injured Gadzair were left behind.
The remaining Gadzair were taken aboard a Predator Battlecruiser, and taken to Dames where they would stay at a special prison. They would be questioned, but what the Azdgari would do with the 200 remaining Gadzair was a frustrating question.
Meanwhile, Yakuza continued his search for the amplifying crystal onboard. As he searched through the corridors of the massive Council Station, suddenly, he and a squad of soldiers came across a large magnetically sealed door.
"Open it with EMP Rifles," Yakuza ordered, and soon the door had been forced open.
Stepping into the darkness beyond, leaving the other soldiers behind to guard the door, Yakuza walked down a pitch black corridor. Coming across another locked door, Yakuza shot the control panel, illuminating the corridor for a split second as the phase pistol discharged.
Yakuza forced the door open and entered into another, larger room. The room was lit by a dim glow of a crystal, the size of a man, that was placed on a pedistal in the center of the room. There were no control panels, and the walls were all plain and made out of some sort of crystaline material. Walking forward silently, Yakuza saw that the crystal was hovering in midair.
Probing it with his mind, Yakuza tried to find its origin. Suddenly, a thought seemed to come from it... I am the Eye of the Mind... I control the Mind.... The I corrupt all... Mind conquers through me... You will leave... You will die...
Yakuza was started for a moment. But I thought that the Council controlled you...
That is what they thought... They were wrong... I corrupted them... I am Acarra...
Acarra? What is that? Yakuza thought.
Acarra is my master... Acarra... Beyond the crescent... Now must leave... You will die...
Suddenly, Yakuza became aware of nine figures, standing in a circle around the crystal and Yakuza. All of their eyes glowed with dim blue light, but the rest of them was hidden by their black cloaks. In the dim light of the room, provided only by the crystal, Yakuza looked around and slowly reached for his psi pistol.
This crystal cannot fall into enemy, or friendly, hands... It is too powerful... If I corrupted the Council, it can corrupt the Azdgari too...
No!!! The Crystal glowed a bright white light for a second as it spoke to him telepathically. No!!! Stop him! Kill him!
As the nine figures started to step forward, Yakuza pointed the rifle at the crystal. This ends...NOW!
In a flash of white light, an energy bolt of psi energy lanced forth from the rifle, striking the crystal, which glowed with a blinding blue light for a moment. Yakuza was thrown back as the crystal seemed to disintigrated and exploded.
And then, all was black.
Looking around, Yakuza saw no blue eyes of the nine watching him, and decided it was safe to turn on his flashlight. Peering around the room, he saw nine dead bodies lying on the floor, and the pedistal was scorched and blackened.
Yakuza suddenly found that he couldn't use the psi rifle. "All the better for the galaxy, I guess..." He said to himself. He had a heavy heart that he had destroyed a great opportunity for the Azdgari, but he had also prevented the Azdgari Empire from being corrupted like the Council. If he hadn't, the Galaxy may have been all but destroyed and devastated.
But there was still the problem of the Acarra, whoever they were. Yakuza suspected that they were a race from beyond the crescent, who controlled the crystal. Yakuza kept the information to himself as to not alarm anybody, and hoped above all hopes that the Acarra would never try and invade the Milky Way...
-------------------------
The time was ripe.
The Azdgari warfleets jumped into every border system the Zidagar had, attacking any enemy ship that came in their way. This was part of a massive offensive against them with only one intention; the conquering of the Zidagar race.
But they resisted.
The initial waves of hundreds of Azdaras were slaughtered by counter-charges of Dispersal Rockets and Phased Beams. The second, more powerful wave found even tougher resistence. The Zidagar were strong, and they weren't about to let the Azdgari take them out as they had done to the Zidagar.
Azdgari Warship after warship was taken down, squadron after squadron of aradas were ambushed. The initial assault looked like a total failure for the Azdgari, but there was one hope left...
The Azdgari had managed to win in the Vastan system, and quickly sent their main fleet through the Vastan Corridor and finally into the Zidagar system itself. As the massive fleet of both Azdgari and Igadzra vessels arrived, they found not 20, not 50, but 200 Zidagar warships to their 310.
The following battle would be recorded by historians across the galaxy for centuries.
The two massive navies charged towards each other, rockets, missiles, and SADs streaming from each side. The fire waves were vaporized, but then came the second wave, whose ships simply rammed the others. Then came the third wave and the rest of the fleets, who started exchanging massive amounts of primary weapons fire.
Space was lit ablaze as the two empires fought and fought, not resting for a single moment. Ships exploded everywhere, fighters dueled and collided, frigates and destroyers just barely maneuvered out of the way of wreckage and other vessels as they battled with each other.
The two sides continued on battling, as massive hulks of burning vessels plummeted through the atmosphere of Zidagar, and Azdgari stormtroopers battled it out with Zidagar assault forces on the planet and moon. Two Azdgari admirals and three Zidagar admirals were killed in the battle, along with over a hundred-thousand others, both on land and in space.
After two full days of combat, the battle was finally over.
The Azdgari warfleet had been almost completely destroyed, only 50 ships made it out alive, while the Zidagar survived with 100 ships. The system was now littered with wreckage, and the Zidagar found it rather hard to stop fires on the planet caused by crashed vessels from the battle. It had been a glorious victory for the Zidagar, and one that they would never forget.
Following the great battle, the Zidagar reinforced their borders, and the Azdgari licked the wounds of the failed offensive. They were by no means crippled, however, and had another warfleet of 4,000 vessels ready and waiting to begin an assault on a much more powerful and deadly foe...
The Council itself.
-------------------------
Admiral Benden stared at the report from the Zidagar, which contained information on what the Azdgari empire had recently done. "They've tried to kill the Zidagar with a massive fleet in just hours!! I'm surprised that the Zidagar held them off!"
A lieutenant rushed up to him. "What orders should I give to the fleet, sir?"
"Tell them to be on high alert, priority 1. I don't want the Azdgari sneaking up on us and blowing us out of the stars while we aren't watching. And forward this report to Overrider, he'll want to see it to."
"Yes sir!"
-------------------------
Within just a few days, the entire Miranu and Zacha navies had been alerted and were now ready to defend their homeland from any invader, Azdgari are not. Renegade activity was easily beaten back, and soon there seemed to be no Renegade/Zacha fighting at all, for both sides were too apprehensive about the Azdgari to worry about each other.
The Miranu continued to pour out fighters, gunships, and warships to keep up with the Azdgari, who now easily rivaled them economy wise and shipyard wise. The Zacha helped as much as they could, even raiding the Renegades for extra supplies. Within just two months, 600 fighters, 175 gunships, and 75 warships had been constructed, and more were on the way. The Zacha had built 400 new fighters, and 300 new aradas. If the Azdgari ever did attack them, they would find a very hardened foe.
Relations with the UE had been accelerated as the Miranu went about trying to build an alliance with their long-time trading partner. The Miranu and Zacha could benefit greatly from the materials provided to them by the UE, and the UE Navy might even come in useful if the Azdgari began an offensive against either one of them.
However, talks with the Voinians were short and unsuccessful. The Voinians wanted nothing to do with the Miranu, and they let them know that. The Zidagar, however, proved to be 100% cooperative, and pledged to protect the Miranu from enemy incursions in the future.
-------------------------
Soon after the failed assault on the Zidagar, the Azdgari staged one of the biggest coups in history.
Broadcasting a message to all across Igadzra and Zidagar space, the Azdgari claimed that they had a Council prisoner, and that the Council was ordering the Igadzra and Zidagar to surrender to the Azdgari immediately. It all looked quite authentic, but the Zidagar refused the order and declared themself no longer under the authority of the Council. The Igadzra, on the other hand, surrendered immediately.
But it was all a fake.
The Azdgari were able to make no Council or Gadzair say those words, nor were they able to even make any of the Gadzair bend to their will and order the Igadzra to surrender. Instead, they had faked it all, and it worked.
The massive Azdgari warfleets jumped out of hyperspace into half a dozen Igadzra systems at once. Each of them boarded any Igadzra vessel in the area, while troops landed on Igadzra planets throughout the empire. The Azdgari took control of all the frontier systems in just a matter of hours. Meanwhile, another warfleet, bigger than all the rest, moved towards Igadzra with a massive troop convoy. Soon, all of Igadzra would have been brought under control of the Azdgari.
Coming out in the capitol system of the Igadzra, the massive Azdgari warfleet quickly began landing troops. Moving swiftly and encircling the planet like a hoard of locust, the Azdgari flagship hailed the Igadzra emporer Battledoctor with a short but to-the-point message...
"We will take control of your space quickly and effeciantly. All of your ships and facilities with serve us now. You will not resist."
The response from the Igadzra was obvious; no resistence. There were, however, many rebels who fought the Azdgari despite the futility of it all, and despite being ordered not to. They delayed the takeover for months on end, using guerilla warfare tactics to outsmart the Azdgari forces and assault them were they were weakest.
Then, Battledoctor himself was sent to a remote prison colony on the world on Tollb, where he was to spend the rest of his life. However, the Igadzra Rebels saw this, and they decided to try and free him. In a massive strike of hundreds and hundreds of still loyal vessels, the Igadzra Rebels attacked the prison colony and freed Battledoctor. As they tried to escape, they ran into a group of Predators, commanded by Emporer Shak'read himself.
The resulting battle was a major firefight, and in the battle all the Azdgari ships fell, and Shak'raed was slain. The Igadzra Rebels were severely weakened, but escaped. They raided Azdgari colonies for several more months, until the Azdgari became too strong for them. The rebel ships then ran off towards the Ji Nebula, and were never spotted again by any Azdgari nor any other species.
However, some people began to spread rumors that Battledoctor was building up a navy to take back the Igadzra someday, and that he had already established a base in the Ji Nebula as a command station. The Azdgari government quickly dismissed and supressed all such rumors, but they managed to persist, and Battledoctor almost became a legend.
But the Igadzra strand were now in the hands of the Azdgari, making them a superpower to be wreckoned with. With the Council destroyed, everyone feared the Azdgari, at least to some degree, but the Azdgari were still quite worried, even scared, about the Igadzra Rebels...
-------------------------
In the months following the Great Battle of Gadzair, the Azdgari released all the data they had gathered on the Gadzair and their doings to the other races in the Galaxy. The Zidagar declared that they were no longer a strand, and the Azdgari Empire decided to transfer their Gadzair prisoners to a psychiatric hospital where they could learn to be peaceful and get past the millia of corruption and hate that had permiated the Council for so long.
The Azdgari Empire suffered a major economic depression after the devastating battle, but in the end finally recovered, but they were too weak to make another offensive against the Zidagar, or any attack at all against the Miranu.
The Renegades had suffered heavy losses in the battle, but fortunately not as bad as the Azdgari, and they remained relatively unharmed. The Dark Angels lost nearly all of their ships in their entire navy, but it was worth it for the amount of payment they recieved; approximately 65 million credits. They used this to help finance building a new and much larger fleet, including building a few bases to help with the command structure and shipyards.
The Milky Way now enjoyed a short period of peace, with the Azdgari no longer in fighting condition, but strong enough to stop the Zidagar from attacking them. The only battles were the rare raids made by the Renegades against the Miranu.
Peace had been brought back to the Milky Way, but everyone was unsure about how long it would last, and whether or not another Wave of Destruction would come upon the Milky Way...
THE END
-------------------------
-------------------------
Wave of Destruction has finally ended!! 
Thanks to all who participated in it, and a special thanks to Redchigh for allowing me to write up a finale for his great story. Hope you all enjoy it.
And yes, Redchigh did say that I could post and write this all up, I ain't joking.
-Captain Carnotaur
------------------
If at first you don't succeed...Hit it harder! - Me
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).
