[b]New Condia[/b]

Enemy Shells were effortlessly reflected and absorbed by the Ethereal's shields on all ships, and their confidence grew as their enemy seemed to be no threat whatsoever. But then, an unknown energy weapon was fired in their direction, fueled by mysterious power they had not seen in thousands of years, and ripped through the first cruiser's shields with ease. The beam, by a wildly lucky shot, struck a critical joint between a shield plate and the main hull, severing the connection with the resultant explosion and sending the plate spinning into the planet below. The ship made a eerie howling screech that was lost to the void of space, and moved backwards, trying to reconfigure it's defenses to cover the new vulnerability. Several systems were also damaged in the blast, and the ship appeared to be hanging on by a thread, lights flickering and movements sluggish.

Hundreds of the prepped Matrons fled the dying ship, making a bee line to the planet's surface in an attempt to draw and confuse the enemy's fire, ignoring the Stations entirely. Covered by the other two Cruisers, some of the other attack craft also engaged the ship, firing Tunneler missiles into the shield and slowly weakening them. The Conduit ship, meanwhile, redoubled it's efforts to make contact with the Home Fleet, to warn them of these bizarre creatures and their terrifyingly unknown weapons. The unharmed Cruisers returned fire, falling back slightly and launching a dozen Void Field warheads at two other Stations. It would appear that they were evenly matched, at least until the others came to crush them.

----

[b]Home Fleet, The Void Expanse[/b]

The requests from the Scout Fleet reached the Overseer Commune, who promptly sought the guidance of the Queen on these sentients and their 'Magic'. She listened, in silence, before giving their orders:

[i]Then it is true, there may be Souls still left, even after the Collapse...
Send the Black fleet, and bring as many of these creatures as you can back alive...
Once purged and captured, search the surface for the next Shard Guide...
Then glass it into oblivion, and show them I am their Master, and even their Gods cannot save them...[/i]