. . . "Having secured the Hand of Darkness on Ahara several weeks before, the Zayre had been studying it and had learned to replicate its power-boosting level on a large scale via crystallography, albeit at the cost of it having considerably less of a power boost for an individual under its effect. Ironwings had prepared a seed of said crystal, but was reluctant to deploy it. Meanwhile, the Zayre colonization of Ankarr was going smoothly, and a number of small towns and villages had been set up in the countryside around the main city. Carsal Redharn, the deposed former leader of the Necasian Military, recommended that the Zayre build up an arsenal of powerful weapons before re-entering the war proper. Meanwhile, however, the Srav Federation was sending convoys of transports with forces and supplies to their border worlds in preparation for new offensives. One such transport, commanded by disgruntled Srav colonel Andrei Jalenko, encountered hyperdrive difficulties when passing near Ankarr. As it was the only habitable planet in the facility, the crew elected to land there and make repairs. When entering the planet's atmosphere, however, orbital scan revealed the Zayre presence. Having not seen combat in some time, and with a wish to get himself promoted, Andrei planned to order his troops to destroy the Zayre in any matter they saw fit, upon landing. Memories of seeing the Zayre attack them alongside the Necasians stirred anger and hate in the Srav troops, and they responded to this with genuine enthusiasm. Landing on the world, Jalenko made a brief speech, and then decreed that the troops were to loot, pillage and destroy at their leisure, and justified this as revenge. However, after Carsal Redharn sought refuge amongst the Zayre, after being outcast from the Necasian Military, he'd sought to strengthen the Zayre defenses and ready for any possible attack that the Srav Federation or Necasian Military may launch in order to gain revenge for allowing Redharn to remain there safely. The Zayre worship crystal, requiring the united concentration and power of many Zayre and with large destructive capabilities was considered to be the last resort, as the Zayre weren't inclined to destroy large swathes of land on the homeworld of the Zayre species. With weapons emplacements and battle plans being readied, the Zayre would be ready for when an attack did occur and so, although the Zayre had no prior warning of the Srav's arriving, they'd still be able to mount a defense that may be able to hold off opposing forces, as thought by the Zayre command."@en . "*Infantry\n*Drakuv-class assault tanks\n*Molot-class anti-infantry platforms\n*Okol-class mobile missile launchers\n*Yukel-class assault fighters\n*1 Klasnost-class transport"@en . . . . . "*Storm Ironwings\n*Carsal Redharn"@en . "Battle of Ankarr (Cruentusian War)"@en . . . . . . . . "Battle of Ankarr"@en . "*Zayre warrior women"@en . . "Zayre victory"@en . "Heavy"@en . . "Medium"@en . "24297"^^ . "Having secured the Hand of Darkness on Ahara several weeks before, the Zayre had been studying it and had learned to replicate its power-boosting level on a large scale via crystallography, albeit at the cost of it having considerably less of a power boost for an individual under its effect. Ironwings had prepared a seed of said crystal, but was reluctant to deploy it. Meanwhile, the Zayre colonization of Ankarr was going smoothly, and a number of small towns and villages had been set up in the countryside around the main city. Carsal Redharn, the deposed former leader of the Necasian Military, recommended that the Zayre build up an arsenal of powerful weapons before re-entering the war proper."@en .