[center][h3][color=limegreen]Core Imperium[/color][/h3][/center]







    	Dominion Warship, Axcavear,

    

    

    	It had not been but one day since leaving the nation of Musashi, a trip that was to be long and arduous as the Excavear travelled with its precious cargo, the Executus James Conrad. The bright azure blue lights of the engines made little impact upon the vast emptiness of space. This space was even more so empty, the old space lanes that were once bristling with activity was now a secret passage between the nations. Through the ship, crew members came and went as time just seemed to creep by. 

    

    	The Silence was broken when James had been signaled by the ships captain, a young male named Captain Dirk Persing. "Executus, please excuse my interruption but I would be most honored if you joined my officers and I aboard the bridge."

    

    	James rather confused by the Capitan but had agreed to go. Having been somewhat shaken by the princess earlier he headed toward the bridge unsure of what was to come. 

    

    	Inside the bridge sat a collection of officers, all watching their various displays. The Captain however was standing, staring out of the bridge. As the door opened, the entire bridge staff, as always, rose to salute a senior officer. "Ah! Executus. It is a pleasure to see you. I was weary that you may or may not be comfortable from your real lack of interaction over the past day."

    

    	James returned the salute back to the crew allowing them to get back to work before he focused his attention on the captain "I'm always comfortable in the company of Dominion loyalists forgive me though I'm not a social man." As James walked closer towards the captain "Now what did you want that you requested my presence up here?" He said as he raised an eyebrow curiously.

    

    	"Well, Sir, I have been detecting various sensor glitches, and our port engine operating at low performance for the last hour. I was debating on whether to attempt to dock at an Imperial shipyard as there is a port in the nearest system. Although it does bring us far off course. With your presence, I wanted to defer to your judgement."

    

    	"Captain, if something horrific were to happen without checking out the problems would there be time to fix it in space or do you truly believe the best course of action is to head to an Imperial Shipyard?" He asked as he looked out into the vast space.

    

    	The Captain shook his head. "If we were to shut our engines down, we would have to wait at a minimum of a day for them to cool down if we were to fix it ourselves. Docking at the shipyard could take far less time but given the tension that exists between our two nations.. I thought it wise to ask you."

    

    	James thought about it for a moment "Captain, how long do you think we have until we'd desperately have to deal with he engine?" he turned around to face him.

    

    	"Sir, that is the unknown we are dealing with. It could be fine for the next fifty years or it could break down before we even make another light-year. This is a situation where a diplomat would have to make that call as we are not in friendly territory."

    

    	James began to nod slowly "Very well bring us to the nearest Imperial Shipyard we need to get our sensors fixed anyways. Is that all captain?"

    

    	"Yes sir, thank you sir. I will inform you once we arrive." He said with confidence before issuing orders. Things seemed to calm down now as the crew resumed normal function. Ahead in space all seemed quiet once more until once again, James would be forced into a decision.

    

    	The sensors officer turned towards the conn "Captain! incoming Imperial ships, Three Ganymedes on a direct intercept course, they will arrive within moments. Nearest Dominion ships are in excess of ten days out." 

    

    	Persing ran his fingers across his chin, "This could turn into a incident real fast sir, This is a warship, not a diplomatic vessel. What are your orders?"

    

    	"Hail the command ship let's see if they're open to chat." James smiled 

    

    	"No response. We have them on long range view." the sensors officer replied, Persing turned to him, "Show it on screen." 

    

    	The Image was not what anyone would expect nor want. The three vessels were travelling at flank speed, one still leaking plasma fire and another missing one of its side bays. "Sir.. what are your orders." Persing said, confused.

    

    	James began rubbing his chin confused "Seems like the three ships were damaged from a fight the question is who did they fight. Us or something else. Keep the shields up and continue hailing them for a response but press forward to the Imperial Shipyard." 

    

    	The sensors officer turned his head, "This is the Dominion warship Axcavear to command, We are currently in a situation with three Imperium warships on an direct intercept course. Requesting any assistance.." He repeated the message before leaning back, "Well, that's it. Comms are jammed. Hopefully the message got out."

    

    	Persing stood up, offering the captains chair to James. "Alright, go to red alert. all shields and weapons to full." Klaxons sounded across the halls and with discipline and precision, crews did not panic but hurried to their designated positions. 

    

    	As the Imperium ships drew closer, they showed no intent of slowing down and when they reached shortwave range, the Sensors officer turned to James, "They are broadcasting an SOS, stating that the station has been destroyed. It appears they.." The captain interrupted, "Magnify behind the Imperium ships.. Oh... my." he said, seeing an image that sent fear to his very core.

    

    	The Horde had arrived.

    

    	James ignored the seat and instead walked closer toward the wide view screen. "Captain, looks like we'll have to hope the engine will be fine. Plot a new course for Dominion space. Draw power from the weapons if needed but keep the shield on standby we'll leave the Remnants for those beasts." 

    

    	"Yes sir." Persing said before issuing the orders. As power flooded the damaged engine, the entire ship began to shake. In engineering, the lead officer yelled, "no no no!!" as fuses began to short. "Damn." he said as engine three burnt out. 

    

    	"Captain, this is Engineering. Our FTL drive is gone." 

    

    	Persing took a deep breath, "Fine. Hail the Imperium ships, they wont make it as the horde ships are moving too fast. All crews man battle stations, as if they haven't already.." 

    

    	Turrets aimed towards the barely visible horde ships as the three imperium ships took up position near the Axcavear. There was an dreadful silence across all three ships as the miasma of blood thirsty foes drew upon them. "Executus, Any advice?"

    

    	"Find the command ship, and if possible fire everything at it. Aside from that I hope everyone here was able to make final good byes." James then looked on as the horde drew ever closer.

    

    	The Captain stood tall with his fists clinched against the oncoming swarm. "Link our battle net with the Imperiums. Launch all fighters, load all torpedo tubes with wide area photon warheads. If we do fail here, it will be written that we took as many with us as we could."

    

    	It was as if the entire crew was thinking along with the Captain as fighters were already launching as he gave the order and soon thereafter the Imperium ships had launched theirs. "Keep all ships in defensive formations. Fighters target enemy strike craft and munitions. We will wear them down."

    

    	Less than thirty minutes later, the first shot was fired from the lead Imperium cruiser. The heavy Kinetic round flew into the darkness of space, failing to strike a target but completely disorienting various horde warship. The shot did its job as it forced the Horde into battle formations early, giving the Four ships a general idea of what all was coming their way. 

    

    	As the Horde drew closer, large battleships opened their main guns in large volleys, sending shells right through the Allied ships battle lines. There were no hits as the distance between the ships enabled defensive movement. Even though the chance for a hit was low, The Allied ships returned the fire in kind, launching a volley of kinetic shots at high velocity into their lines.

    

    	An hour of cat and mouse seemed to go on as both sides lobbed heavy munitions back and fourth. A couple lucky hits struck Horde vessels as their formations were much tighter than the Allies Four ships. It was a true staring contest as both sides tested the mettle of the other with long range attacks.

    

    	The third hour was when the Horde blinked first, rushing a mix of fighters and light frigates directly towards the Allied ships. The Allied Excelsior and Trident fighters turned to an aggressive posture but did not fly off to engage, rather they targetted the incoming fighters with their longer range precision weaponry. 

    

    	There was a awkward silence and anticipation as the two navies drew close but was rudely awakened as the order was finally given, "Fire! Engage Engage!"

    

    	As if they needed motivation. 

    

    	All around the Four Allied ships, bright lights flickered as the many weapons fired into the horde lines, striking and destroying countless fighters and a large number of frigates. Not a single fighter reached the Allied ships lines, prompting the Horde to launch yet another wave.

    

    	Six hours into the battle, The fighters had finally met the Horde in combat, bright streaks of light darted all around the four ships as the defending fighters did their best to halt the destruction caused by the Horde strikevcraft. The Capital ships let loose in massive volleys, long range flak rounds outside the defending fighters range, as sort of a long distance shield and up close, rapid fire precision auto-guns and point defense lasers picked off ship after ship. 

    

    	The Enemy frigates were smart and stayed just outside the lines where torpedoes were of any effect. and instead utilized mid range kinetic weaponry that for the most part were bounced from the four ships impressive shielding.

    

    	It had been seven hours of hard fighting before the Horde ships retreated to their long range lines. The damage they had done was irreparable though, the already heavily damaged Ganymede was dead in the water and taking direct hits from the long range shots. The other Allied ships did their best to deflect the incoming rounds but there were too many for them to absorb and with a flash that rivaled a star, the engine drive of the first exploded. 

    

    	Fires rushed through the ship at such speed that it was impossible to escape. It was a sad day when nearly two thousand men and women died in a heart beat. It seemed that this was a beacon for the Horde as once again they rushed in, but as quickly as they rushed, they fell back. It was a test to see how much the ships had left in them. Persing was smart about it and refused to launch his still re-arming fighters. Giving the Horde no information.

    

    	Twelve hours, Twelve entire hours of long range slugging seemed to have no foreseeable end. The Engineers worked frantically to restart the drive core to enable escape but once more, the Horde struck and this time.. they brought their big guns.

    

    	Fighters dived and dodged while ships rolled off any conceivable axis as the three ships entered a knife fight with the enemy heavy ships. Point blank shots with the heavy range guns did tremendous damage, as the first shot blew open one of the Ganymedes side bays. Shot after shot was absorbed or bounced by shields on the Axcavear but time was running out, as strong as it was, it was only time before the heavy shots would bring its defenses down.

    

    	Thirteen hours in, the Dominion ship had taken considerable damage, secondary plating had failed across many decks while the engineering bay had more or less vented into space by a well placed particle weapon. By the fourteenth hour, there were no more Allied fighters and the now two remaining ships were barely clinging to life. Worse though is that horde reinforcements had arrived and were entering the situation, with one ship being of an class equal to a Titan.

    

    	A perfect blast from the titans' main gun send the last Ganymede in half, with the aft end flying rapidly backward and the fore in a quick roll. Persing, now bloodied from an explosion that had sent the bridge crew to the floor earlier sounded across the ship, "All hands. All hands. Attention, Abandon shi-" Before he could finish, a well placed shot rocked the entire bridge crew to the ground again, killing over half from concussions. 

    

    	"Executus, any last orders? is there anything we can do?" Persing said, watching as escape pods launched, only to be picked off by fighters and frigates that were now circling the drifting Dominion warship.

    

    	James barely heard the captain as he looked out into the open battle field before turning around "Well escape doesn't seem as much of an option. Try and hail the horde command ship and if our engines are online have the ship advance to the enemy fleet as fast as possible." James then turned around "At least make it your last order before you head to an escape pod." James narrowed his eyes into the horde fleet.

    

    	The Captain shook his head in desparation, "Our engines are offline and comms are out.. and if you haven't noticed, they are shooting our escape pods, they are relentless bas-.." He couldn't continue as his last gasp for air was followed a cold silence. There were few left alive aboard the ship as those who saw the pods launching were smart enough to not join them.

    

    	The massive horde ship completely overtook the Dominion cruiser, drawing a blanket of pure shadow upon it. The awe was cut short as various energy weapons cut the ships bow clean off, then the next section. Carving it into six distinct pieces. It seemed pointless to anyone but it was effective in killing all but those in the command super structure, which was rocked once more as massive clamps smashed into the sides of it. Glass shattered and air vented from sealed rooms and decks as the arms firmly held what was left of the Axcavear.

    

    	Knocking could be heard on the outer plates as well as the sound of metel being ripped open with heavy machines and high powred torches. The Dominion marines were taken completely off gaurd as the Horde warriors burst through the very walls. Then the heavy footsteps, clanking towards james.. until a pause and a loud huff was heard. There was various grunts before the main bridge door was slowly ripped open by giant claws. 

    

    	There was nothing standing between this creature and the last Dominion life aboard the ship. A massive beast covered in tattoos and teeth dripping with anticipation. It growled, "One survived." Behind him, four Toxogondii snarled as they crept into the room.

    	James face clear of any expression turn around. "Indeed one did, though I suspect not for long." He said looking at the 5 beasts inside the room with him.
    
    	"Your lack of confidence does mirror your comment. Do you welcome death with such eagerness?"

    	James chuckled "You killed my crew, three other ships and a station at least I'm sure there were more. I'm just going off the facts. I'd love to live though that decision is up to you." James said as he narrowed his eyes on the leader.

    	The beast had no ability to smile, but if it could, there would definitely be one. "Pathetic" it said, now walking forward. The four Toxogondii lowered to all fours and climbed throughout the room, encircling James. 

    	As James stood his ground as he looked around at the things "You're just going to kill a man who some how survived this entire thing and not even ask how?" James then looked back at the leader "I would think you'd be a little curious given that your battle tactics were equal if not better then the 4 ships that stood before you." 

    	Bragga snarled, "No. I do not care." With that, he clinched his clawed fist and started heavily walking towards James. His right hand then reached to his waist where a one-handed Axe was positioned, it had obviously seen blood before as the blade was dark and stained, as well as chips in the edge as well.  

    	"Tsk Tsk. Though if we are to fight. Can I trust that you'll honor me with one to one combat?" James said as he readied himself.
   
    	The Beast growled, "Honor is unimportant." it said before lunging with its clawed hand first, at the same time, two of the Toxogondii's reared and jumped towards James to attack, meanwhile, the other two crawled across the wall to achieve flanking positions.

    	As James dropped his form revealing his true alien self. Two of his arms held the claw away from reaching him. He used his pssonic power to pick up and throw equipment from the bridge at the two on the walls while he pulled the alien beast closer to himself as well as attempting to dodge the two behind him.

    	With James valiant efforts to throw off the first two Toxogondii successful, forcing them to dodge, the second two quickly recovered and shot back towards James. All the while though, James preoccupied with holding Bragga's one arm, was not able to defend against the other which held the Axe. 

	As the dust settled, Only Bragga stood and with an apathetic heart, he turned away. In space, the Horde reclaimed its many casualties and stripped many components of the Allied ships. Before long there were only husks of the once mighty warships. Only then did the Dominion fleet arrive, to see one destroyed Dominion ship along with three Imperial ones. All signs of the Horde being involved was long gone, only the realization that Fausts' second in command had died in combat.

	This was a dark day indeed for the Galaxy as the seemingly calmed Faust was about to get a rude awakening.