Utulien, Aduial

[Arizona Nova]

From this seal shall arise the doom of men, who, in their arrogance, sought to wield our fire as their own. Blindly they build their kingdoms upon stolen knowledge and conceit. Now they shall be consumed by the very flame they sought to control.

-Warcraft III, Archimonde destroying Dalaran

[center]***[/center]
The rest of that year, 1515, had passed fitfully. Anikar escaped with Kertai, back to the loyal territories. She made no announcement of the theft, and neither did the Red Helm decide to pursue overt action. It would seem wasteful to the general populace to explain that all that effort (and tax money) was expended for a single DS, something which (as far as they knew) could be raised for a fraction of the cost. The stolen ship was hidden away and forgotten, and wrote off as lost by both sides.

It did precious little to stop the slide into chaos, however. Even with the loss of their free ships the rebellion spread, and within a couple months the blockade was broken and more worlds joined the cause of the Heaven's Belt Alliance. Anikar could no longer afford to ignore the threat they presented, as their commandeered vessels began major attacks on Imperial interests. The Long Peace was finally broken.

She had not been idle, though. By the time that battle lines were drawn, Imperial engineers had finally finished with the construction of The Kraken, officialy named the ISRV Kaltarak, fondly described by the Admirality as fifteen kilometers of judgement. As the clouds gathered, and angry words and proclamations gave way to attacks on military and civilian ships alike, it all seemed a poor trade for the tranquility of before.

[Arenumberg]

-=Andorhal Shipyards, Near Orbit Of Joyous Gard, Arizona Nova.

The Andorhal Shipyards had been constructed in a relatively quiet corner of Arizona Nova, orbiting the nearby world of Joyous Gard and its bigger neighbour - The gas giant Koirog - it had been producing ships for the Empire's fleet, and the fleet of the republic before that.

It would so no more.

Whilst Joyous Gard itself had adequate defense in mind of an enemy who wished to take the world itself, its orbiting facilities were not so lucky. The major point of contention was the fact strange gravity conditions in the local area acted as an effective FTLi for most drives, adequate space defense for the shipyards were an afterthought, not a reality.

And the rebels needed not contend with its natural FTLi.

-=HBSV Sandalyr, Sharaeleraes Class Cruiser, Unknown Location

The Bridge of the Sandalyr was abuzz with activity, alongside two other recently... acquirred Sharaeleraes Class Cruisers, they were to infiltrate a Empire shipyard, extricate the goods then eliminate the installations.

Personally, Captain Faldanvyr was in favour of anything involving blowing things up. He rose from his command chair and adressed the bridge crew.

"You know the mission, It should be simple, we arent expecting any resistance at all, now, are the modifications to the drives and, ideally, the towing systems done yet?"

"Aye Sir, The Valfyr and Eanar report ready aswell. We are ready to proceed on your word." Came a response.

Captain Faldanvyr returned to his seat, he placed his chin on his palm.

"Very well, Have our friends form up, Initiate synchronous fold on my mark"

"... Ready, Sir"

"Mark."

With a flash, they were in transit.

-=Andorhal Shipyards, Near Orbit Of Joyous Gard, Arizona Nova.

A similar flash, followed by a tear in space heralded the coming of the Sandalyr and its compatriots.

"Report!" Barked Faldanvyr.

"All systems operational, detecting .. oh yes, Two Thandrori Class Battleships in dock, not operational... Intelligence right on the mark, no immeadiate defences apparent." Responded an officer from the ops console, her fingers delicately moving around the myriad of buttons before her.

"Will the battleships hold up to the towing emitter stress?" Asked Faldanvyr.

"One moment.. Yes sir, In theory they should" Came the response.

"Good, Initiate pre-planned maneuvers, time to make the Empire realize what its really dealing with."

The Three Cruisers broke formation, in a matter of seconds they had rapidly closed ground with the mass of structures forming the shipyard, which had unwelcome guests.

The group began their synchronized battle plan, opening fire on the outlying structures and destroying them outright, vomitting debris forth into the space around Joyous Gard and crippling any defences the shipyard may of had. The Valfyr began its towing procedure, puncturing the systems maintaining the first battleships docking lockdown.

The Sandalyr began a similar maneuveur, releasing the other battleship from the docking protocols, both the Valfyr and Sandalyr came close to the vessels, a brilliant light radiating forth from their underbellies.

A few moments later they were moving away from the dockyard, two mostly complete battleships in tow. As they sped away the Eanar released two full broadsides into the station and began to move away as the structure collapsed in on itself, flame licking breifly to life in space as explosions consumed what was left of the Andorhal Shipyards.

Then, as quickly as they had come. They were gone.

And The Civil War had only just begun.

[Arizona Nova]

-=The Capitol, Kelwynd

Anikar lay curled upon her couch, as the setting sun spilled its rays into her chambers in the Capitol. The high walls of that richly furnished room were adorned with tapestries depicting the legends of the old world - heroes and kings like Kemelzar the Golden, and of the heroics and the tragedy of the Year of the Black Horde, where men and elves both perished at the hands of the orcs. The couch lay opposite the door to the balcony, and the red-golden light spilled over it, illuminating the pages of the Iliad, Anikar's current read, for the night lights suspended from the ceiling had not switched themselves on. She had not gotten far before a familiar voice intruded into her thoughts.

"We should really start on this whole matter of repairing me soon, you know. The political climate isn't getting more stable with the passing of every day," it intoned.

Anikar sighed, and set down the tome. "I suppose you are right, Kertai. I shall head down presently."

She got up, and headed out the back, into the main body of the Capitol. Kertai's core now lay safely underground in one of the wings of the Strategic Command Center, which was conveniently beneath the Capitol itself. It was little comfort enough if the planet was blown to pieces, but if the enemy wanted the surface it was a safer bet than the delicate chambers above.

Anikar went slowly. The outbreak of war had left her precious little time to do anything else but business of the state. Yes, she'd asked for it by reclaiming the throne, but she had still been spoiled by the years of the Long Peace. She was fatigued, not physically but in spirit - the only place where it mattered, in her case.

She finally came to the chambers of the SCC. The doors, detecting her highest clearance, opened without protest. The place was abuzz with activity, as military bureacrats and officers coordinated mobilization efforts. They offered quick, respectful salutes as Anikar passed, as she had mandated no more than that due to her frequent, hurried visits there.

She came to the core. What they had seen in Raayven was but the outer housing and monitors the blood elves had constructed around the actual thing, which was quite unlike anything she or any of the technicians had ever seen. It was a smooth, silvery octagonal cylinder, taller than a man, threaded with gold in fine and intricate patterns. Inscriptions in no known script also twined around it, and they defied all attempts at translation; Anikar also suspected that they shifted somehow, seemingly at random.

Whats more, it had no cables - or any discernable interface. These revelations were very alarming, yet she had permitted no further scrutiny on the part of the disappointed scientists.

She stood and looked at it, with a pursed lip.

"So... what am I supposed to do, anyway?" she asked the core.

"Thats the question, isn't it?" replied Kertai. "If I knew that I would have told you already. All I can suggest is that you look around for an access point."

Anikar circled the core, shaking her head. "The technicians already looked it over - they couldn't find a thing."

"True - but I wasn't eager for them to find anything either. I was rather keen on it being you who did so," he reasoned.

"What difference should that make?" she asked, looking the side opposite the door up and down.

"I don't know," he said, "but I think it will. The Váer-Caiër found me more and more difficult to work with and work on over time, until they were locked out of all but my periphery functions. I believe it had something to do with my 'intellectual' defection to your cause, for I can find no technical reason for it."

Anikar felt along the side of the core, and to her surprise, a latch smoothly clicked out at her touch. She pulled it all the way, and a door opened in the side of the core.

"See?" asked Kertai. "Go inside."

Anikar hesitated for a moment, on the threshold, looking at the room around her, before going in.

The inside was - extraordinarily peculiar. A bridge stretched before her into the distance, to a dais. There was nothing else, but a blank expanse, above and below. The bridge was thankfully, however, wide.

"Where am I, Kertai?" she asked worriedly.

"Still in my core, have no fear. What you see is subjective; it'd be different for you than from another. Hm - walk to the dais."

Anikar stepped forward, and as she did though, a console materialized on the dais, and arcs vaulted above and below her. She continued forward, giving the vastness a suspicious look, until she came to the console.

A chair had also materialized, and she sat down. The console, she realized, was an exact match from the one in the Fist's bridge, although elements of the interface were strangely altered. The characters seemed to swim and gradually become distinct as she tried to make them out.

"Now what?" she asked.

"I'm flying as blind as you are. Just think about what you want to do."

Anikar focused on her wish - to examine Kertai's core and restore or repair its functionality. A window appeared on the console, titled, "Diagnostics - Main," with a menu of choices that stretched on and off it.

"We're getting somewhere," he said. "I suggest looking at recent changes, and figure out what it is the Váer-Caiër did."

Anikar brought that up, and a new table phased into view. It was short, but had the appearance of a branching list; she opened one arm and a flood of new things appeared, with dates.

"What am I looking at?" she asked.

"The most recent changes. If you notice the dates on the right, the most recent happened around the time you picked me up, and back from there."

"I see," she said. She read them carefully, and the consistent theme in the log was one of "memory encryption."

"It appears they were locking off parts of my memory. Any way you see to undo it?"

"On some, it appears so," she said, noting the various options alongside the log. "Others not so much."

"We shall work with what we have," said Kertai. "Restore the oldest accessable ones first, I recommend."

Anikar did so, with some trepidation, hoping that she would not inadverently unleash something terrible. Kertai was silent for a few moments, and then injected,

"Fascinating, quite interesting... but you should be going, I think. Something is wrong on the surface."

Anikar got up and turned from the console, and when she looked back both it and the chair had already vanished. She walked toward the door and stepped back outside, which seemed now strangely real and acute.

"Something terrible has happened in Joyous Gard," continued Kertai. "Incoming reports indicate a surprise attack. You should go to the command center."

"Don't tell me what to do," she said exasperatedly. "I know my business."

She ran down the narrow hall back to the main conference room of the SCC.

"What do we have?" she said loudly upon entering.

The heads of the assembled officers jerked toward her. High Admiral Hyce, who had been off-ship, was standing on the other side of the round table from the door, and he momentarily started at her sudden appearance.

"My Empress," he said, obviously trying to conceal surprise, "Excellent, we'd just called for you. Joyous Gard has just been attacked by the rebels."

"The damage?" she asked, walking over to her seat.

"Andorhal Shipyards have been destroyed."

She stopped, and looked in astonishment at the Admiral. "Destroyed?"

"Completely," he said gravely. "Two mostly complete Thandrori were also in dock, and they were stolen."

She slowly pulled out her chair, and sank into it. "Was there no one on hand to defend it, at all? Did it not have shields or defenses?"

"No one was on hand, but it did have defenses, which they somehow managed to tear through in a matter of moments."

A recording appeared on the screen of a strange-looking group of ships, which fired a lancing beam at the other side of the station, which immediately blew apart. Within a few moments it cut out as well.

"The problem is," he said, "Is that they managed to jump in right on top of it. This shouldn't be possible."

"The Red Helm can do it," said Anikar, as she scrutinized a freeze frame of one of the ships.

"Yes, but they've been locked down since your... expedition," said Admiral Hyce politely. "We've been watching - no one has gone in or out."

"There is no way they could have disassembled, analyzed, reverse-engineered, and then reproduced the engine from the one Helm ship they had left," Anikar answered, "at least in this space of time. And I doubt the Váer-Caiër made it easy to disassemble either."

"That is whats troubling," said Hyce. "The design of these ships and their weapons is also altogether out of line with what we've seen up til now."

"Then get working on it," she said curtly. "Get a counter-strike force ready in the mean time. They're apparently done with boxing, so there is no sense in keeping our gloves on. Make them bleed," she said icily.

"Acknowledged, my Empress," said Admiral Hyce respectfully. He gave a curt nod to those assembled and the briefing was dismissed.

[Arizona Nova]

-=Two days later, ISRV The Invisible Hand

From the high observation deck perched at the peak of the formidable bulwark that was the Elissa class, a small, thin, pale-ish man looked out. This seemingly fragile figure was High Admiral Colombe Absalom. Noted for intrepidity and ambition, a burning desire to succeed (or dominate) animated his frail frame.

Yet, not so much today. As he watched the slow assembling of his Century unfold, a pit of fear, and reluctance, found its unwelcome way into his stomach.

It was not the mere fact that he was half-elven; many times he was uncomfortably reminded that his rapid ascension, during the final days of the Empire, had been in part due to his unique lineage.

He had an excellent sense of foreboding, however. It was common to hear that it was his "elf side" talking, but he scorned that. He preferred to think of it as simply a gift of his intellect. Now, try as he might, he could not shake the feeling of doom.

Someone walked up behind him - he gave a half turn of his head to see who; the first officer. So it must be done.

"Sir," he said, "Our Century is now fully assembled. We await your orders to being the assault on Morakan."

"I thought as much," he replied, turning back to the window. "One Century?"

"Yes," said his first officer, unsure of what to make of his behavior. "One hundred ships."

The High Admiral said nothing, and the first officer fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Begin the jump," he said carelessly, and turned and began walking to the lift.

"Aye sir," saluted the first officer, who followed him.

The incursion fleet all assembled, it slipped into hyperspace, leaving the system empty. Within hours it arrived at the outer limits of Morakan, and began steaming its way in.

Admiral Absalom had made his way into the deep bridges of the Hand, and from there continued his watch. Many glowing screens fed information from outside and from other ships to him and the crew, and they saw nothing for a while, until they neared the planet itself.

The usual Bad-Plats were in far orbit, and like a knife the fleet cut through this perimeter, bringing it down with disabling ion fire and throwing off the offending station's orbit with tractors. No chance of secret assault, but that is not why they came.

Yet, when they neared the planet, there was a surprise waiting.

"Sir," urgently piped up the ensign, "We have multiple enemy contacts."

"How many?" asked the Admiral.

"Less than fifty," reassured the ensign. "Something is off though - many of them are giving off signatures which have been scratched. Half shouldn't exist anymore."

"That is odd," said the Admiral. "Open up with a salvo of our best missiles, and then close for cannons. Conserve missiles, aside from that, personal prerogative."

"Aye sir," said the ensign, his fingers flying over the console.

Puffs of frozen gas billowed out from the sides of many of the vessels as the missile doors blew open and their deadly cargo rocketed out. Once out, they blinked into hyperspace, and found their distant targets moments later, slamming into them at speeds hundredths below that of light. As one Absalom's Century pushed around the planet in pursuit of the stunned rebel fleet. So the Battle of Morakan began.

[Arizona Nova]

-=The Capitol, Kelwynd

Anikar sat in the SCC, alone (aside from Kertai), and watched as Absalom's century slipped out of the system. The screen switched to a larger viewout of the local sectors, and a huge group of dots which signified the fleet.

"You're sure a century will be enough?" asked Kertai.

"We've been over this," Anikar sighed. "This is a test of their strength. As long as we don't lose the Admiral, any loss to the fleet will not be outside acceptable ranges."

"It shows that you spent a couple centuries as digisent - such mechanical reasoning," Kertai chuckled.

"Indeed," she said. "Shall we see if we can find anything interesting in your core?"

"Go ahead. Ever since the first set of revelations I've been... what is the phrase... itching for more?"

Anikar got up with a laugh, and began to walk down to the core. Once inside and at the strange console, the same windows opened up as usual.

"Now," began Kertai, "What I found out last time wasn't particularly exciting, but it does beg further exploration. What you managed to bring back was records of deletions and encryptions even further back in the memory, and some of them will be very tricky to get at. I'm guessing that they did this shortly before you arrived at Raayven as they began to suspect me of conspiracy."

"Hmph, that figures," she said, as she scrolled through the inscrutable list. "Anything that you can tell that might be of any importance?"

"An entry from about five weeks before you came into Rayven. The encryption on it isn't particularly strong."

"Before we go on," she paused, holding up her hand. "Why is it that I even have to do this? You seem to be capable of decoding all of this yourself. Why can't you?"

"Well, thats exactly it," he said, a tone of embarrasment in his voice. "My programming is limited so that I can't get in to any of these without some kind of outside intervention. You open the files, and I make sense of them, to put it simply."

"Hm," she said, scrolling down to the entry in question. "I guess that makes sense."

"Decoding..." he said. "There we go. Oh... my. This... is quite unusual."

"How so?" asked Anikar.

"I'll bring it up to you," said Kertai. The screen shifted, and was replaced by a simple document.

Anikar read the heading, and then dug into the main body of it.

We have made some inroads against the Acolytes of the Empress today. Their infestations on Thalassi and Dalavinya have been dislodged, and they have been forced to fall back to sealed bases on Surinium and Ilivantium. These subversives will not be suffered to weaken our cause. To think that one of the elven people would not only sympathize, but worship the very cause of our woe, the Empress of the Anikari scourge, is incredible and beyond all forebearance. These fools will be wiped to the last man and all records of their existence will also be destroyed. We must take care to keep them from making any contact with the Imperial authorities or otherwise out work will be jeopardized.

Anikar sat in silence for a moment after finishing it. "Hello? Are you alright?" asked Kertai.

"A... cult? Another one?"

"Another cult?" asked Kertai with surprise.

"It happened once before," she said, visibly shaken. "Anikari, of course, during my first reign. I managed to suppress it, though back then I didn't know exactly what I was, though it is just as well that I stopped them. It was more in that day because the movement just disgusted me."

"Right..." said Kertai, a little uncomfortably. "It seems the Red Helm are doing the job for you in this case."

"No," she said. "Things are different now, although... worship... makes me uneasy for... completely different reasons."

"Why is that?" replied Kertai.

She shuddered. "It will draw attention... very, very bad attention. This needs to be taken care of. Not wiped out, but if I don't advise them... they could unintentionally do some incredible damage to us, and probably a whole quadrant of the galaxy as well."

"That does sound serious," said Kertai gravely.

"They could also prove useful," she said, regaining composure. "It'd be nice to have some elves around that aren't intent on wiping out my people and I. Their... actions... also open them up to oppurtunities unique to mortals, although they'll have to take enormous care, for reasons which I've already stated."

"Duly noted. Also, the fleet has engaged at Morakan, situation normal," said Kertai.

"Already? It should have taken some hours to get there," Anikar said.

"Time passes strangely in the core," he said. "Lets just say that what you perceive doesn't match up with actual progression. I'd hasten out there, just in case."

Anikar nodded, and set the console aside, and headed out.

[Arizona Nova]

-=Morakan

Absalom's century pressed forward into the rebel fleet. They had hastily set up FTLi to ward off the sting of the Mjolnirs and Busters, but the missiles' work had already been done. A good quarter of the rebel fleet lay crippled, sections of hull blown right off by the impact of the missiles.

The Admiral watched the proceedings from the deep bridge, his eyes rapt as they danced from one screen to another and as he silently forwarded commands to other fleet elements. Like a clawed hand the heavy-hitters slowly surrounded and began to grasp the floundering rebels. Victory was in the great hand's grasp.

"Sir," intoned an ensign from the right, "We've got... odd signatures here."

Absalom glanced over. "What kind of odd signatures?"

At that moment, on the view screen showing a feed of the planet below, a ship materialized, seemingly melting out of the planet. The Admiral's attention was held completely by the thing on the screen.

It was in the elven style, more so than even the Sornei ships, a flowing continuum of smooth silver lines and curves, and blue highlights, but it was not like anything he had seen before overall. Lights twinkled about its hull, and the rebel fleet began to rally towards it.

"No discernable FOF signature," said the ensign, "Estimated length at twelve kay-loms."

The Admiral was frozen in his chair, but then barked, "Commence all out sustained attack on the bogey - empty the the missile tubes!"

The ship's surface was dotted with the signatures of hundreds of Moses devices, which stabbed a hole through the FTLi to its surface. Hundreds of puffs billowed across the sides of every capitol ship in the Sornei fleet, and an instant later the exposed side of the mystery ship became a sheet of blinding white light. It was strong enough that even the monitor viewing the scene took on a brightness strong enough to throw into sharp relief the deep bridge's red night-glow, like lightning during during a storm. Yet when it cleared, the ship was still there.

"Undamaged!" gasped the ensign.

"Continue concentrating fire!" yelled the Admiral.

Now, however, it was the enemy's turn. Azure beams lanced forth from the ship, slamming into the Sornei fleet with seeming material force. The Hand itself was rocked considerably. Warning lights began to flash within the deep bridge.

"Report!" yelled the Admiral.

"Sir, whatever they're using... it's ignoring shields! We're lucky we have enough armor plating to ram planetoids or we'd be dead men," grimly intoned the ensign. "We've already lost some tacs - at least seven Sharaeleraes off charts, plus three Thandroris and ten Inquisitors!"

The ship trembled and groaned again as another beam lanced into its side, "Comparable losses! If we stay out here much longer they're going to whittle us down to nothing in minutes!"

All that the Admiral could focus on was that the FTLi remained active. Retreat or attack both would be the doom of the fleet.

"Do we have any Jormungand carriers hanging back?" he asked grimly.

"Yes sir," said the ensign. "Two or three."

"Begin a retreat to their FTLi fringes," he said grimly, "Have our Jormungands get as close as they can and then self-destruct. It won't stop the behemoth but it'll fry the small stuff."

Slowly the fleet began to turn away, flinging the odd missile and PPC bolt at the rebel fleet. They began to move to pursue, the dwarfed smaller vessels racing ahead of the great bogey.

Out of the hind of the fleet emerged the two Jormungands, great misshapen factory vessels that they were. They raced into the withering fire of the rebel fleet, the digisent core not worried about the present sacrifice, but rather what this newcome ship meant overall.

The blue beams cut mercilessly into their hulls, blowing off generous portions at a time. Just short of altogether ramming the huge ship, the Jormungands exploded their reactors, setting off the tons upon tons of Gilium deep in their core. A monstrous plasma fireball erupted, enveloping the pursuers completely within moments, and out of that drove the mystery ship, again unphased. Yet its smaller cohorts did not follow.

Its beams continued to play deadly games over the surface of the fleeing fleet as it raced to reach normal space. Bit by bit it was carved away, until only a small cadre of the most heavily armored ships remained, when the FTLi was finally broken. They vanished into hyperspace, leaving the terrible dreadnought behind. It was only the beginning, however.

[Arenumberg]

Vanimar System, Heavens Belt Sector.

Ribbons of energy coiled themselves around the worlds of the Vanimar system, coalescing into existence at one point and fading into the darkness at another. The energy bands formed a beautiful backdrop to the events unfolding in a relatively backwater system.

Vinye Military Base, Low Orbit, Vanimar Prime.

Vinye was a relatively new construction, put in place by the Empire labelled "rebels", or to the residents, the Provisional Belt Alliance Government's own military. It served for now, as the Headquarters for the aforementioned.

The Command Centre was buzzing with activity as attacks were planned, approved and carried out. The Heavens Belt Alliance however, needed something more... pronounced than small scale raids.

Conference Chamber, Vinye Military Base

The Small Chamber held a number of Elves, seated around a large table. The Room itself differed to those found around the empire. The consoles embedded in the table itself had an odd edge to them - as if something different, yet fundamentally the same, held some presence within its making.

The men and women around the table all held the same characteristics the majority of their race did, with youthful faces and graceful forms, carefully upkept appearances - with the prevailing hair colours being blonde. The majority present were of the new generation of elves, they had known nothing of life outside Ile Sorne, yet for some - the ember that had ignited the nationalist flame burnt brighter within.

Dialogue flowed around the table as plans were discussed, Eventually a man clad in unknown diplomatic dress at the head of the table put an end to the current juncture of the debate.

"... I have to disagree, Koratu is a complete no-go for all that it entails, and I have to say our .. friends would find the idea even less attractive - Now, Saldor, who - unfortunately could not be present has prepared detailed plans for two targets i cant help but put forward, and indeed support. Please look to your consoles."

The consoles displayed two images, both well known and both considered to be impregnable to the Alliance. The man glanced around the room before speaking again.

"On the left is a detailed breakdown of strategies and plans for an assault on Kelwynd, now these plans come forward because of the relative importance of the Capital, however - what Saldor has neglected to remember is that it is not our cause to go crusading against that which was formed by our own hand. Nonetheless our gracious friends thought it would be best for us to at least consider the possibility, so please, do so."

Several discussions broke out at once amongst those present before eventually coming full circle once again. Another man, this time dressed in formal military wear, turnt to Vacoran, the man at the head of the table. His strong voice broke out over the commotion.

"I think its obvious from - indeed your own statement, and that I hear around us that Kelwynd is not a viable first strike target, nor would it aid our current propoganda causes, So, Master Vacoran, the other target?"

Vacoran nodded in agreement with Naldar, the Military Attaché to his own diplomatic mission, and turnt to the rest of the group.

"The other target, and the one I find most appealing, despite the difficulties involved - Is the current de facto Novanian Capital world of New Constantinople."

A few looks were exchanged around the table before a woman, who went by the name Caleria turnt to Vacoran.

"You cant be serious? With our current numbers, and im including them, Its positively suicide, ask any strategist."

Vacoran nodded, another voice from the group rose, belonging to Erdaras, he was indeed, a Strategist.

"I Concur with my friend Caleria here, whilst, no doubt a wonderful victory to be had on many other levels aside from military, it is not an attack our current forces will be able to partake in."

Vacoran nodded once again and smiled to the woman opposite him at the other end of the table, She rose and left the room.

"Forgive Doctor Elesia, she has work to attend to on my behalf. I understand your concerns, Indeed I myself would agree with you if I was not in possession of knowledge you yourselves shall now be enlightened to. This system was chosen to be our seat of power not just for its beauty and all that entails, nor for the abundant resources it holds - it held a far greater purpose and that is why we hold it."

Vacoran rose and tapped a button on his console. The window opposite stopped showing a display of Thalassi and switched to show the energy ribbons and space beyond the installation.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, New Constantinople will be a fine target, for we have reinforcements from our good cousins"

Vacoran tapped another button on the wall behind him, forgoing his personal communicator.

"Doctor, if you would be so kind as to proceed."

Vacoran turnt back to the display, as did the group around him.

Beyond the installation, amongst the morass of the energy ribbons weaving their way through space, six small structures fired beams towards each other, linking themselves like pearls on a necklace.

A few moments later six more beams fired into the centre of the formation, a small rupture in space formed at the epicentre. Within seconds it began to expand, pulling a few of the wayward strands of energy into its maw.

With a tremendous flash of light that forced the window to activate brightness shielding, the rupture expanded to fill the formations parameters. When the light cleared there was a fully functioning wormhole within Vanimar.

"Let us herald the return of those who will reforge the true empire."

With that statement, ships came forth from the beyond. It had begun.

[Arizona Nova]

-=The Capitol

Anikar watched as the assault on Morakan began, and as Absalom's century made rapid progress into rebel territory, she was well pleased. She gave a nod to her advisors in the room, and asked them to notify her if there was any changes, and that she would be returning to the core to work more on Kertai. They acknowledged it and turned back to their duties.

Kertai's voice echoed in her head as she walked back down - "Hurry now, time is of the essence. After you left I have made further progress, but I need your authorization to get at the last bit of encrypted data, and even after you do so it will still take some time to access."

"Coming, coming," she sighed. She picked up the pace, and soon was back in the core.

Sitting at the console, Kertai brought up the list for her. By now almost everything had been restored - save one object, which had arrayed under it an incredible number of directories.

"As I said," intoned Kertai, "I merely need you to authorize me to get at this."

The option was there, but it was attended with many warnings.

"What could it be?" asked Anikar, wary of the pronouncements.

"We can't know until I've plumbed it," said Kertai. "Put yourself at ease; if it was something that could damage me it would be much smaller, and probably wouldn't have been so well tucked away. If I could postulate a guess it probably contains much of my former memories from before I entered the service of the Red Helm."

"It isn't you, so much, I'm worried about," she said with some trepidation.

"Please," said Kertai, hurt by the aspersion, "You must trust me. Do not think of the past; it is, after all, my mind which you are unlocking."

Anikar hesitated for a moment, and then gave the authorization. The screen changed to an indicator of the progress of decryption.

"It will take even longer than I feared," he said. "Oh no - you must go, now."

"Why?" asked Anikar, her heart leaping into her throat, and eyes flashing.

"It is not me - it is Morakan. Something has gone horribly wrong. As well, Anandil is trying to reach you."

Anikar quickly got up from the console and ran back to the door. She turned out of the core and to one of her state rooms, seating herself at another console. Sure enough, Anandil was messaging her.

She accepted the call, and his voice filled the room. "Anikar?" he asked brusquely. "We have a situation at your estate on Ondataru."

"What kind of situation?" she asked sternly.

"A break-in," he said with incredulous trepidation.

"How is that even possible? It is literally a fortress."

"It appears to be a very talented individual. We are even locked out now. The authorities are baffled, and they say they need your help to break through the system."

Anikar was silent for a moment. "Now? There are complications arising in Morakan. I have a feeling that an admiral will burst into my room at any time."

"Well, you know what you have stored there," Anandil said darkly. "It's personal. Let the admirals deal with the military issue."

"Very well," she said. "I'll be there as soon as possible."

Switching off the console, she said, "Kertai? When you could spare a moment, tell my staff that I must be going - my estate on Ondataru has been compromised, and I need to attend to it immediately."

"Very well," he said, "Get back as soon as you can, however."

Anikar got up, and moved with purpose to the transports.

[Arizona Nova]

-=Ondataru

There was a storm worked up as Anikar descended to the planet below. As she emerged from the transport her face was lashed by rain, and the boiling clouds were cracked by lightnings and shuddered with thunder. "How ominous," she thought.

She made her way to the fortress above, and saw that the road approaching it was covered with vehicles, and flashing red and blue lights. Three men in ponchos walked toward her, and the leading one pulled off his hood - it was Anandil, Stanimir Ryszard, who won fame by his defense of Baramua during the Nobuseri-Tzoy conflict, and the Central Facehuggerian Civil War, and her own adopted heir. His hair was already soaked, and clung to his forehead; he did not look terribly regal now, but then, he never really had.

"My Empress," he said, with a slight bow. "I think we should forgo the pleasantries and get to business, considering the weather," he said, gesturing to the angry skies. "If you'll follow the police chief here," he said, patting one of the grumpy-looking ponchoed figures on the shoulder, "He'll tell you whats going on."

"Mrhm," the policeman said uneasily, looking between the heir and the head-of-state herself. "Anyway, it's all locked down, but we figure you've got some kind of overrides for the system that only you know, right?"

"That is correct," said Anikar.

"Good," said the police chief. "We just need you to execute those for the front doors, and then we'll send a squad in to smoke out your burglar," he said confidently.

Anikar shook her head. "Even if I could open the door, you couldn't find your way around in there without a map. I know the ways, I'll need to help you search."

The police chief looked deflated at that, as it only added to his embarrasment of not being able to handle the situation in the first place. "Well even so, you need a squad to help you. Whoever is in there knows what they're doing, and they could be dangerous. You need someone to watch your back," he said, hoping to impress that he was at least somewhat competent.

"Quite," she said, her attention fixed on the fortress more than the policeman. "I'll lead you up then."

The chief motioned to a group of police, suited up for assault, that were nearing them, and the group advanced to the main gate of the fortress. Anikar looked back at them dubiously as she began inputting the overrides, and to the policemen, for a moment it seemed as if the gate area became pitch black dark, and a couple shouted in alarm, but it passed in a moment. The door opened with a thud and a series of clicks as the locks disengaged.

Anikar lead the squad in to the opening hall, and she advanced confidently as they swept the corners of the room with their lights, scanning for hostile movement. She waited for them to stop and the continued.

It had been long since she had been at her fortress, but she still knew the ways intuitively. She quickly tracked down the signs of disturbance through the dark, stony interior, and followed the trail deep into her estate. For all their art at break-ins, they were none too subtle. The squad respectfully hissed for her to wait, but her ire was up, and her eyes flashed as she looked about. Yet, she turned a corner at one point, and a blast door slammed shut behind her. She whirled about, and could hear pounding on the other side, and yells - she had been cut off from the squad. She stopped for a moment, and considered the situation. She pulled out a phone, and found that its signal was jammed. This was very peculiar indeed.

Eventually the pounding stopped. Did the squad leave? Could they reach the outside? Anikar realized that they could very easily get hopelessly lost in here, and she didn't have time to wait for them to find their way out, back in with a cutter, and then wait for it to do its job. She had to get to the source of this disturbance now, and stop this nonsense.

She followed the trail, and it led to her library. The nerve of this impudent to go there! She came to the door, and the light of a fire flickered on the wall. Then, she heard a strange, high, feminine laugh float out of the room. She stopped, and chills crept down her spine - it couldn't be Fate. That was absurd. She advanced into the doorframe, and saw nothing but the library, and her chair framed in the light of the fireplace. She looked around and saw no one. She took one step, and then another, into the room, quietly.

Then, she froze - involuntarily. She tried to move, panic slowly rising in her gut, but found that she couldn't. A force constrained her.

On the floor below and the ceiling above, tiny blue flames sprung up in lines on the floor. She watched as they spread, like fire over an oil slick, but in minute fashion, and they traced geometric shapes and patterns on the floor. A cold weight settled in her stomach as she realized what this was.

It was a trap.

"So you have come," said the voice. It was feminine, and human, but their was a cold and unstable note to it that made it tremulous at the lower registers. "I was hoping you would. It'd be a shame to cause all this trouble just to lure you here and then have some special forces team blow their way in."

"Who are you?" Anikar demanded, breathing heavily, as she exerted her utmost effort to move, to no avail. She was sapped of all power.

"I don't know how that would even matter to one such as you," said the voice playfully, "but since you asked so nicely, I might as well tell you."

A shape rose from the chair, tall and glittering. As Anikar's eyes adjusted, she realized, with another shock - she was wearing her armor. She was wearing God's Own Suit, but without the helmet.

The figure turned around, and Anikar, had she been able to move, would have recoiled. At a glance it would have looked normal, human, but anything more than a cursory examination would reveal it was not. The right side, from the nose back, was covered in a smooth, unbroken metal plate, with only one hole in it for the eyes. The eyes were the most terrifying of all - they were not human, they were clearly reptilian, like that of a kaleesh. Long, dark, disheveled hair masked most of the rest of her features. What part of her mouth that was exposed was cracked open in a malevolent grin.

"I," she said imperiously, "Am Janthea Rynn. You don't know me."

Anikar said nothing. None of this made any sense. It was true, she had never heard of anyone of that name.

Janthea's eye made quick little movements, darting about, tracing the patterns in the floor and Anikar as she stood stock still. Then she spoke again.

"I've been following you, Anikar, for a while now. Not physically, but through time - no, not chronomancy." She cackeled at that. "I've been tracing your history. You see, I've become interested in you since the Central Facehuggerian Civil War, since Arcadia. I fought your heir, and that bastard almost killed me," she said, putting a high emphasis on the last word. "The dirty sewer-purging bastard. I can't believe it, as I'd given him what should have been a mortal wound. Then he up and just blows up, and shatters the ground for within yards of himself, and throws fireballs or something - admittedly I didn't stick around long to find out. I saw it though, and immediately it stuck in my brain. How the fuck did he do that? When the war ended, I couldn't think of anything else, and as I didn't have anything else to do, I decided to investigate it. He certainly wasn't doing it when he was a plumber, thats for sure. So I immediately figure it has something to do with you."

She fixed her weird reptilian eyes on Anikar, who could not look away. "Yes, you'd made him your heir not long before that. I'd known that you were all kinds of what-the-fuck, but I didn't know that there was apparently a way you could spread it around, and thats definitely what Arcadia looked like. He was hitting people with the butt-end of a rifle and they went flying through the air, like a baseball."

Janthea began to pace, and continued, "So I began researching you. It was a long and tangled thread, and I didn't leave a few corpses in my wake," she chuckled again. "I pumped old databases for information, and managed to even cut up some old crime lords and pirates too. They were relics. You're a relic. You only start showing up in the 600s A.C.E. What is that, like a thousand years ago? Sweet Christ."

"Then you go and get sneaky-sneaky on Anithraldur, and pull the government out under him like a rug, and set yourself up, but I wasn't interested in that. I knew about that. You learn it in history class. At that point you only looked human, and I tracked down the point when that began to be in doubt. You first went crazy on us during the Calamities, when you vanished as Arizona Prime got the shit blown out of it. When you come back, you're different. You scare the press. They can tell you've changed - or that you've remembered something."

Anikar's eyes worked furiously. Janthea smiled, and it was as reptilian - crocodilian - as her eyes. "Of course I'm right. So I put two and two together - one, you're not human. You're - you're some kind of angel," she said, drawing out the last word mockingly. "Crazy shit, but it makes some sense. Still doesn't mean theres a God, but I don't care about that. I just care about you."

"You may have that - the angelic office and whatever powers that give you, and I thought well what the hell can I do then? You'll fry me with eye lasers if I look at you the wrong way. Thats how you work - we 'mortals' are nothing but ants to you. But then I figure, how did you show up in the first place? So I go back to the beginning again, and dig deeper, and find out - you were summoned or something. You weren't always here, in this dimension, you got pulled through a gate, and thats how you came to be. So obviously us little humans can do things to affect you, and that has implications. If we can summon you, we should be able to banish you too."

She stood, silent a moment, staring at Anikar, whose mind was now numb. There was nothing to say, no reply to be made. The peril of the situation, and the horrible import of these revelations, was almost too much to bear.

Janthea laughed cruelly. "Yes, and more than that even. For you see, I visited old Arizona Prime. It's crawling with Fate's old sentinels, just skittering around the surface nonstop like ants. I cut a swath through them down into the old Tyrion Archives, deep into the shattered earth there, and found deep passageways, places that hadn't been plumbed by those robots. I found the jackpot - the prophecies of Tyrion, or copies anyway, and something more. Did you know they had a whole toolset down there? Not just for summoning you, but for doing other things to your kind. Instructions to banish, enslave, and channel angelic powers, and something else." Janthea drew close to Anikar, looking right in her captive eyes, and her own were filled with a malificent light. "You lot have, portfolios, was the word for it. Basically, it's that your powers, while you can use them, are not part of your mortal form. They remain seperate, and outside. Thats why you never consciously brought them to bear before the Calamities - you simply forgot you ever had them, somehow. Whats more... they can be taken."

She backed away, and laughed again - not long or melodramatically, but as if she had just told a joke that was merely politely funny.

"And I," she said, "Intend to do just that."

She did not have a chance to say more, however, as at that moment the stone wall to their right exploded, showering the room with masonry, and a man leapt through. It was Anandil, bearing a sledgehammer. For a moment, everyone froze at the bizarre scene. Janthea's pupils contracted, and the fleshly part of her face contorted in rage.

"YOU!" she screamed, the high fineness gone from her voice, which resonated in the chamber, hoarse and ugly. She turned from Anikar, and launched herself at Anandil. The powerful armor suit propelled her in a single jump toward him, and she swung back to deliver a crushing blow. Anandil however sidestepped her, and pulled her, throwing her back through the hole he had made using her own momentum. There was a tremendous crash as she hit the wall on the other side.

Anandil ran over to Anikar, whose eyes were choked with tears, still frozen in place. He took the sledgehammer, which suddenly flickered with a tongue of red flame, and brought it down on the pavement. It shattered under her feet, and the blue lines of fire sputtered and hissed, and disappeared. Anikar collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

"My God, are you alright?" asked Anandil hurriedly. Anikar just looked up at him, bewildered and dazed.

"Go!" he said. "Run back outside! I'll hold her here." Anikar shook her head, and he scowled. "No! Go! Go now!"

A scream echoed out of where Anandil had made his entrance, and he turned back toward it, on guard. "Get moving!" he yelled.

Anikar, her face now streaked with tears, reluctantly got up and ran out the chamber. There was another terrific crash, which caused her to stop for a moment, but then she began to run, as her strength returned. She wept silently and bitterly as she went.

Meanwhile, Janthea had come back into the library chamber, and thrown a bookshelf at Anandil.

"Miserable sewer-sucking vermin fuck!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She threw herself at Anandil, intending to crush him into paste with the suit, but he held fast! The two stood motionless for a moment, striving with incredible energy - on one hand, the strength of titans, and the other, a grip of cold steel and high science. Janthea hissed with rage; she was foiled, for now, and while she might kill Anandil, in turn she would be trapped here, and then have to face the full wrath of the source of his strength. Lightning fast, she flew aside, causing him to stumble forward, and she spat on him.

"You are doomed, and your empress as well! I will have all she has, and more! You will see! All of you will see!"

With that, she activated the anti-grav motors in her suit, and stomped over to a table, slapping on the helmet. She then rocketed up through the roof of the library, and sliced through the enhanced masonry of the castle like a knife through butter, finally blasting out of the top of it into the storm, and turned in the direction of her ship, hidden as it was some miles off. She put full power to the motors, and like a bullet darted away. In the storm, no one on the ground saw anything of her, and only heard the tremendous bang as she broke out of the roof.

Meanwhile Anikar stumbled out into the rain. The bewildered police chief, who moments before had been running his fingers through his hair as about a hundred enraged government agencies began clogging all his frequencies demanding information, threw aside the equipment and ran over to the Empress.

"Empress!" he yelled. "Someone get a damn ambulance!"

She slipped forward, onto the muddy earth, and coughed, shivering in the rain. The huddle and the touch of the people around her sickened her - they had all known all along. Her people... who had sworn to her in the deeps of time, and her to them... they had had "defenses" lined up from the very first, secret chains. As she looked at the concerned faces around her, she imagined she read conspiracy in all their eyes, and that too sickened her. She had reached the utmost of pain, disgust, and fear. She collapsed on the ground, finally unconscious, and drifted into the oblivion of grief-touched, exhausted sleep.

[Arizona Nova]

-=St. Maurice Hospital, Ondataru Center

For a time, Anikar knew nothing. She drifted in troubled sleep, memories light and dark swarming up from the deeps of her consciousness and appearing before her; faces ages by ages old, places whose dust had long since vanished itself. Three armies covered an endless plain and clashed, one covered by the light of dawn, one drove on by storm, and the last by ash, and by smoke, and by wrath. She heard a voice.

Vitals stable, as per past two hours - coming out of REM - here we go.

She opened her eyes, and groaned. She was in a hospital room - a fairly typical one, except for the small platoon of armed guards she saw through the glass pane in the door.

It's about time you got up. What the hell happened? asked Kertai.

You didn't see? she replied.

Not a thing. As soon as you got in the fortress, the signal was cut. It was quite upsetting.

In silence Anikar recounted her trek inside, but when she got to where she was entrapped, skirted around any mention of it. Kertai said nothing until she finished.

It is a day for disaster; you have lost an invaluable military asset. Why did you not attack her? You stood a chance even without the suit, I would imagine.

I could not, she said curtly. You need not know anything else.

Kertai remained silent again, for a moment. As you will, Empress. I'm afraid I have more bad news; the fleet was almost totally destroyed at Morakan.

"What?" she hissed out loud, shocked enough to speak. The guards turned in surprise, and called out to the staff.

Hm. They're going to send someone in to ask you about things I imagine. I'll step out for now.

He was right. Anandil came into the room within moments.

"My Empress!" he exclaimed. "You collapsed after getting out of the fortress! The police had you brought here straight away."

Anikar did not look at him directly, and Anandil paused.

"Who was she?" Anikar asked.

Anandil looked aside. "Janthea Rynn, a mercenary from the Central Facehuggerian Civil War. Imperium-side of course." He growled. "I guess she remembered me... from Arcadia. It's all a blur to me now."

"She remembered you, Anandil," said Anikar, coldly. "Do you know what she has done?"

"All I can know for sure is that she has made off with a piece of highly valuable technology," said Anandil, "but there is obviously more at work."

He turned, and Anikar fixed him with a steady gaze. Her eyes seemed to flicker, between hardness and softness. "If you hadn't arrived when you did, all would have been lost. You as well as I. Janthea is now the most dangerous person in local space, and I want her picture everywhere. She is now the number one wanted criminal in my domains - and everyone else's, as far as I am concerned."

"Understood," said Anandil. "Do you want me to...?"

"It depends on how long I will be bed-ridden," interjected Anikar.

"No idea on that," said Anandil. "We can't find anything wrong - anything physical, anyway. What did she do?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out, if I can. I don't think her... glyph... was intended to do permanent damage. That one anyway. If she finds me again I doubt I will be so lucky."

She stretched her arms, and shifted her legs off the bed from under the hospital's covers, testing them against the floor.

"Yes, I think I am fine," she said. "Go to Kelwynd and update the Council on these new matters. I must be off elsewhere."

"You're going to skip off and disappear after what just happened?" asked Anandil incredulously.

"Where I intend to go, I believe Janthea - and indeed, no one at all - will never expect me to come. Now is the hour to call for aid from known friends, and heal breaches with known foes, for unknown enemies strike at us from every angle. Morakan, and Janthea's theft, prove without a doubt that our crisis has become more deadly than we can possible imagine, and our entire future is on balance. Only one other being living has ever breached the walls of my home, and I intend to pay him a visit. Even if he doesn't have answers, then at least some of my fears will be assuaged."

"Ever do you speak in riddles," said Anandil. "You talk of known friends, and who are they?"

"Dispatch to our allies in the ESUS, when you get to Kelwynd, first of the matter of Janthea, and second, a request for military aid against the insurgent Heaven's Belt Alliance. Rally at New Constantinople, and prepare for another attack."

"Against or by us?" asked Anandil.

"Either," said Anikar. With that she got up from the bed, and put on the heavier clothes that had been set aside. Silently she whisked out of the room, and the guards somehow missed her passage, and when next they looked in, they gasped at astonishment as Anandil walked out, alone.

"It is fine," he said to them, chuckling. "The Empress is alright and is headed back ahead of me. You are dismissed."

Gladly, they filed out. What a strange day.