Sisay stood in his office aboard the Mira, his own destroyer. He had received the messages from the Galactica but until now was ignoring them. He turned around to look at the replay of the GNN vessel and shook his head. Some things were meant to happen one way or another. With a word the massive veiw screen flicked off and then on again to reveal the colony of Keld, the new I'ase world given to them by the new Commonwealth. There was only one colony belonging to the commonwealth there, a small bio-dome holding some fifty men, women and childeren. It could hold more, but for now it would remain so until the I'ase finished or left.

Another word sent the screen into an image that was twelve hours old. It showed the Ragnorak in spce being repaired by Commonwealth repair drones. It would be some time before the glourius ship could be returned to its normal glory. The Zacha could not afford to spare any ships, not without the flagship at the fore. The Zacha had five ship designs, yes, but without good numbers it would be suicide.

He tapped his wrist link and brought the screen online to issue a message via the Three world array.

(Message, three world array encoded)
To; BattleDoctor
From: Sisay of the Zacha

Emperor, I would want to say that I will promise the forces of the Zacha to be there in full, but they can't. We currently just don't have the fire power or hardware to do so at the time. The best I can promise is 76 ships, most of them aradas. I can see if I can pull away anymore ships from border patrol but until then, it'll be tough. Until then, Sisay out.

(End Message)

Sisay sighed and with a brief message to Zaven Squadron leader, 76 aradas headed off to Zimla. When that was finished he pondered on the idea of something. He tapped his link to open a channel to the Nerda.

"Senator Vaten, this is Commander Sisay. I need to talk to you about trading of technologies..."

CONSTRUCTION REPORT
1 shipyard built on Kuna
5 Falcons built
7 Echo Destroyers built

------------------
(url="http://"http://pub51.ezboard.com/fquillzfrm4.showMessage?topicID=10.topic")A Pilot's memory(/url)
"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain

High Admiral Fera looked out from the bridge at the Zimla system. The Fleet was growing in size, and over 5,500 ships were assembled. He turned away from the windows as a young Azdgari cleared his throat behind Fera. "Yes?" said the High Admiral?

The Azdgari saluted and stated, "The repairs have been completed, sir. All ships are ready to go into battle!"

"Very well," replied Fera. "How many BattleCruisers do we have?"

"Of the 493 currently in active service, 345 are with your fleet at the moment, sir."

"Most excellent." Fera turned the the communications officer and ordered him to open a secure channel to the Emperor's office.

Fera waited for about 20 seconds as the communications officer got the line ready. When the viewscreen lit up, the Imperial Seal of Galactica filled the visual. A short fanfare played, and a middle-aged Voinian appeared onscreen. The Emperor had a sad, tired look on his face, and as he said, "Yes, Fera?" his voice sounded weary.

Fera paused for a second, wondering what was troubling BattleDoctor, before saying, "Emperor, sir, I'm requesting permission to pull some of High Admiral Kwer's forces out of the South Tip. They would be much more useful to us if those ships were off fighting the Prylak."

The Emperor waved his hand and said, "Done. I'll order her to send, say, a thousand or so ships to your position."

"Thank you, sir."

The Imperial Seal of Galactica appeared once again, and the viewscreen went blank.

------------------

Ship Construction rates are as follows:
Fighters: 150 per post
Frigates: 75 per post
Carriers: 35 per post
Cruisers: 30 per post
BattleCruisers: 20 per post

------------------
"It's pretty hairy in there sir, it's Charlie's point!"
"Charlie don't surf!"
Apocalypse Now

(This message has been edited by BattleDoctor (edited 09-25-2001).)

The Galactica Frigate Repulse hyperjumped into the Pozdag system to check up on the Prylak.

The Captain stared in disbelief.

There wasn't a single Prylak ship left in the system. All that he could detect were some faint ion energy particles; the residue of holograms.

(MESSAGE TO GALACTICA FLEET COMMAND)
(SOURCE: Frigate Repulse)
(This is Captain Drenal. I have just entered the Pozdag system, and there isn't a single Prylak ship here! Only signs that they were using holograms to make us think that they were still in Pozdag.)
(END MESSAGE)

--------------------

As asteroids floated around the Nemnel system, no one would have thought that 8,500 Prylak ships were hiding right there. Using a scattering field, the Prylak fleet was completely hidden.

Lythrawn looked at the great expanse of space and a tactical map along with Commander Travek. "Where are we going now?" Travek asked.

"To Himgro. We'll annihilate the colony there, and then raid Mira. That should keep Galactica busy while we make our next move. In the meantime, no attacking any enemy ships that stumble upon us unless they detect us. I want to keep our position a complete secret."

Travek nodded. "I will have the fleet underway immediately."

----------------

All was quiet in the Himgro system. Why wouldn't it be? It was deep in Galactica space, and with the bulk of the Galactica fleet staying in Zilma, about to attack what they thought was the Prylak fleet, Himgro was left relatively undefended.

The silence was shattered as the Prylak fleet hyperjumped in and opened up with a massive and intense wave of weapons fire which annihilated what Galactica ships were in the system. The Prylak wasted no time in opening up with a massive planetary bombardment. After destroying the colony, the Prylak left. They were not interested in turning the planet into a large ball of magma, they just wanted to annihilate the colony. For now at least.

The Prylak fleet then moved onto Mirava, where they once again opened up with a massive barrage of gunfire while charging forward in a horrifying display of power. The Galactica ships were annihilated, and the Prylak began to open fire on the planet. However, only minutes later, they disengaged from orbit and left immediately. They had caused substantial damage to the cities, had destroyed a lot of ships, and had brung about a general panic to the system.

The Prylak headed back to Himgro, where they bombarded the planet for another 15 minutes, then left again. This time they split up their forces. Half of them in Grivok, the other half in Vethair. The ships were under direct orders not to engage any enemy force. If they were attacked, they were to retreat to the other system, and then find another place to hide.

-------------

Firebird looked at the impressive fleet. He had assembled about 300 vessels to go to the Ji Nebula and set up the sub-space inhibitors that were to protect the Terran colony. Once they arrived, they would give the access codes to the inhibitors to the Terran colony. The only other people who would know the codes would be Firebird, Scorcher, and Carnotaur. There was also a third captain, Captain Torch, who would be a sort of backup. No one except for Carnotaur knew about him. This was all designed to give the Terrans plenty of protect in case of attack.

------------------
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).

(This message has been edited by Captain Carnotaur (edited 09-25-2001).)

"...yes sir, that's right, holograms. We've been tricked, Admiral." High Admiral Fera was listening to a scout Frigate captain tell him that for the past few weeks the facts he had been relying on were false.

Fera looked up from his command console as a loud, urgent beeping sound started to sound from the communications terminal. "Sir!" yelled the officer sitting there. "The Prylak have attacked Himgro and Mirava!"

"Onscreen now!" shouted Fera. On the main viewscreen images of the Prylak ships attacking the 2 planets appeared, and statistics of estimated casualties and Prylak ship count popped up to one side. "Get me a channel to the commander of the forces in those systems!"

A Zidagar appeared on screen, eyes wide and shivering. Needless to say, he was extremely scared. He saluted and said, "F-Fleet Admiral Grera, R-Regional Commander of Galactica For-"

"What happened here?" interrupted Fera, enraged.

"They hit us without warning, sir. Scattering fields and all. I've got no ships left, and the major cities are in r-ruins..." The Zidagar officer broke down into tears.

"All ships," yelled High Admiral Fera, "Jump Formation SJ-5 to Mira!" The 6,000 ships in Zimla were gone in an instant.

-----------------

"What?!" roared BattleDoctor to his aide.

"Mira and Himgro have been hit hard by the Prylak, sir. Himgro is pretty much gone, and the Prylak fled to the Galactic East."

BattleDoctor sighed deeply. "They've taken down the entire North Tip, almost. You get on the line and tell High Admiral Fera to do whatever is necessary to destroy these Prylak invaders before they can strike again."

"Right away, sir."

-----------------

High Admiral Fera's Fleet jumped into the Mirava system to see a horrible scene. The wreckage of many Galactica ships was floating in space, and the devastation on the planet below was visible, from space, to the naked eye. Fera sighed and ordered the long range imagers to put one of the cities on the viewscreen.

What Fera saw made him go extremely pale... the city had been leveled by the Prylak weapons. Dozens more cities across the planet looked very similar. A relief freighter passed in front of the imager, and Fera turned it off. When he looked up he saw a large Fleet of Galactica warships, entering the system.

The BattleCruiser at the head of the fleet hailed Fera's ship, the G.S.S. Vorik. A wide-eyed Azdgari woman appeared on screen. "This is High Admiral Kwer out of the South Tip. The Emperor ordered me to meet up with your force in Zimla, but I came here when I heard about the attack. Nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too," said Fera. "Look, if we combine out fleets we'll have about 7,500 ships. I say we pursue the Prylak before they have a chance to get too far."

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Fera." agreed Kwer as she cut the commlink.

Fera opened a channel to the Fleet and said, "All ships, Fleet Combination Path 3-A to Kwer's ships. Then, we'll jump out and go find the Prylak!"

The 2 Fleets merged, than began to jump out in the direction of Himgro.

------------------
"It's pretty hairy in there sir, it's Charlie's point!"
"Charlie don't surf!"
Apocalypse Now

The I'ase's first heavy cruiser design was complete. They could produce many if they concentrated only on that. Other news shattered the moment, however.

Vaten was speaking to his chief Phantom pilot, Tai. "What do you mean they were holograms?!? That would explain why they did not 'detect' our Phantoms hidden there. We had at least ten."

-To Galactica-

We have heard of the Prylak's trickery, and will aid you as soon as possible. Our heavy cruiser design is complete, and we have ten in service, so far. Once its weapons have been completely researched, the Daemon will be about as powerful as your BattleCruiser, and I think they will aid the fight well.
Vaten out.

Vaten reviewed Commander Sisay's message, then opened a link to the Ragnarok.

"Commander Sisay, this is Senator Vaten of the I'ase. We will send a Phantom to Ragnarok to negotiate trades."

==========

RESEARCH PROJECT
Title: Flak mines
Time till completion: 2 posts

CONSTRUCTION REPORT
City being constructed on Keld
10 Daemons built

------------------
"My mind is like a steel trap: rusty and illegal in 37 states." -- forge

"yes, yes, of course, 'TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER' and all the like."

REDchigh is paranoid in the capitol ship oif his sworn enemy, and he subtley memorizes minor details of the Nedra....

------------------
All the problems we face in the United States today can be
traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of
the American Indian.
--- Pat Paulsen

The guards escort Red towards the Senator's private offices...

Soon they are there. Vaten invites Red into his office, and the guards stand outside.

"So this is REDchigh. I believe that both our races could benefit the other with some simple trading of technologies. You realize, of course, that we have a common enemy here. I don't think I need to name who they are. We are interested in both your rocket design and your energy cloak. What do you want from us?"

============

A lone Phantom docks with Ragnarok in the Achlos system. He waits for someone to come investigate.

RESEARCH PROJECT
Title: Flak mines
Time till completion: 1 post

CONSTRUCTION REPORT
City being constructed on Keld
13 Daemons built

------------------
"My mind is like a steel trap: rusty and illegal in 37 states." -- forge

High Admiral Fera's fleet jumped into the Himgro system, and saw much the same sight as they had in Mirava. The system was littered with disabled and destroyed warships. "All ships, enter Reconaissance Dispersal Pattern R5." ordered Fera. "If there are any Prylak ships still here, find them and destroy them."

For the better part of an hour the fleet searched the Himgro system, but found nothing. On the bridge of the G.S.S. Vorik, Fera was getting frustrated. "Where the hell are they?" he snapped. "Open a commlink to Blaga."

The Blaga Flag popped up on the viewscreen and an elderly Kayian appeared a second later. "Yes?"

"Blaga, this is the G.S.S. Vorik, can you put me through to Blaga Fleet Command?"

"Right away sir."

The image went blank, and then a uniformed Igadzra appeared on screen and saluted. "This is Admiral Hap'rer of Blaga Fleet Command. What do you need, sir?"

"Have you picked up any sign of the Prylak?"

"None, sir, but as soon as we heard the news we scrambled a Scout Frigate squadron equipped with some specialized scanning apparatus to Namer. Almost every Galactica base in the Crescent has scout patrols out right now, even in the uninhabited systems. We'll find them soon enough."

"Good," replied Fera. "Notify me if anything develops."

With that, Fera's fleet began the jump to Vethair, continuing the search.

------------------
"It's pretty hairy in there sir, it's Charlie's point!"
"Charlie don't surf!"
Apocalypse Now

OOC: Um, Asriel the Ragnorak is in repair in Sirabor and Sisay is currently in Stror aboard his ship. I'll just take it that the phantom boarded the destroyer.

Sisay stood in the docking bay command, wacthing as the the phantom ship came through the docking bay entrance. As the the ship completed final shut down, Sisay left the command room to enter the docking bay. He was unarmed but at a command he knew the auto-defense systems would kick in. In his hand he carried a datapad of all the Zacha could offer in terms of goods and technologies.

As he came up to the phantom, he greeted the I'ase. "Greetings and welcome to my ship. I would offer you a tour but I'm afraid I'll have to get straight to bussiness." Sisay handed the I'ase the pad and continued. "We don't have much to offer that would stand up to your own ships. I recommend the Falcon crusier though, as it is our latest and powerful ship design. It's as fast as a frigate and more manuverable. She carries five whitefire emmiters and a sensor cloak, though it is primitve to your cloaks. The Falcon can take a lot of punishment as well. Shock mines come as a standard compliment, with nearly forty."

Sisay mentally took note that this plan would have to work, because the Commonwealth would need technology soon and fast.

------------------
(url="http://"http://pub51.ezboard.com/fquillzfrm4.showMessage?topicID=10.topic")A Pilot's memory(/url)
"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain

Galactica shipbuilders have recently been looking for a way to improve the Frigate. While it is a powerful ship, and its expandability enables it to fill a variety of roles, from a scout platform to a light warship. However, like most Galactica Navy ships, it is far slower than most other ships comparable to it in terms of size and power.

However, shipbuilders think they may be able to fix these problems. While building the BattleCruiser, they discovered a way to make armor much more effective while reducing its size. If shipbuilders can just manage to make the thruster engine systems a little more efficient, and do the same with the shield emitters, a much improved Frigate should be available for prodcution soon.

------------------
"It's pretty hairy in there sir, it's Charlie's point!"
"Charlie don't surf!"
Apocalypse Now

Tai appeared to be satisfied as he looked over the Falcon's design.

"This ship would greatly benefit our forces. What do you wish in return from our technology?"

=============

Nedra, Senator's offices

"Red, I can offer you our Basilisk design. It is a fast and powerful frigate-class ship, and is reasonably armed."

=============

RESEARCH PROJECT
Title: LHR
Time till completion: 2 posts

CONSTRUCTION REPORT
City constructed on Keld
16 Daemons built

OOC: Whitehawk, where is Commonwealth space? Stror or Sirabor?

------------------
"My mind is like a steel trap: rusty and illegal in 37 states." -- forge

OOC: Commonwealth Space includes both Sirabor and Stror, as all four moons in the two systems have been colonized.

Sisay looked at Tai and said, "As you probably have come to know Lord Tai, the Zacha are an elite force dedicated to stamping out any remaining renegade threat. For a short time we were at war with Galactica before the Prylak came. As badly as we need weapons technology now, we have more need for scouts. I would ask for your cloaking device as our sensor cloak is becoming obsolete. It would greatly benefit our need in recon missions and to hide the Ragnorak. Speaking of which..." Sisay hit his wristlink and an holographic image poped up.

It showed the Ragnorak in its present condition, still beat up yet being repaired. "This is the Ragnorak, formerly home to 500,000 people, of which three hundered thousand were civillians. She is currently in rebuilding and we need to refit her. We can use all the help we need if the Ragnorak is to ever become a city ship again. I would be grateful if the I'ase could help in her progress."

CONSTRUCTION REPORT
6 Falcons
6 Echo Destroyers
30 assorted fighters/aradas

------------------
(url="http://"http://pub51.ezboard.com/fquillzfrm4.showMessage?topicID=10.topic")A Pilot's memory(/url)
"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain

Designing armor for the BattleCruiser, researchers developed a method of creating the armor under many gravities. This enabled a ship to actually increase it's armor protection while reducing the amount of space the armor takes. The same method is being used on the new Frigates, and in conjunction with better engines the ship will be much more maneuverable.

Galactica engines are actually very powerful, and the reason that the ships are generally quite slow is because they have to push such a large mass. When they reduced the amount of armor plating needed, the engine had less mass to carry and the ship's speed was already increased. In addition to this, an Azdgari shipbuilder recently developed a new type of fusion drive core that radically increased engine efficiency. The core still needs some tinkering with, but it will greatly help the advancement of the new ship type.

Frigates have always been multi-role craft, and the new design promises to make them even more suited to multiple roles. 2 Variants are planned: Battle Frigates, and Scout Frigates. Battle Frigates will have Heavy Pursuit Missile Launchers, Point Defense Systems, and a few HI-PM cannons. These will have slightly heavier armor and shields than the other variants, but will still be very maneuverable. Scout Frigates will have minimal weaponry, most likely no more than PD systems and HI-PM turrets. A special team of scientists is working on creating a new scanner that will have greater range and better cloak detection capabilities than current scanners. The Scout Frigate will be very fast and maneuverable.

All plans are still only in preliminary stages and are subject to change.

------------------
"It's pretty hairy in there sir, it's Charlie's point!"
"Charlie don't surf!"
Apocalypse Now

OOC: Here's the latest RoC 2 Map: (url="http://"http://www.speakeasy.org/~ljp/carnotaur/roc_2_map.gif")http://www.speakeasy...r/roc_2_map.gif(/url)

-----------

Lythrawn, to keep his fleet from being detected, moved it to the very extreme edge of the system and hid both of them inside dense asteroid fields. By this time all repairs were complete, and Lythrawn was also starting on enhancing his ships as much as he could. Tweaking ships, adjusting weapons, etc. The only real way Lythrawn was limited in what he could do was the amount of resources he had, of which he had a lot of.

Lythrawns next move would be a daring one, but he knew whether success of failure it would be a deep blow to Galactica...

If only the Prylak could send more ships...

-------------

Carnotaur, finally giving up hope in a response from RMA on what he should do, decided to head back to Mira. There he would stay for a few days then head off to either MA space or to engage the Prylak somewhere...

-------------

Captain Firebird zoomed into the system just ajacent (sp?) to F-25. The MA fleet then hyperspaced towards F-25, and along the way laying dozens of sub-space inhibitors. Once they had arrived in F-25, Firebird gave the access codes to the Terrans, then hyperspaced back out. Once they were clear of the inhibitors, Firebird activated them, sealing off the Terran colony...

------------------
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).

(This message has been edited by Captain Carnotaur (edited 09-26-2001).)

Just so you all know, I'm gonna be away for about 4 days, and I won't be able to post here for a bit. Just keep in mind that Galactica is a bit understaffed for a few days. The large fleet in Grivok has pulled back to DSN-3930, and pretty much all of Galactica space is on alert for any sign of the Prylak.

------------------
"It's pretty hairy in there sir, it's Charlie's point!"
"Charlie don't surf!"
Apocalypse Now

Sorry for not posting much the last few days, I've had other things on my mind.

I'll post properly later, but I just want to point out that the Prylak have less than 6000 ships. They had 5000 left several posts before the battle ended, with 1500 elsewhere. Seeing that 6000 new ships attacked the Prylak shortly after the number of 5000 was mentioned, I think they would have lost a good portion of those. I see no way they could have more than 5000 to be honest. 6000 fresh ships attacking a damaged force of 5000 ships will do plenty of damage I think.

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by RMA:
**Sorry for not posting much the last few days, I've had other things on my mind.

I'll post properly later, but I just want to point out that the Prylak have less than 6000 ships. They had 5000 left several posts before the battle ended, with 1500 elsewhere. Seeing that 6000 new ships attacked the Prylak shortly after the number of 5000 was mentioned, I think they would have lost a good portion of those. I see no way they could have more than 5000 to be honest. 6000 fresh ships attacking a damaged force of 5000 ships will do plenty of damage I think.

**

Okay then, RMA, shall I bring more Prylak in?

Just be satisfied with Carnotaur's figures, and stop pushing figures, because I'll only treble them if you do. The Prylak threat isn't supposed to be over yet, friend.

However, the Prylak's survivability...

Hmm. I'm pretty lost with all these technologies. Am I the only person who frankly doesn't care? I can't remember how long the Azdgari Battlecruiser will take, or what the Terran Colony are researching right now. To me, it means less than nothing.

- - -

Over the past few weeks, a hundred new Azdgari vessels had been built, and with the Azdgari fleet back in their home space, things were beginning to return to normality.

Even with the Prylak still around, the Azdgari were past getting involved...for now. Raiding fleets hit Galactica systems and ships along the border, rarely taking more than two or three ships down, most freighters, at a time.

The attacks weren't exactly heated - just what Galactica and before then the Zidagar and Igadzra put up with constantly, most not even government oriented, but the Azdgari in their free time (this being oft the case as the Azdgari were one of the few races that had their pilots buy their own ships.)

Meanwhile, work on the Azdgari Battlecruiser was moving on well. Zidagar aid was still required, and some mention was made of asking the Mercenary Alliance to send a small engineering convoy to the Azdgari system to help construction. The trade, of course, would be for money, most of which had been stolen off Galactica over the raids.

However, no-one could doubt the Battlecruiser would be formidable once complete. If everything went as planned, it would have a variety of different technologies merged into it.

Emperor Yoo Oe had grander ideas than most, in fact. With the Prylak beaten back, for now, the problem of Galactica had returned, and Galactica's enemies needed a new name, a new sign, and Yoo Oe intended the Azdgari to be at the heart of it - especially since they were the most established of anti-Galactica races.

If engineering factions from the Zacha, the I'ase, the Zidagar and the Mercenary Alliance, could be put into the Azdgari Battlecruiser, a vessel could be created that could match anything. Views of the Aurora Battleship, a magnificent Mercenary Alliance ship that could no doubt level the new Galactica BattleCruiser, showed it was impressive, and it was smaller than the Azdgari's ship frame.

However, one problem annoyed Yoo Oe.

"...dammit, the MA have a battleship, news has just come in that Galactica have christened this ship the Battlecruiser..." Yoo Oe muttered. "What ever happened to originality?"

One general smiled faintly. "We could rename our vessel?"

Yoo Oe nodded. "It's race title is to change anyway, if my plans work. The Azdgari Battlecruiser theory, to the Alliance Flagship fact."

"Oh, and send message to the Zacha - I want the technologies of the Ragnarok in that too."

Such messages were sent now to the Zacha, and the Mercenary Alliance - and Zidagar aid was still requested. Also, as part of a new spirit, another message was went to the Zidagar.

-From Emperor Yoo Oe-
-To Rima of the Zidagar-

We intended to deceive you, but nay, we shall not. We shall make this craft for the Alliance, to fight Galactica.

Help us construct, please, send some ships to our system at Azdgari.

We shall sculpt such vessels, as we shall christen the Alliance Flagship, for every race that helps us make it.

And then, we will be victorious!

-End message-

------------------
That's all very nice, but where are the guns?
- SilverDragon

(This message has been edited by SilverDragon (edited 09-26-2001).)

Rima read the latest message sent by the Azdgari and recalled all the ships to Savior. Then she paused, and reread the message and nodded thoughtfully. She sent 2 ships of each kind, totaling 8, full of their scietists and a few helpful upgrades, along with a message asking if they had anyshipyards available. She shrugged, wondering if they would let them use them if they did.

She could always share with the Qan, or build enough ships that she could retake one of her planbets from before, and perhaps let the Qan use a shipyard. She sighed sadly. That was if she ever got a shipyard to build more ships at all.

------------------
Of course Women don't work as hard as men....They do it right the first time.
My AIM is Rima17456

Thirty thousand Haorn vessels, the other twenty thousand either destroyed or elsewhere holding the Prylak back for this assualt, stormed into a system known as Pria, the capital of the Prylak Empire.

They were met by half the Prylak Navy, which was at this point fifty thousand ships, and the situation was more balanced, as the Prylak were prepared.

Still, the Haorn force was considerable, and it became clear this battle would not be a quick and easy one.

Prylak fighters screached across the stars, blasts firing out at the heavy Haorn ships, most of them destroyers. The Haorn returned fire, and fighters went up in blazes.

Haorn sub-space beamers sliced through fighters quickly like a knife through butter, and although the battle raged on for many hours, it was clear to the Prylak that the battle would end on the Haorn's side.

The Prylak force this time, hwoever, had no opportunity to retreat. The second they tried to, a hundred sub-space emitters bombarded Pria itself, and the planet fell apart. Another two hundred sub-space emitters caught the Prylak ships, and all organisation fell apart.

Two days later, the system of Pria was desolate of even one Prylak lifeform, and the Haorn began to move on.

At the same time, the Prylak were split into two factions - the Raiek Prylak, and the Lacet Prylak. The Prylak who still held to the old order fled through the warpgate: 10,000 civilian ships and five thousand battered military vessels.

The highest ranking Prylak in the Milky Way was still Lythrawn, however.

And the highest ranking true Prylak in the Prylak's galaxy, was a cat named Gerald.

The Haorn continued on their path of destruction, but their battle was almost over, their ships were tired, and the Prylak had in all reality been defeated. The Raiek and Lacet "Prylak" would over the years be trimmed of that name, and the Prylak would sink away.

It had ended, perhaps, to some eyes, but now the leftovers of the Haorn might be the death to the Milky Way.

Meanwhile, a lone ship of unidentified origin fled out from Pria, a ship that would begin another surviving, once a slave race of the Prylak. The Sijak were free.

And Ross 154 was shaping for another tale of war.

------------------
That's all very nice, but where are the guns?
- SilverDragon

-From Emperor Yoo Oe of the Azdgari-
-To Rima of the Zidagar-

Of course. In exchange for your aid, we offer you Tollb as a system for you to build. Our Azdgari population will remain, but the shipyards will be yours.

-End message-

Emperor Yoo Oe leaned back, and grinned. He sensed a change coming about, and he liked it. The Azdgari were about to become strong.

------------------
That's all very nice, but where are the guns?
- SilverDragon