| abstract
| - Admiral Rajko to Deathstrike: "Affirmative! All vessels, engage designated targets!" Many more TEC ships have arrived in the meantime to reinforce the Uberweapon, but, like before, their armaments and battle tactics are inferior to the RTSE. Even outnumbered so heavily, Rajko's armada is holding its own, the Kurgarin dreadnoughts' reactive armour nearly impervious to puny TEC weapons. The Uberweapon is proving more of a problem, however, as BG-JZ11 battlegroup is obliterated within seconds into the battle. With TEC ships less of a problem with each passing moment, the Admiral reconfigures the fleet into Assault Formation A51-11, outflanking and surrounding the Uberweapon, literally smothering it with weapons' fire. On the other front, Deathstrike's Prime Fleet is meeting with stiffer resistance from NEF forces, after the initial heavy push... "Supreme Admiral Deathstrike to the fleet: They are deploying heavy tactical missiles! Munja cruisers, intercept and destroy the missiles with your point-defence rapid fire autocannons before they can hit us. Attack pattern Z1-A7! " The Munjas dart away from the fleet's center like wasps, and direct heavy saturation fire at the cloud of incoming missiles. Too fast and agile for the NEF heavy capital ships to get a good weapons lock, only a dozen Havocs manage to get through the screen, destroying 5 Karas carriers and severely damaging one Kurgarin dreadnought. One manages to impact the Blood Sanctum, but the behemoth remains undamaged. Enemy bombers move to engage the Munja's, and are intercepted by Sith fighters providing close cover. "Kurgarins, move forward to engage their capital ships directly. Karas carriers, have your bombers begin launching Power-flechette graviton torpedoes! I am taking the Blood Sanctum to attack the Uberweapon!" The Kurgarins surge forward like relentless moving fortresses that they are, their reactive armor and heavy shielding proving very effective against enemy MEV and EPB weapons. While the lighter-shelled Karas carriers do not fare so well, 3 more being lost, only one Kurgarin is destroyed. The heavy PGC (Polaron Gauss Cannon) fire from the Kurgarins claims 4 more Decimators within minutes. Meanwhile the Power-flechette graviton torpedoes from the bombers get through to impact on the hulls of several Atlantea vessels, ignoring the shields and, the Atlanteas relying on shields mostly, lacking heavy armor, causing a severe gravimetric shear in their hulls, while the high-powered Flechette neutron warhead detonates INSIDE the hull itself. 2 Atlanteas vanish in fireball, while 2 more suffer severe damage, one of them Grand Admiral Patten's flagship! With the center of the NEF lines breached, two battlegroups get through to reinforce Admiral Rajko's forces battling the Uberweapon and TEC vessels. The Blood Sanctum is already there, its Fury tetryon disruptors gouging huge molecular-disintegrating holes in the Uberweapon, as Rajko's forces continue to smother it with fire from all directions. The Sanctum has suffered moderate damage from the Uberweapon, but is holding its own. And Lord Darkon himself is not far now... ~~ The Gatekeeper reappears at the bridge of the Uberweapon, Irritated at the unknown attacker. "As you can see, Sir, their pathetic weapons are not doing a bit of damage. Our hull and shields are still at 100%. The Blood Sanctum, as you well know, has been critically damaged and is disabled. Our TEC vessel's are absolutely slaughtering Darkon's ships, and our Star Destroyers are making mincemeat out of everything else." "Good. However, our allies to the North are not faring so well. Reposition the fleet in a box position around them to reinforce their numbers, and activate the Phase Disruptors. Darkon's pathetic fleet will regret the day it messed with the Shadow Empire!" Four long hours later, Darkon's fleet has been destroyed. The only vessel left alive is the Blood Sanctum, completely disabled, and due to it's disabled engines and the Phase Disruptors, it cannot enter hyperspace. "Patten, if you can still hear me, help me position our fleets so we can completely surround that ship in all directions! Up, Down, Left, Right, Diagonal, Every single one! I want that ship completely outflanked!" "As for my Assailant, once again, you make an empty threat. I've played your little game, and I've won. Now you are going to play MY game. If you have the nerve, that is..." ~~ "We're hit!" Yelled Patton, "Seal bulkheads! Decimators, regroup around me! All Hornet Heavy Fighterbombers, concentrate fire on the Munjas! Talon-class Strike Cruisers, fire on the Munjas! Firestorms, launch EMP missiles to take out the dreadnaughts' shields! All power to EPB weapons!" The increased power to EPB weapons create massive destruction, each shot tearing through Kurgarin armor and shields like they were paper. Dozens are destroyed, momentarily halting the RTSE advance. The Decimators move forward, Heavy MEV cannons crushing hostile armor and overloading shields. Flak frigates and intereceptors fly CAP, destroying any bomber foolish enough to move into range. The Bastions, full power to shields, deflect any shots fired in the proximity of the Leviathan. The Talons destroy the Munjas, using superior engine technology and rapid fire plasma cannons to plaster them. The Firestorms, with point defense weapons out of the way, commence a heavy bombardment, launching thousands upon thousands of missiles into the hostile fleet. Many vessels, already partially disabled by the EMP missiles, succumb to the fusillade. Many more Novas and Havocs are launched, adding to the destruction as dozens of ships vanish in gigantic fireballs. The RTSE advance has now been completely halted. The tide begins to turn in the NEF's favor. "All ships, Attack Formation Delta-Romeo-Theta. Prepare to deliver the killing blow!" ~~ Deathstrike senses her Master arriving. "Yes! Lord Darkon is here!" A new battlegroup of RTSE ships; Decloaks, vessels unlike any ever seen before. They seem to exist outside the normal space-time, and have the ability to merge with other vessels. Three of them merge with the Blood Sanctum, bringing its hull and shields back to 100%, and empowering its weapon to 250%. Meanwhile, the Battle Meditation effect causes an almost palpable loss of hope among the NEF forces, some ships actually turning their weapons on one-another. "Lord Darkon to Deathstrike: Dispatch assault shuttles to board the Uberweapon! Have the rest of the Prime Fleet hold off the NEF forces! To Fleet Admiral Rajko: Have your battlegroups break from the Uberweapon and destroy the rest of the puny TEC fleet! My ships will continue the assault on the Uberweapon." The Munjas, taking heavy losses from the pursuing Talon strike cruisers, come back toward the main body of the RTSE fleet. Suddenly, they scatter, a second before a barrage of PCG fire rips through the space they just occupied, shattering two battlegroups of hapless Talons. "Deathstrike to all remaining Kurgarins: Transfer additional power to shields and reactive armour, and reconfigure the shield frequency to negate their EMP pulses." With the enemy forces scrambled by the Battle Meditation effect, the Kurgarins have enough time to regroup and go back on the offensive, while the Karas carriers launch a new wave of bombers with Flechette graviton torpedoes. A Munja battlegroup engages a force of Flak frigates at point-blank range, creating a window for the bombers to attack the remaining Firestorms. Armed mostly with missiles, lacking point-defence, the Firestorms are slaughtered by a storm of Flechette graviton torpedoes, while the regrouped Kurgarins wreak havoc among Decimators and Bastions, burning dozens! Suddenly, the Leviathan finds herself cut off from the rest of the NEF fleet, a Kurgarin heading right for it... The Blood Sanctum, regenerated and reinforced, renews her attack on the Uberweapon, destroying all of its forward weapons arrays, while Lord Darkon's time-displaced vessels literally ram through the behemoth, causing even more damage. Lord Darkon himself phases to the Uberweapon's bridge, for a face-to-face with the Gatekeeper. Admiral Rajko's forces have destroyed all of the Remnant Star Destroyers, and have the remainder of the TEC fleet in panic, as the Kurgarins reap through their ranks like scythes through wheat. ~~ From a safe distance, the TCS Excalibur and the rest of the Expeditionary Fleet observe the battle. A few stray Sith Fighters attempt to draw the Confed ships into the battle, only to get chased off by Scimitar and Rapier squadrons. For now, the Terran Confederation remains neutral in the conflict. The larger Confederation class Dreadnaught TCS Kyushu maintains a steady charge to her Phase Transit Cannon just in case a capital ship tries to harass the fleet. But so far, the Confederation forces are being largely ignored, much to the relief of the fighter pilots. "Sensor Officer: Admiral Rajko, I am detecting a new fleet of unknown contacts at extreme range. They seem to be observing the battle. A while ago, some of their fighters were rather close to Supreme Admiral Deathstrike's fleet, but they did not engage. Curious..." "Well, at this juncture, anyone who is not attacking us is a welcome change. We have no lack of enemies." *To Commodore Tagic* "Commodore, assume command here. Continue decimating the TEC forces, and be prepared for any surprises from the Uberweapon, as well as to reinforce Supreme Admiral Deathstrike if required. I am taking Battlegroup JZ1 to make contact with that force out there. Perhaps they could be persuaded to join the battle on our side." The RTSE Zatornik, Fleet Admiral Rajko's Kurgarin class flagship, leads the battlegroup to within medium range of the unknown force. "Channel open, Admiral." "Transmitting to unknown vessels claiming to belong to the "Terran Confederation". This is Fleet Admiral Rajko, commanding the Reborn True Sith Empire's Battlegroup JZ1. You seem to be taking an interest in the conflict taking place in this sector. Obviously, this region of space is not quite the safest sector to be in at the moment. Some of your fighters were waylaid by our forces before. I assure you, hostility was not our intention. Our forces saw unidentified vessels on the battlefield, and naturally assumed they could be a threat. Even more so, considering the rather difficult position we are in at the moment. I am interested to know who you are, and would you be interested in acquiring a potentially powerful ally in this region of the universe." ~~ The Gatekeeper looks calmly out as his ships are being torn apart, as Lord Darkon stands behind him. The crew turns their heads simultaneously to him. "Ignore him. Keep the cloaking shield active. Let them think they are actually winning." He pauses for a moment. "Fire the Shadow Laser." The Shadow Laser fires at the Blood Sanctum, and its energy is dissipated and dispersed across the Sanctum's hull, causing no damage at all. Once again, the Gatekeeper underestimates Lord Darkon's capabilities both remote... and direct. Even as the Gatekeeper attempts to suppress Lord Darkon's powers, the spell is likewise dissipated. As the Uberweapon's bridge crew collapses, dead, around him, Lord Darkon slowly walks to join the Gatekeeper at the front viewport, and the continued contest unfolding there. Finally, he speaks: "Your delusions shall not save you, Gatekeeper. Look out there. Your pathetic TEC allies are being wiped out, and even though your newly acquired NEF lackeys are barely holding their own for the moment, that shall not last long. I do not have to make a move, Gatekeeper... you do. I am willing to end this war, if you immediately cede the TEC to the Reborn True Sith Empire. What you have failed to grasp throughout this war, is that I was not interested in your Shadow Empire at all, but at the abundant resources of the TEC galaxy. I told you once before, the time shall come when you will proclaim your loyalty to the RTSE, but that time is far from now. The TEC is all that interests me. Consider your response carefully," Lord Darkon looks once again out the viewport, "because your time is running short..." Deathstrike's battle meditation is suddenly interrupted by a disturbance in the Force. She leaps to her feat to face the enemy but it is too late. A blast from a disruptor rifle rips through her chest. Her body disintegrates in an instant. Ty294, flanked by two mercs, enters the bridge of the Blood Sanctum. The merc who fired the disruptor, a rodian thug from Nar Shaadda, speaks first: "I thought you said this would be difficult!" "Keep quiet you idiot. Do you think it would be this easy?" A moment later Ty294's words ring true; a blade slices through the rodians chest, killing him instantly. The second merc meats a similar fate. Ty294 turns to face the attacker. Before him stands Deathstrike. "You fool! You'll pay for interfering with Lord Darkons affairs!" As Deathstrike moves in to attack, Ty294 activates two purple lightsabers mounted on his forearm armor. As the two engage in a vicious duel, the remainder of Grage's fleet, including the Black Dawn, arrive. Grage is quickly shuttled to the Black Dawn where he takes command from the bridge tower. The Black Dawn is a regular Imperial-class Star Destroyer, with two large turrets mounted on top. It's dark grey surface is covered with strange cyan-colored lights. "Admiral Grage, the full fleet is here as requested." "Good... good. Move in quickly! I want... I-I-I want... Kill Darkon!!" Grage stammers, his hands shaking feverishly, his face has grown extremely pale. An aid quickly rushes up carrying an injector needle. "Admiral, you forgot your medication." After recieving the injection, Grages coloring returns and his shakes calm. "Thank you Coporal, I can't let my mental illness get in the way of my better judgement. Now Captain, move the fleet into position behind Darkon's armada. I want his retreat cut off and his forces seperated from any further reinforcements." "Yes Admiral." "Turbo-bolt cannons at the ready!" "Commodore Tagic to BG-JZ20, BG-JZ37, and SG-JH41, more SE and Remnant vessels are decanting behind our lines. Break off from the TEC forces to engage the new enemy." He opens the commlink to Fleet Admiral Rajko. "Sir, things are deteriorating over here. We need more ships!" "Acknowledged, Commodore. I am dispatching the rest of my battlegroup to reinforce you. The Zatornik will stay here to continue negotiations with the Terran Confederation." Deathstrike manages to sneak in a quick blow to the Mercenary's solar plexus that sends him staggering backward, long enough to reach for her commlink* "Prime Group 21-A4, proceed to reinforce the rear lines. More scum has arrived." With those words, the Mercenary comes back at her, his lightsabers slashing wildly. Her cortosis-laced tremor vibrosword moves almost on its own accord to parry the blows, and one of her counterstrikes manages to score a gash across the Mercenary's left thigh. ~~ Rattler observes from the Bridge of the TCS Excalibur as a Sith group closes on the Fleet. A Transmission is received, and Captain O'Neill decides to respond. Rattler pulls her to the side, and advises against revealing too much about their situation or origins. The captain nods, and transmits a reply. "This is Captain Sasha O'Neill, commanding the TCS Excalibur. We are not from this region of space, and only recently discovered a way to come here via a Quasar Jump Point. This fleet is an Expeditionary Force on a mission of exploration and, if possible, find resources that can be used in our war with the Kilrathi Empire. We have no interest in getting involved in another conflict if at all possible. Our Black Knight Squadron was on recon, investigating the aftermath of what I'm assuming was a previous battle involving your forces and those you are currently engaged with when your fleet appeared and opened fire. After the battle, we are willing to provide Humanitarian aid to both sides." Rattler mutters under his breath about wishing Admiral Tolwyn was there to handle this First Contact situation. He then gets a feeling that they may get maneuvered into a position where they will have to take sides. Rattler inches closer to the door so that he can get down to the Flight Deck just in case things get ugly. ~~ A paralyzing dart shoots past Darkon's ear and hits the Gatekeeper in the throat. A man armored in mandalorian armor steps onto the bridge. "You two shuttas sicken me." The intruder said quietly "I'll explain this in simple words, so maybe it will have a chance to get past your thick skulls. When you and Darkon fought, when you killed Darkon, when you drained each-others powers, when you came back from the dead, you threw this galaxy out of balance." Idiots, the man thought to himself, "We are about to face an enemy far more deadly than either of you have ever dreamed of, and you two squabbling like children is extremely counter-productive. If we are going to have any chance..." He is cut short by an explosion that rocked the Uberweapon, causing every on to fall around the room. "We have to... get off the ship!" Alarms started blaring, and officers started yelling damage reports. Something was tearing the Uberweapon apart, from the inside. "Not even the force can save you this time. But I need the two of you alive because you are the two most powerful forces in this galaxy, but even that may not be enough." The Gatekeeper pulls the dart out of his throat. "Do you really think a mere paralysis dart is going to stop me? Instead of trying to cheap shot me, why don't you tell me your plan before I decide to kill you for breaching my ship? The same goes for you." *Glares at Darkon* "Hold!" Darkon yelled, "I am intrigued... what is this 'enemy far more deadly than we have ever dreamed of'? Explai..." Darkon is cut short, when the walls and ceiling of the Uberweapon start to ripple and the glass starts to crack. Everyone falls to their knees as the floor starts to disfigure. The Assailant pushes a button on his wrist and yells, "IT'S TOO LATE!" The Glass window shatters as a small ship flies over. Darkon, the Gatekeeper and the Assailant fly out into space and land on the small vessel.Once the three were safely in the ship, they looked out the window as the Uberweapon folds in on itself. The Gatekeeper tries to remake it, as he did before, but something prevented him. "As I said." Said the man, looking out the window. "This enemy is far different from any you have encountered before." He sat at the controls of the small ship, "My plan WAS to get you to to stop fighting long enough to defeat this enemy, but now that both your fleets are gone..." Said the Assailant as he looked out the window to see the shockwave from the uberweapon destroying everything around. "I'm not sure how useful you'll be." He pilots the ship away from the destruction. Rattler curses at the sight of a massive ship, if it could even be classified as a ship, is ripped apart. Captain O'Neill is speechless. The officer assigned to monitor the sensors alerts the Captain that they have detected a small vessel heading towards them, and that it apparently was near the large vessel before it went up. "Try to establish contact with that ship. They may be survivors, and may have wounded. Mr. Ramirez, get a medical team on standby on the Flight Deck." "Yes ma'am." Rattler suddenly focuses on the ship, as he gets a weird feeling that something powerful is on board. It could be nothing, but then again, he got the same feeling after they made the jump into this galaxy. Maybe his Pilgrim genes were going wonky from being so far from known space. Shaking his head, Rattler made his way to the Flight Deck to assist if needed. ~~ Both Deathstrike and the Mercenary are thrown to the deck as a massive explosion comes from the Uberweapon. Leaping to her feet, she addresses the remaining ships in the Prime Fleet: "All ships, retreat immediately! The Uberweapon has exploded, its shockwave will obliterate everything in the sector. Regroup at Staging Point 4R, and head for RTSE space! No contact from Lord Darkon at the moment. Stand by for further instructions." About half the ships made it, including a severely damaged Blood Sanctum, as the remainder of the TEC fleet, the NEF forces, and Admiral Rajko's battlegroups are annihilated. The Zatornik, with Fleet Admiral Rajko, is still near the Confederation fleet, outside the blast radius, and is unaffected. Grages fleet, having been flanking Darkon's forces at a distance, are among the few TEC craft unaffected by the blact. "By the force! What in the galaxy was that!?" "Captain, attempt to establish contact with the Gatekeeper and Ty294. I want to know exactly what has just happened." Ty294 staggers to his feet, Deathstrike 1 is busy commanding Darkon's surviving ships. His comlink suddenly buzzes. "This is Ty294, who am I speaking to?" "This is Captain Zerik of the Black Dawn, Admiral Grage wants to know what the heck just happened." "I have no bloody idea! Have you contacted the Gatekeeper?" "We're trying that now sir, no luck." "Curses." ~~ "What?!? My entire fleet is... gone?! Fleet Admiral Rajko stares in shock as the expanding shockwave from the Uberweapon's explosion consumes all the vessels around it. The sensor officer address's Rajko, "Admiral, I am detecting faint thermal emissions heading in this direction... launching a sensor-focus probe... confirmed, sir. A small vessel is approaching from the direction of the detonation. Sir, the Confederation ships also appear to have detected it." ~~ "Helm, intercept course." O'Neill orders, "I have a strange feeling that this ship might be somehow responsible for what just happened. And my instincts are rarely wrong. I would like to keep the Confederation out of this for the time being. Shields up. We don't yet know the capabilities of that vessel! It may be small, but I have learned long ago not to make the mistake of judging firepower by size. Stay ready!" The Zatornik closes on the unknown ship, and activates a tractor beam. The small vessel is snared, and is being drawn into the auxiliary portside hangar bay. "So much for getting that ship aboard Excalibur..." Rattler mused as he watched the small craft get pulled into the Zatornik. Captain O'Neill orders two Southampton class Destroyers to move into the debris field to search for survivors, then informs the surviving forces that were involved in the battle about the Search and Rescue operation now underway. "We'll figure out what happened," Captain O'Neill states calmly. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Rattler said as he leans against the bulkhead. "I think we might have stumbled into something much bigger than we thought."
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