[center][h3]Cathacia, Arcadia[/h3][/center]

The Empress was about to respond when she heard the explosion from outside. Her ears twitched, less like a conscious reaction and more like a pure instinct. She groaned as she tried to move, resisting any attempts to stop her. She managed to get out of bed, still refusing to lay back down. It was clear that she was in immense pain, but she could still move, likely only because of the environment. Had the gravity been the same as on her homeworld, she wouldn't have been able to leave the bed. 

She quickly bowed, groaning in pain all the way through it. She grabbed her katana, if only to keep the ancient weapon close to her. Though she was in pain, she could definitely walk. Whether or not walking would have an adverse effect on her life expectancy was a question that would have to be asked later.

"I hate to run from them, but there's not anything I can do like this. I just keep finding myself in situations where I have no choice but to run, it seems."

[center][h3]Kibō-hosh[/h3][/center]

His airship's sensors picking up the new alien fleet through the Roman blockade, the Admiral adjusted the transmission, making sure it could reach them too. He considered sending another transmission to the Draconian fleet to thank them, but decided to do so after the battle was won.

"I don't know about what happened on A-02, but if what you say is true, then we had no idea what we were doing. I don't fully understand why your people would choose not to fight an invading force, but I do know that the worst dishonor is to order the deaths of those who would cause no harm. Those who lost their lives because of our blunder will be remembered, and one of your worlds will never again fall to that same fate. Even now though, I doubt your word. A captured computer core held data that showed that your people enslaved two other species and forced them into a sick hierarchy where they can only be considered people if they give up their lives to serve the empire. We were centuries behind you technologically at first contact, and you viciously destroyed a diplomatic fleet we sent in the hopes of cooperation with your people. A species that can barely scratch your shields is nothing to be afraid of, and I believe that you were simply going to enslave us like the rest. We will never give in to you, you can do whatever you wish to us, but we will not lean down and take it. If you take our colonies, we will fight in the skies of our homeworld. If you take the skies of our homeworld, we will fight you on the seas. If you take the seas, we will fight you on the plains. If you take the plains, we will fight you in the hills. If you take the hills, we will fight you in the mountains. If you take the mountains, we will fight you in our hearts. If you take our hearts, then we will fight you in our souls. And you can never take our souls. When the last Abh is dead and you hold control over our former worlds, we will still be fighting you. Because even in death, Abh never yield."

With that statement, his fleet opened fire, shredding apart the Roman fighters and downing the transports. Reinforcements began to arrive from other cities, streaming in at a constant rate. The Abh just didn't stop, their ground troops still decimating the Roman forces, which finally began to thin after the hours upon hours of fighting. Even though the Romans were almost certainly going to bomb the planet from orbit, the Abh kept fighting, as if they thought they could win.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All around the planet, hundreds upon hundreds of missile silos opened up, revealing antimatter missiles. Left over from the old civil wars, they were all originally targeted at other cities on the planet. Having antimatter warheads, disarming them was significantly more effort than it was worth. Since they had to be re-targeted to hit the Roman warships in orbit, it had taken a while to get them ready. Suddenly, it became clear why the Abh fought even though they could be killed instantly at any time: they had the plan all along, they just had to stall the Romans.

The missiles flew up out of their launch tubes, streaking through the atmosphere atop their old rocket engines, only operating thanks to the automated maintenance that was kept online in order to avoid a detonation. They weren't like the missiles carried by Abh ships, which were designed for fighting warships. No, they were city-killers, built to kill millions in a single blow. It was the perfect move to make, and it was made at the perfect time.

The missiles slammed into the Roman warships at orbital velocity, releasing their full destructive power upon their targets. It was the same tactic used in the liberation of Shōrino'ba, and judging by the immense number of missiles, there weren't any left. It was the only time the Abh would be using such a tactic to defend themselves at Kibō-hosh, but what the Romans didn't know was that only Kibō-hosh and Shōrino'ba had such missiles on them, all the other colonies were founded after the end of the civil wars.

The fact that it was the last time certainly didn't cause any problems with the power of the weapons, though.