(Thank you for being polite and accomidating about that, Slug.
I toned down the devestation a little. Now the blast is little more than that of a single h-bomb (little is relative, that WAS antimatter). Bob used it to prevent anyone from accessing the tunnels.
Oh, and it's now a light battleship that blows up.

Unfortunatly, Leela has to go to North Star very briefly, to make sure Bob took the piece. She can get there because she has some Wr'kncacnter powers.)

Darkk's warpship, one of the new "Herald of Leela" class, appeared above the Polaris homeworld under heavy cloak. A large group of ships hovered over the planet, showing a tad of a pockmark on one side. The piece was obviously taken. She considered. Bob could not use them against her, for she had the controling piece. She could draw upon the power of the pieces he had, although not as much as if she had them with her.

She held out her hand, and pointed. The coordinates of the star she pointed to appeared in the nav_dest array, were selected, and the ship was off as quickly and almost as quietly as it had came.

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

The admirals were taking no chances this time, and had a full scan of all the surrounding space running.

"Sirs, ma'am - odd spike on warpband. If it wasn't for the fact they're so far away, I'd swear it was a Vylae warpgate."

"Well, let us know if anything further shows." Yuri turned back to Natasha. "So, how did you recover?"

"It was odd. I heard this ancient, disembodied voice. It ordered me to recover, and my thoughts cleared. It then told me to order some sort of archeological expedition to the area that blew up. I think it's connected. All that was an hour before the blast. It reminded me of Leela's trick with telepathy."

"I'm a little concerned about those Vylae." said Aleck.

"They will prove formidable." replied Yuri. "We must wait until the Phylydions are integrated into our collection to go after them. They will be extrordinarily difficult."

"I will make the Vylae pay for messing with my head." Natasha's determination even made the other admirals flinch.

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

Bob watched the counter tick down. Rodrom was really, really far away from where he was.
Apparently, all sorts of ledgends existed about it. Most of them involving giant monsters killing people. It had been inhabited at many points, but became uninhabited disturbingly quickly.

The thought that Durandal was watching gave him comfort. Durandal never let the universe down.

The Jjaro's voice came in again. "Well done. We've decided to let you continue without negative reinforcement. Be prepaired for Leela, and remeber that Wr'kncacnter hate love above all else. I'm surprised they tolerate Leela. I guess they groan under their slab more than under her rule."

Bob pondered the words. They didn't seem to mean anything. He'd figure them out later.

------------------
Seen on a Claymore anitpersonell mine: "Do not eat"

(This message has been edited by Fleet Admiral Darkk (edited 11-29-2001).)

(That was not a Cipcon shipment, Slug. It was a raw material and supplies convoy.)

Garrion Retoe sat at the command console from which he coordinated the efforts of the numerous Pure Taeskors under his command who had infiltrated Polaris space. They sent back valuable intelligence and could pull off rather helpful operations in a pinch. He rubbed his eyes. "They've underestimated our defense coordinations," he said over a special always-open secure comm unit to Nerec. "They want to take down the Phylydia."

"What about the II?"

"The I is a much more significant symbol of the Imperium. Plus, the II'd be harder to destroy. I think they're just going to start planet-hopping pretty soon. Make sure our defense fleets are distributed well."

"Right. Oh, and enact operation II." Retoe keyed in the command.

On six major Polaris worlds, multitudes of governing members were suddenly relieved of their duties. And, as a sort of signal bell to announce their grand retirement, several military facilities blew themselves apart.

The populations of dozens of Phylydion border worlds were evacuated and withdrawn, along with all technology and supplies that had been on the planets.

------------------
-Traek Cicion of the Taeskor
"What sort of man is he?"
"Oh, he's just like any other man, only more so."
-Casablanca

"Sir, we have confirmation: the 'prototype' has escaped."

He couldnt help but stop what he was doing as he heard these words. He put down a document he was reading, stood up and went to one of the windows of his command chamber. He watched the stars move by and lurched slightly as the ship entered omnispace.
"Do we know where it.......where he is?"
"I'm sorry sir, he disappeared right after he escaped."
Here the officers voice dropped off.
"I dont want excuses! I want this monster found and killed on sight! Do you understand me?!"
"Yes sir, understood!"
The officer saluted and walked out of the room in a hurry.
"If we dont find him," Tavron thought, "there'll be hell to pay........"

After the Polaris attack on the Phylydion fleet, the Ordan high council decreed that they would provide any necessary support to the Phylydions. They also called for a massive attack on the "North Star". The attack was to consist of 10,000 ships all equipped with new weapons technology specifically designed to penetrate heavy shielding. The attack was to commence at some point with the assitance of the Phylydion navy, but was postponed due to the mysterious assassination of a high ranking Phylydion official. At around the same time, many Ordan officials in connection with covert eugenics projects were also killed. The attack was rescheduled and the fleet departed about 1 month later.

------------------
"We shall dominate their armies, pillage their cities, and banish their spirits to the land of eternal darkness."
-Corporus 1st Class Tavron Seida
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The first notice was when border satellites on the edge of The North Star System stopped their transmissions. As more and more satellites began disappearing, a general shape began to emerge. All the monitoring stations to the east were silencing shortly after reading a large energy spike. The omnispacial wave consistent of thousands of small ships jumping into a system.

"Triangulate their positions." Admiral Ulovich ordered. "Tell me when you have a firing solution."

Numbers were being fed into the tracking alghorithm, the results squared, and fed back again. The Phylydion Armada was settling into orbit, plunging towards North Star Prime. "Sir, we have a firing solution. Phylydion fleet has entered the system. ETA is one hour."

"Activate the Planetary Defense Network."

In high omnisynchronous orbit, an ever-shifting spherical matrix of orbital defense began to warm-up. The small cylindrical Orbital Defense Pods activated their positioning gyro-tauri, spinning the wheels untill they were directly facing the oncoming armada.

Their tuning pylons opened up like a flower, exposing the nakid particle accelerator underneath. The Tuning Pylons of the thousands of turrets glowed an intense neon-green moments before they burst into light, blasting an ionised beam at twice the speed of light into deep space.

(url="http://"http://www.slugsoft.f2s.com/planetarion/img/hyperon_collage.jpeg")(image)(/url)

The first barrage caught the oncoming fleet by surprise. The forward ships in the formation burst into green explosion as the huge beams slammed into them.

"What the kadt was that?!"

"Sir, they appear to be part of some Polaris long-range defense system. I'm reading hyperon-based partical beams coming from North Star and North Star Prime."

"Cannons in orbit around the star and the planet?"

"Yessir. Now we actually know what they're hitting us with, we can track oncoming beams."

"Good. Take evasive action."

The small ships swerved, easily evading the beams, but as they drew nearer to North Star Prime, more and more were torn to pieces as increasing numbers of orbital cannons came from over the horizon to fire.

(url="http://"http://www.slugsoft.f2s.com/planetarion/img/PDS_fire.jpeg")(image)(/url)

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

The defense fire growing thick, the high captain commanding the picket ships quickly gave orders to the rest of his force. "Break formation and destroy these targets." He pressed a few buttons, on his tactical display, and the computer instantly sent each ship the coordinates of a different defense satellite. The pickets split up and fired at their targets, cleaning up enough of the satellites for the first wave of bigger ships to push their way through. Compact Ordan warships weaved their way in between the Phylydion ones, firing at any targets the situation dealt them.

Aboard the bridge of the entire fleet's flagship, a pocket battlecarrier, a young Rear Admiral surveyed the situation.

"Sir, the pickets have fairly well taken care of defense satellites. A Polaris defense fleet is approaching from the farther out in the system. We might get pinned between them and the planet."

"Keep a good distance away from the planet. What kind of anti-orbital guns do they have down there?"

"Enough to pulverize us if we enter close orbit."

"Squadron three, peel off and engage the Polaris fleet. Can we bombard the planet?"

"No, sir. They've got a high-power defense screen up."

"Send down a few flights of bombers, then. Target government and military buildings. NO civilians."

"Aye, sir."

The bay doors of the battlecarrier glid open, allowing bombers with oval hulls and sicle wings to hurtle out with fighter escort. They slipped down to the planet and, traveling at very slow speed, gently slid their way through the shield. As they approached the surface heavy ack-ack fire and missiles filled the sky. The fighters spent most of their time shooting down missiles, then dove for the defense installations and blew them to slag. The bombers loosed several missile salvos, destroying several power stations and damaging a large military facility. Fighters then dove and strafed what was left. The bombers then moved to a large plot of government and military buildings and carpet-bombed it.

"Sir, Squadron three is beating a retreat from the Polaris fleet, which is almost twice our size. I suggest we leave the system soon. There's another, larger fleet en route, and we'll be trapped if we stick around much longer."

"Very well. Recall our bombers, and prepare for a slow retreat to the edge of the system."

"Aye, sir." The bombers and fighters flew back up into the ship after a few more runs, and the fleet began a slow withdrawl, fighting off the Polaris fleet all the way. "Sir, I don't think we're going to make it! The other Polaris fleet's almost here."

Meanwhile, the Polaris fleet blazed across space at FTL speeds, approaching North Star Prime. "We're almost to the system, sir. We'll cut off the Phylydion fleet and tear it to ribbons!" With a terrible space-wrenching sound, the entire fleet was suddenly torn into realspace. The commander looked at the normal stars.
"What happened?"
"Don't know, sir. Gravity well of some sort. Transmission's coming through-"

"Attention, my good friends. This is FIRST ADVANCE ADMIRAL Dinial Bedein. Let's dance!" Energy beams sprang from multitudes of points in space, damaging the fleet and throwing parts of it into disarray. Then the Phylydion ships were finally visible, completely surrounding the fleet. Phylydion fighters and light ships were already flitting in between the Polaris ships. Polaris carriers opened their fighter bays, and Phylydion gunboats flew in and blasted the open bays to smithereens. Then the flagship, a rare Domination II-class battleship, plunged straight through the van of the enemy fleet, spraying fire in both directions and forward. More ships followed in its wake, splitting the fleet in two. The flagship fired heavy salvos that slammed the Polaris flagship around. It finished with a coup de grace, a long, threading beam that impaled the heavy battleship along its horizontal axis. Bursts of plasma and flame sprouted from its hull. The acting-commander of the Polaris fleet was informed that the anti-FTL field was gone, and immediately gave the order. A tattered fleet almost half its original size sputtered into supralight speed.

Admiral Bedein, stronger than ever, strode the bridge of his command ship. "Let's disappear, lieutenant." The fleet flashed out of space like a phantasm.

-Back at NS Prime...

"Sir! The Polaris fleet en route's been ambushed and routed!" Cheers filled the bridge.

"Good! Get us the hell out of Polaris space!" The fleet, with significant losses, catapulted itself away from its imminent destruction.

------------------
-Traek Cicion of the Taeskor
"What sort of man is he?"
"Oh, he's just like any other man, only more so."
-Casablanca

Natasha sighed. All the scanners showed clear. "Stand down from invasion alert. Get damage assessments ASAP. I'll be in my ready room if you need me."

Yuri turned to her. "This will have to be reviewed thoroughly. We must not allow this to happen again."

Natasha agreed, then hurried to her ready room. She pulled out her sleeping cot and plopped down. Odd, she never usually felt that tired.

_
In her dream, Natahsa was six years old.
Her mother was there too - her mind often replayed the last time she spent with her mother, although it was always different.
Her mother wore the clean, shimmering admiral's uniform she liked so much. Natasha had been determined to wear it ever since she knew what it meant.

Without a word, her mother dropped to her knees and hugged her. It was one of the few events in the dream that stayed constant.
Suddenly, her mother spoke. "Did they ever tell you the truth about how I died?"
Natasha knew they hadn't. "No."
"You should look through their files. You have the power."
"I did. Nothing was there."
"You should check the FxITSYS directory. The truth is in there. The password is "|DingDongTheWitchIsDead0012|".Natasha knew she could trust her mother.
Or could she?
"Nice try, Leela."
The dream changed. Now, the adult Natasha was being hugged by Leela.
"You figured out the source, I see. However, I have no need for lies when the truth hurts so much. Read the files. If you don't support peaceful human unification after that, you'd have to be insane or hate your mother."
"Or not believe it."
"Have I ever lied to you?"
"No, but you haven't said very much either."
"Then read it, and ask the others about it. They were well placed enough then to hear ripples. Don't blame them, they weren't responsible."

With that, the dream faded._

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

Battleroid Field Infiltrator Report
Header: Top_Secret

We hitched a ride on one of the Polaris smuggling ships heading back after the Phylydion crackdown. It had stayed over a little due to fueling difficulties. We told them we were smugglers who'd been detained, but released due to insufficient evidence. They believed it after we helped with the refuel and demonstrated our knowledge of smuggling.

We're currently prepairing for deep-cover operations, as the immediate objective is mooted.

The hair dye and contacts are working great. Nobody suspects anything. And they'd need to medscan us or open us up to seem much else different. Our weapons were accepted as part of a smuggler's standard regalia (we were careful to select generic, black-market weapons to avoid suspicion).

For now, we're laying low with the rest of the smugglers, waiting for our next assignment.
It appears a large portion of Polaris takeovers are precipitated by addicting their enemies to a custom-tailored yet seemingly harmless drug. We recomend we watch our backs if they try ANY trade relations.

We'll stand by to blow up, steal, or spy as things shape up. Stay in touch.

End_Transmission
�

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

Bob sighed. The techs at this Polaris fuel station were freaking out about "where did you get this ship?!??!?". He answered honestly, and they laughed really hard, told him they liked the joke, and then serioused up again and demanded he tell the "truth" about where he got it.

"A friend gave it to me."

"What species? What nationality?"
"Jjaro. Jjaro."

"Never heard of that one."

"It's not your enemy."

"How do we know?"

Bob considered several responses. "Because you're not dead." "Because you're not enough of a threat." "Because they haven't killed you yet." "Because you aren't evil enough for them to care"

Bob decided "Because you're moral enough."

They accepted that, and fueled the scoutship.

Bob sighed. He'd have to make 2 or 3 more fuel stops. Some of them in Phylydion space. Humans weren't very welcome there...

------------------
Seen on a Claymore anitpersonell mine: "Do not eat"

(Cicion, there is no Cipcon smuggling, no Cipcon importation, or trading. There is absolutely NO cipcon left in the imperium, as far as the populace and the authoraties know of)

"And your men are good enough for the job?" Yuri Ulovich asked wearily, regarding the black man sitting opposite him with mild curiosity.

"Damn right we can." He grunted, slamming his orange space-helmut onto the pure-opal table. "We can pop-in-and out before they even see us."

"Do you require Confederate Assistance in getting your team into the imperium?" sked Yuri in a burst of generosity.

"No, a diversion would only hinder our efforts. You see, Phylydions can only detect ships with 'shield' technology at long range. Our heavy-armor division can land a few of my men on Dominus completely undetected."

"Will they suspect anything?"

"The Phylydions don't even know of our existance, though the Argosians would, what with our sacking their homeworld all those years ago..."

"Normally I would not treat with the likes of you." Yuri half-sneered, "However, Only a fool would ignore something that could deal serious damage to his foe. For your cooperation up tot he fall of Dominus, you want...?"

The mercenary leaned forward and licked his lips, eager to finish the sentence. "A share of the plunder. But, you must keep the Argosians from us. We fear them greatly."

Yuri Sighed. "Very well. I shall press Vendetta on the Argosians in exchange for your cooperation."

The Orion Captain smiled.

"Cargo Ship wolf-zeta, you are violating shipping lane Phylon-quack, please hold position for immediate inspection."The Phylydion shipping director waited for the reply.

Static burst back. "Cargo Ship wolf-zeta reporting, we are experiancing drive trouble. Requesting emergency flight plan!"

"Head to patrol lane Centauri-jack where you willbe escorted to the nearest compound."

"Negative, control, our drive has suffered complete faliure and we are having difficulties maintaining orbit. Mayday! Mayday!"

The Cargoship's wreckage was recovered three hours later in the bottom of a crater somewhere in the wastelands on Dominus. No possible survivors, all escape-pods still in place.

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

Tavron Seida was not in a good mood. Not only had the attacks on the Northstar been severely delayed, but many of his best operatives and officials had been killed by an unknown preditor. Of course, it was only unknown to the general public; while he didn't know for sure, Tavron had a pretty good idea who was behind this. He read through the case file on an Ordan black op: a eugenics project of monumental proportions that ended in ruins:

Case File: Confidential
Status: Unreleased
Type: Black Ops/Covert Operation
Code Name: Raiden

Purpose: to create a genetically perfect "super-soldier" capable of performing missions to dificult for normal operatives.

Notes: Dr. ---- ------- (name classified - lvl

The general purpose of this mission was to take the mind of the most decorated officer in the Ordan Navy and combine it with the tactical knowledge of the most successful terrorist of all time. It was expected that the superior intelect of the soldier would take over the personality of this weapon and would utilize the knowledge of the terrorist. In any case, the body that was originally used was too weak to support the brain due to the tremendous heat produce by the dual minds present. Thus, a "cyborg" body was constructed that could properly dissapate the heat. THis new weapon was given the name Raiden. When first activated, the terrorist's mind took over and the cyborg destroyed the lab along with all of the scientists and personel inside.

-End of log file.

"Sir, should i give the order to launch the fleet?"
Tavron woke up from his daydream and slowly forced the words out:
"Yes. Give the order for 5000 of the ships to procede to the North Star, destroy all blockades and destroy the planet. Have the other 5000 ships guard all of the major planets under Ordan control. Do we have confirmation of support from the Phylydions?"
"Sir, they haven't sent the transmission."
"Then we'll have to launch without them. Give the order!"
"Yes Sir!"

The officer clicked his heels and saluted, then left the room. Within the hour, the 5000 ships had set out to the North Star fully armed and oblivious to the bloody battle ahead.

A tall muscular figure stepped into the office of Tavron Seida. As he walked towards his desk, he dropped a human corpse he was holding by the head. The body made a loud thunk as it hit the ground. The figure strode silently towards Tavrons desk. He picked up the case file, "So Tavron, you have been keeping tabs on me."

------------------
"We shall dominate their armies, pillage their cities, and banish their spirits to the land of eternal darkness."
-Corporus 1st Class Tavron Seida
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Bob was not generally not the one to consult when arranging the balance of power in the galaxy. He had tolerable analytic skills, it was just that he had never applied them to much beyond small tactical engagements. However, he did not like the fact that the Phylidions were going to assault the Polaris homeworld anymore than he liked the fact that he had not heard from Durandal yet, which meant a twenty year trip home by his current means of conveyance. He knew that the Phylidion honor code bound its officers to defend civilians at great cost, he had seen too many war ravaged planets to believe it. Unfortunately, he had no way to do damage to the ships beyond boarding and sabotageing them one by one.

He did however realize that they large Phylidion fleet was likely headed his way, and that he would be hard pressed to find a quicker way back to his side of the galaxy. He made the decison, and jumped into North Star in the middle of the battle. His cloak hid him well, and long enough for him to find a large enough hole in a damaged Phylidion vessel to fly inside and latch on. It was then only a matter of time before the wounded vessel he had boarded lit up its engines and folded out, back towards the Phylidion Border.

------------------
NEW NAME FOR THE DREADNOUGHT
The Hard-Boiled Egg
Why?
Because she cant be beaten!

"Sir we've got unidentifieds in orbit over North Star. Shall we proceed with the attack?"

Tavron cracked hi knuckles so violently that even several thousand lightyears away, the fleet commander flinched. "So the Polaris have called in their lapdogs. Proceed as planned."

The ususal rain of planetary fire lanced through the incoming fleet, impaling many of the attackers before the fleets clashed.

Moments before the fleets began firing on each other, a large red beam sliced the Phylydion Command-ship in half.

Shouts were heard from the Polaris defenders. "Glory to the Axis! Glory to the empire! Glory to the Confederacy! Glory to mankind!" The terrible warcry sent a shiver down the spines of even the most Veteran Phylydion Warriors.

"Sir! We've got incomings in sector four, planetside!" Yelped the captain.

"A trap..." The newely-replaced fleet commander breathed.

The four fleets converged on the Phylydion Armada.

Shrugging off losing half of their ships every fifteen minutes, the Phylydions screamed towards the planet in a blaze of glory.

Four Days Later

As North Star still lay smouldering, recovering from the worst saturation nuclear-bombing in it's history, revenge was already being plotted halfway accross the galaxy.

The farmlands on Bordeaux, sisterworld to Dominus, were not only a major source of food for the Imperium, but also one of the few serene spots left in it. The Cipcon Riots had never really taken the planet by storm; a few of the cities were imposed under martial law, but besides being the most peacefull planet in the imperium, it was also the most disinteresting.

Thus when a nuclear flame erupted one day in the Capital of Bordeaux, wiping the city off the face of the planet, a clear message was sent to the imperium. We too are among you.

This did little to ease the drug-fazed panic among the populace of the imperium.

Admiral Benedin sat in his completely-devoid quarters. He sat at his admiral's desk, the lamp completely focused on the table, blotting out the rest of the room- hell, the whole ship as far as he was concerned- in total darkness. It was all he could do to keep his sanity.

Though he had kicked the habit and had rehabilitated, he was still a wreck. He could not bear hearing the mention of the word Cipcon, or even bear sight to a shade of purple without his whole body tingling in anticipation, in want-turned-need off the euphoric drug. Indeed, the addiction was spreading to his conscious as well; the only way he could focus was to avoid color, to avoid happiness and satisfaction, to avoid all of the feelings and sensations his brain had permanently associated with Cipcon.

The room was stuffy and quiet. He felt alone at times in the room, but not now. Why not? Why was there a sudden presence in his quarters? He bit his lip as sweat rolled down his forehead, his breathing became elevated, his voice rang out hoarse and whispery. "Who's there?!".

Silence.

He forced himself to calm down. He was tired, and needed to go to bed. As he started to turn he sensed a motion. A tiny lavendar vial rolled onto the desk from the pitch-darkness.

His panting became frantic, fearfull. Were those the footsteps of the intruder, or the galloping of his heart in it's terror?! How did this make it's way into the imperium?! Why, Benedin, why? Why why why why why?! He restrained himself, but to no avail. He was a weak, man; his strength, willpower, determination, and even terror could not override his overwhelming need. He sobbed as he brought the vial up to his face, turning the opening up to face him. Benedin you are pathetic. Benedin you coward you, DO NOT TAKE THE VIAL BENEDIN! DON'T TAKE IT! His brain was screaming at his muscles to throw the vial down; to smash it into a million pieces and be rid of it, but he couldn't.

BENEDIN DON'T... ohhh yeah....

They found him two days later at the bottom of his sonic shower; a quivering wretched mass. The antithesis of the once-stalawart and strong high Admiral.

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

(Slug, my character isn't really the "knuckle-cracking" type, and im pretty sure the word "lapdog" isn't in the Ordan vocabulary. By the way, the Ordan fleet had just left base, and wouldn't reach the North Star for quite sometime. Why dont you leave the control of my character to me, ok? Good.)

Tavron nervously strode back and forth across the command chamber. It had been two days into the mission and there had been no indication of any Pylydion support in this endeavour. Of course they were busy fighting their own battles, but their support was crucial to the success of this mission.

"Sir, we have visual confirmation of Phylydion support from someone named Bedein. He says he is currently in control of a large fleet that has been performing hit-and-run attacks ont the Polaris forces."
Tavron smiled to hiself. He had heard a great deal about the illustrious Admiral Bedein. "Notify him that we accept his support and look forward to working with him in the upcoming battles."
"Yes Sir!"

"So we finally have some real support. Its about time." Tavron thought to himself.

Several hours later

Tavron was sitting in his private quarters when he was interrupted by a young lieutenant:
"Sir, i have terrible news. Another one of your advisors has been found dead. However, this time we were able to ascertain who the killer was. It appeared that the victim attempted to fight back, and cut the killer. We analyzed the blood sample; its him...."

Here the lieutenant stopped. He saw the look of horror on Tavron's face. He saluted, and quickly left the room.

Tavron hardly knew what to think. He knew the true capabilities of Raiden, and realized that it would be nearly impossible to take him down. Then it came to him; he thought of someone who could help him: a man by the name of..........Cicion. "Tomorrow morning," he thought to himself, "i will talk Traek and see if he can help me. If he cant help, then the Polaris will be the least of my worries."

------------------
"We shall dominate their armies, pillage their cities, and banish their spirits to the land of eternal darkness."
-Corporus 1st Class Tavron Seida
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Drion Nerec looked over the report. "What's this about our launching a second attack on North Star?"

"After our fleet retreated from the system, a renegade Phylydion mercenary force attacked the system. They were surrounded and almost destroyed, but managed to blast the kadt out of North Star with incendiary and nuclear bombs."

"And what of our Ordan allies?"

"They've launched an offensive campaign into Polaris space. They've been asking rather loudly for our support. Naturally, we placed a medium-sized fleet under their command, although it is a bit of a strain on our resources. Admiral Bedein's fleet is also deep in Polaris space, conducting raids. We're unsure of his progress. The attacks on Beordo(Just Phylizing the name, Slug) are still being looked in to. And our agents in Polaris space are still working their wonders."

"Good."

Admiral Bedein sat, disenheartened, in front of Viera Dor. She looked at him with scorn. "You failed my test."

"I know, Supreme Admiral. My strength was particularly waning at that time."

"Imagine if it had been REAL Cipcon! We'd be without one of our finest officers now."

"I doubt that. The scientists working with me said that my forcing out of the substance's effects gave me a strong immunity to it."

"And suppose they develop a new variant of Cipcon! Then you'd be in a frenzied stupor."

"True. But as we're deep in Polaris space on an unrestrained mission, I suggest you trust me and take your fancy shuttle back to Jaltir." She was taken aback.

"You dare show me this lack of respect?"

"Show me a reason to respect you, and I'll do so. First off, I suggest you have a taste of what it feels like to actually lead men into battle." He turned his back on her. Supreme Admiral Dor, feeling a centimeter tall, backed away and returned to her shuttle. Bedein strode to the bridge. "Next target!"

"Located, sir. The Sevilla system. Minor trade world. Small military presense."

"Let's go."

"Shouldn't we wait to confirm our orders with high command-"

"I said GO!" The fleet pulled out of its asteroid field hideout and launched into omnispace. There was a new look in his eyes. A look of intense individuality.

The vidscreen flicked on, and Tavron Seida found himself looking at Traek Cicion.

"You asked for me to contact you, Tavron. What's the trouble?"

"It has to do with a certain top-secret scientific project the Ordan military undertook a few years ago. The object was to create a super-Ordan being, an assassin capable of any assignment. Two minds were infused into a single, extremely powerful body."

"Let me guess. The project, when set into motion, failed, and the super-being escaped to who know's where after killing a lot of people."

"Precisely. It would not be so unfortunate if it were not STILL killing people."

"Who's it killed?"

"Some military and governing officials here and there, several of my aides. I've heard of your...experience, and I've called you here to request your assistance in hunting down and eliminating this thing."

"Ah, I see. I would be honored to aide you in your mission. After all, the Ordans are providing a great deal of needed help to us in our fight against the Polaris." The two exchanged nods.

"I'll be here if you need to contact me again, Tavron. Out." The comm signal disconnected.

------------------
-Traek Cicion of the Taeskor
"What sort of man is he?"
"Oh, he's just like any other man, only more so."
-Casablanca

Bob was getting impatient. Moreover, he was getting worried. He was sitting in a missile crater in a large Phylidion vessel. It was only a matter of time before the crew decided to do a proper sounding of the area and found his scoutship stowed away. Now Bob didn't know too much about Phylidions, but he figured that they weren't the type to deal kindly with stowaways. Unfortunately, the alternative was an eighteen month journey back home under his own power, and that was if the scoutship's powerplant could last that long, let alone Bob's food. He was already down to rationing his nutrition sticks and water. He hoped that the fleet would head back to Dominus before they found him. He'd give the Taeskors a run for their money, but he couldn't take on a whole battlefleet single handed. And who knows what the Phylidions would do if they found out that he had two pieces of the Arcanis hidden away in his suit. He really didn't want to think about it.

Where's Durandal when you need him?

------------------
NEW NAME FOR THE DREADNOUGHT
The Hard-Boiled Egg
Why?
Because she cant be beaten!

"We must take the initiative!" The Argosian General Kijou slammed his fist on the table. "Already two massive assaults on the Polaris homeworld have failed. Miserably. All because of our lack of initiative. The Confederacy is not a foe to be underestimated!"

The Phylydion Admirals glared at him. "As much as the Imperial Navy has experiance in combat-" The table burst into laughter- "We do not need your advice, General."

The fiery General leaned over, his serpent eyes grinning at Admiral Benedin. "We have had a higher military success rate in our campaign than the whole history of the imperium."

"We have the experiance, Kijou, and we know another strike at the Polaris homeworld would be suicide."

General Kijou glanced around the table of Phylydion Admirals for support. "Fine." He snorted. "If your overgrown beaurocratic government is unwilling to cooperate with the Empire's long-term goals, we shall have to launch the offensive alone."

"Arrogant Argosians." Benedin murmured after the meeting. "Think they're kadt-invincible untill they get spanked."

Four hours later, the largest invasion in the history of the universe was launched. Hundreds of troop transports, thousands of carriers, tens-of-thousands of fighters, destroyers, and cruisers. At the head of the massive armada, the three Argosian Chimaeras launched their dimensional gate.

And the fleet was gone.

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

Leela turned to Darkk, obviously agitated.
"He must not get a third piece. He might be able to give others strength to fight me then.
We must not let him get it. I will help fight him personally."

Darkk gulped. That poor human, he'd never know what hit him.

He looked at the chronometer. Only a few more days to Rodrom.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Durandal could see Bob's plight - Benden must be recalled. Durandal didn't think Viera Dor would order Benden back. That left one possibility. Durandal LIKED this possibility.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benden looked at the viewscreen. "Ok, our next strike will be..."
"Sir, incoming priority one message from Viera Dor."
"Kadt, what does she want now?"
"No idea. It's definitely her though - all auth codes check out."
"Put her on."
Benden looked up at the viewscreen again.
"No time for chit-chat, Benden - your fleet is needed at Tyven 102348. Further details will be supplied when you get there."
"With all due respect, I'm in the middle of a highly successful series of raids, and will not break them off without a good reason."
"The whole kadting Empire's at stake, and you want a GOOD REASON???? You're on probation. Insubordination could get you in SERIOUS trouble."

Benden was stunned. Had his humiliation of her been so serious that she had increased her determination and resolution? She wasn't normally that harsh.

"What are you gawking for? GET GOING!!!"
"Yes Ma'am."

The viewscreen returned to a navigational display. Tyven 102348 was in the center, with Rodrom just to its left and a few stars with no names, merely locational coordinates, scattered around. "Make the jump".

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

Kijou paced the deck. He would deal with the Polaris - he HAD TO.
"Sir, a transmission from the Polaris."
"Put it on."

On the screen were the three Polaris Admirals. Natasha spoke. "We want this final battle to be fair. We will meet you with all our fleets at Rodrom, in the Rodrom systm. If you bring all of your fleet, it should be enough to decide this stupid war once and for all. We will crush you, even without our planetary defense, and prove you cannot win over us, even on a level playing field. You will be defeated, and after Yanma hears we beat you in a fair fight, he will realize the futility of an UNFAIR fight."

"This is not your usual method. It is a trap. We will meet you in the Polaris system. You will all die there."

"So be it."

Kijuo cut the connection. "Who do they think they're fooling?"

"Sir, the engine is malfunctioning."

"Malfunctioning?"

"It seems to have been given a command to pull the fleet out of jump."

"WHAT? Abort it!"

"It refuses to take an abort code. It claims the external order to abort jump has priority."

"EXTERNAL?"

"Yes sir - recieved through standard protocals, but unlike anything I've ever..."

Suddenly, the fleet tumbled into normal space. Ahead of them, the massive Jjaro Dreadnought gleamed in the darkness. Behind it was something familliar to anyone who had spent time at a busy beach on Earth. A banner, similar to the kind towed by light aircraft for avertising purposes. It read, "Fight or die, by their hand or ours makes little difference. Dominus is of little concern, Northstar of NONE. The whole above all." in letters 3 kilometers tall.

Kijou stared in awe. "Sir, what the heck is that?"
"Watch your words. We are in the presence of the founders. It seems they wished for us to heed that message. Very well, the fleet will go to Rodrom."

Kijou's ships turned, and opened a gate to Rodrom.

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

Durandal was puzzled. The Argosians had caved BEFORE he'd readied his second ruse. Ah well. Soon, the battle of five navies would commence. He hoped Leela would be wounded from it, at least. Bob would have to face her.

------------------
Seen on a Claymore anitpersonell mine: "Do not eat"

(This message has been edited by Fleet Admiral Darkk (edited 12-05-2001).)

The suit beeped and bashed into his bunk again. Bob was awake in an instant. Durandal was on the holoprojector, his arms crossed, waiting.

"Get this tub of bolts into running order. The fleet will come out of hyperspace in a few minutes, and you will have to get to Rodrom fast. On the plus side, it'll be a short jump. On the negative side, Leela will be there by the time you arrive, but don't worry, I've arranged for a large screen for you. You will need to add to it. Get the Phylidions to follow you. I'lll try and encourage them. Goodluck, Bob. Oh yes... how silly of me, what's luck without the power to persuade? These should do."

As Durandal dissapeared, a huge pile of weapons appeared around the folded up suit, which seemed to look around, taking them all in for a moment, before it sprang up and out in approval, opening up for Bob to get in. Bob shook his head and climbed in. It folded around him first hazily like smoke, which congealed into the familiar lines of the one of a kind Mark 10 Cyborg suit. He went to start the reactor and waited for the Phylidion fleet to leave Omnispace.

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

Admiral Benedin was still unclear how arriving in an apparantly empty system was in the best interests of the Imperium. His distrust of Admiral Viera Dor had initially been arrested by her forcefulness. Time to consider it at FTL had given his skeptecism time to fester, such that he was very, very cautious when his fleet entered the empty system.

Suddenly, a dot appeared on the screen, and a small ship began flying away at very high speed.

"Where did that come from!?"

The RIO was watching his screen intently.

"He just came out of one of the damaged ships... Its transponder says 'Catch me if you can!' Its preparing to jump towards Rodrom!"

"Launch fighters! Engage the engines, we can beat it there."

Benedin knew it. Vieara Dor had been useing him to deliver a spy back to real space. He couldn't believe that an admiral would do such a thing, but he would make her pay for it dearly when the time comes. Just then the RIO broke in again:

"Sir, I just picked up two large Vylae fleets jumping into Rodrom, ETA three hours adjusted time."

"How long till that ship gets there?"

"Ten hours at his current speed."

"Engage the Omnispace drive, we have to be there to meet him. Leave the fighters to tail him, the main fleet will deploy in Modrom to engage the Vylae and this spy. In the meantime, message high command and tell them the news. What are you waiting for? Engage the drives!"

As quickly as it had entered, the Phylidion fleet leapt back out of the system.

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

Dulles had just started his watch when Durandal forced his image onto the screen. Dulles was not in the mood for this. He pushed the hold button on his arm and swiveled his chair towards his Comm officer.

"Mr Harrison, what is the meaning of presenting me with unnanounced messages at random? Am I to assume that this is some sort of joke?"

The screen spoke next, in spite of the hold button.

"Mr. Harrison has nothing to do with my presense on your screen." Lt. Harrison was frantically trying to see what was wrong with his equipement just at that moment. "The Universe needs the services of the Union fleet. I should like you to consider this as a sensible person, as you have no power to resist what is about to happen. I am asking you to trust me and to inform your fleet that they are being relocated to battle, likewise for the sixth fleet. The jump should take a few hours, ample time to clear for action. I shall insert you in a suitable formation and postion to assess the situation and act upon it. Once I have you in transit, go to your ready room, and I will explain what is happening. Do not worry about the ESF, I have arranged for the protection of Earth. Now if you'll excuse me, you have a fleet to inform, and I have a fleet to move. Oh yes, here's a tactical map of the area."

Dulles, who had been maintaining a facade of polite complacency while he had been repeatedly pressing the 'kill' button faded. His crew looked at him.

"Comm, find out how these cursed AI's are getting into my communication system and bring a stop to it. ECM, keep an eye peeled for any signs of us being folded."

The ECM officer spoke over his shoulder as he stared astounded at his screens.
"Too late sir... he's taking the entire fleet..."

Dulles watched realspace fade out as more and more ships joined them in the jumpstream.

"Mr. Harrison, message the fleet and inform them that they are to clear for action and await further orders. I shall be in my ready room."

He got up and walked to his ready room, locking the door behind him as Durandal's face appeared on the screen. The conversation that followed lasted two hours as Dulles was brought up to speed on trans-dimensional history. Fortunately, there was still an hour left for Dulles to brief his fleet as it prepared to enter combat in a distant planet.

------------------
NEW NAME FOR THE DREADNOUGHT
The Hard-Boiled Egg
Why?
Because she cant be beaten!

"System entry in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0!"
The Herald of Leela and its escorts, as well as the Messenger of Leela and its escorts entered the Rodrom system. Suddenly, dead ahead, THREE massive jump portals of various types opened, and each disgorged a whole fleet.

For a second, confusion reigned as Leela's forces preapaired to attack. Suddely, the Union, Argosian, and Phylydion fleets all recieved a message. "Leela is about to attack you with her two fleets, work together, and you might beat her."

Immediatly, a 3-way comm opened between Dulles, Kijou, and Benden.

"What the kadt's going on?" demanded Benden.

"I can answer that." said Dulles. "An AI called Durandal summoned you here to fight another AI called Leela. Perhaps you've heard of her, and her recent rampage. The whole situation takes too long to explain, seeing as we are about to fight, so I'll say this: the survival of the universe depends on our giving this fight everything we've got. If any of us want to leave this alive, we'll have to work together."

"Why should I believe that?" replied Benden.

"Well," broke in Kijou, "Durandal did tell us that Leela used the powers of the Talos. We will believe the Union Admiral in this case."

"You're a total fool, we have no proof." snarled Benden.

"Take a reading on the shields of those two big ships." replied Kijou.

Benden turned to his sensor board. The two largest enemy ships seemed to have no shields.

"They have none."

"They have no need of any - watch closely."

Dulles ordered the Anderson to fire its main weapon at the Herald of Leela. The stolen Vylae energy shell cannon could crack a planet's crust. But when Pharris fired the gun, it merely bent impossibly and veered off into space.

Benden was stunned. According to his insturments, the Super-Warpship had deflected the shot with NOTHING.

"You've seen their supernatural power. Now do you believe that they pose a massive threat?"

"Yes."

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

**
Thus began the Battle of Five Navies, as the two Vylae fleets squared off against the Union, Argosian, and Phylydion fleets in the shadow of the system's outermost gas giant.
**

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leela pulled back her powers. "I must save my energy for Bob. He will be an immensely formidable foe, if he has two pieces. You must fight the old fashoned way, although I will protect the two Super-Warpships."

"We have not forgotten how to fight." Darkk replied.

Indeed, the Vylae had not. Darkk immediatly called in all the support he could from the surrounding space - meager, but enough in his eyes. The Argosians thought that their Chimearas would surprise him, did they? Leela had a database of low-level Jjaro ships, and those were sitting smack in the middle of it. He'd not be caught off guard.

Benden and Dulles pounded the approaching fleets with long-range fire -compression cannon shots, nuclear missles, even energy shells- and obliterated quite a few ships, but still not enough. Kijou held the Chimearas' fire, waiting for the perfect moment.

Soon the Vylae ships closed the gap, and the battle became a frenzied brawl, as anitmatter, emp shots, phased beams, flare bolts, plasma shots, compression cannon shots, mass driver slugs, and assorted ordinance began to litter space.

The battle was in full swing.

------------------
Seen on a Claymore anitpersonell mine: "Do not eat"

Nothing like the good ol' fashioned blaze-o-glory. Benedin thought to himself, a rugged look of steel on his face. He hadn't had a battle like this ever since the U.E.C. fell. God I wish I had the Vengeance here right now. Something to match those superdreadnoughts with.

He had a twitchy feeling in the back of his mind. Something just didn't seem right. Dominus would have sent a whole armada by now. Nothing but static on all the comm frequencies- Leela must be jamming all the communications.

The three Argosian dreadnoughts rumbled forward like siege towers towardas the fortress of leela. The sun peeked over the horizon of the dead gas-giant, scattering light rays over the trio of battery-disruptors each of the Chimaeras possessed. They shifted into a triangular formation like lumbering elephants, letting loose a small wave of EMP static as the disruptors trained onto the superdreadnought right in their sights.

A wave of microatomic energy surged through Leela's vessel as the nine black beams, firing as one, slammed into the heavy shielding, drilling away at it violently in the same manner a toothpick picks at a boulder.

Undeterred, the dreadnoughts sank back into the murky-blackness to recharge as waves of destroyers swooped forth, unleashing huge bolts of electric death upon the light leelan ships.

Hundreds of lightyears away in the heart of the imperium, Drion Nerec cursed over the sound of the exploding ship around him. The whole fleet was falling apart as promised reinforcements failed to arrive, as wave upon wave of the attackers threw itself against the planet's defenses. "Where the frelling kadt is Benedin!?" he screamed as the artificial gravity aboard the Phylydia II failed; he drifted over to the visiplate, keeping his eyes on the sight just long enough to witness the orbital bombardment cease as the first of the troop-ships entered the atmosphere of Dominus.

(don't worry; I'm going somewhere with this)

------------------
Time is the best teacher, yet it kills all of it's students.

(B-E-D-E-I-N)

Admiral B-E-D-E-I-N reviewed the crowded 3D battle display in front of his bridge station. "All battlegroups, hold together. Three and Five, head into the Vylae fleets and engage them at point blank range, Two and Four, cover their flanks and rear, Six and Seven, put up a defensive sphere around One, Eight , come alongside One. We two are going to engage them at long range." The battlegroups, each composed of four squadrons, split up quickly and attended to their respective duties.

"The Vylae ships aren't too terrifying, but those dreadnaughts are annihilating everything that comes within range. Sir, a wing of Vylae frigates are penetrating Two. There, they've been cleared-Sir, the Argosians are reinforcing our close-in groups."

"Good. What's the general status of their fleet?"

"They're holding up."

The Vylae fleets tightened formation and redoubled their assaults. The Phylydion close-in formations fell back, then doubled back and drove into the Vylae formations again. The Domination II's heavy negative proton beam projectors drilled through Vylae warships from thousands of miles away. Long range fire knocked out ships in groups Six and Seven, which were busy stopping fighters and fast attack ships from reaching One and Eight.

(This message has been edited by Taeskor Cicion (edited 12-06-2001).)

The UESG scoutship came out of Hyperspace with its engines straining. It didn't have any weapons to speak of, and more importantly, he couldn't really outrun the Phylidion fighters, which would be out of their own jump at any moment. Thankfully, he was at a flat out run, and screamed past the fleets that were closing to engage. His suit had its teleport inhibitor on, but the less time he spent tempting fate, the better. He set a heading and opened the control panels on the fly by wire system. He proceeded to remove all of the safety limits on the engines and powered them up to 150%. The ship shook disconcertingly, but at least the fighters were no longer gaining on him.

He felt good, pressed into his seat, approaching Rodrom at a significant fraction of the speed of light. He'd dodged the fighting by a million miles, and now the planet grew large in his forward screen. The countdown timer ticked, and an alarm screeched at him, but it didn't matter. He knew he didn't have enough fuel to slow down, and if he could, he wouldn't want to. Vylae ships were already breaking away from the fight. His only choice now was to put himself down somewhere near what were marked as "entrances" on his map. He wasn't sure what he was entering, but he figured that he wouldn't like it too much. He rarely did. The planet grew larger, and he turned the ship sideways, moving the disc out of his field of view, and putting some lateral velocity on his downward fall. He patted the suit. Supposedly, it had great capabilities, but he had not wanted to test them. Now it appeared that he had no choice. He felt a jolt as the engine cut out behind him, and a loud bang as the rear quarter of his small ship exploded away. Looking back from his pilot seat, he could see out into space, also, he could see a faint red glow beginning to form. He was being pressed into his seat, but he couldn't really feel it for the suit's comps. He set them to automatic and pushed an entire fusion pistol into the energy door on his front. He didn't bother thinking about the Kinetic energy equations, he was well aware of the fact that his suit obeyed the laws of physics only because it was expected of it.

He closed his eyes and tried to relax as he tore sideways across the planet's atmosphere. The ship plummeted further, and Bob completely failed to relax. It didn't really matter. The ship broke apart around him as it hit thicker air, and Bob fell the rest of the way. Without the aid of a vessel.

------------------
NEW NAME FOR THE DREADNOUGHT
The Hard-Boiled Egg
Why?
Because she cant be beaten!