[h3]Ly'Nus System, Third Planet Tar'Kus, Northern Combat Lines[/h3]

A high pitch scream came from artillery rounds, hammering the trenches. Sporadic gunfire was heard across the northern trenches. Death was everywhere. The moaning of the dying, the screams of bleeding men and the stunning silence of dead comrades. The thick fog was hell for the defenders and the constant waves of enemy soldiers taking a toll on the northern lines.

Sergeant Anton Von Wilch led the under strength, tired and beaten Fy'Re company through the maze, silently flicking the safety switch on BPW on and off. It was a habit the training instructors couldn't remove, no matter the punishment. His black and brown standard combat armour was being covered crimson and blood. A scrunch was heard under his boot and looked down. 

An enemy pirate was dug into the dirt, moaning and groaning. His eyes grotesquely hung out of it's sockets, hanging like golf balls. The man let out a strained call for help while Anton fired a three shot burst to the mans head, turning it into a blood red mess. He carried on while the rest of his men kept marching behind him. A gunshot rang and Anton span to face behind him, along with his men.

Private Adolf Von Titus, the only other original Fy'Re man among the replacements excluding the Rangers, fired into the man with his SMG, continuously firing into the bloody mess. One of the replacements moved to help him but Anton stopped him. He shook his head and started walking off, along with the near broken 117th. The group collectively realised together that they would all become like him. Former shells of themselves. Broken shells of their former glory. Sullenly, they carried on, the sound of qAdolf firing into the now, red mass of flesh and bone flow into the wind.

They reached the edge of the trench when a horn blew, signalling the daily charge towards the enemy lines. Slamming his fist on the palm of his left hand in a hammer like fashion, Anton and his company climbed up the trench and into the eerie blood and disease ridden crap hole called no man's land. They spread thinly and joined up with remnants of other broken companies, finding comfort in numbers. They came to a hundred meters before the artillery came, whistling towards their line.

Men turned into bloody mess, death and destruction raining upon them. "TA'JI TEL DEMOCRACIES!!!!" The company flag bearer, a Ranger by the name of Tal'Tor Si'Te charged with the company flag on his back, spewing his flamethrower into the enemy trenches. Rangers were almost as common as Krieg foot sluggers and has seen combat in all Democracies Campaigns. The low mechanical whir came from their mechanical counterparts, fighting with their comrades. "KILL THE CORRUPT, BURN THE EVIL AND SLAP THE HELL OUT OF SLAVERY!!! FOR LADY LIBERTY!!!" shouted the ecstatic AI. He stomped on a pirate, crushing the poor man into a bloody mesh.

Anton fired a stream of rounds towards the enemy lines, fiery bullets going wild as his accuracy has degraded to an almost pathetic level in the years that has past. He saw a stop in the firing and sprinted towards the line, catching up to the enormous Tal'Tor. He jumped into the trench with a small grunt of exertion and landed on the cold dirt. The Krieg quickly got off the blood red dirt and marched deeper into the trenches.

[h3]54th Exploration Fleet, Unknown System[/h3]

"ANTON!!! Wake up ya lazy sod!"

Admiral Anton Von Wilch winced quietly, having dozed off into his dream state. The glory of the Ly'Nus Campaign emblazoned on his chest and in his heart. He blinked slowly, letting a yawn out. They have been in transit for three days and that took a toll on the Admiral. Constantly checking for an opening in Flingshot takes time. Thought it seems that an operative found one and is alerting him.

"What the corruption is wrong with you, Brian?"

The furious operative snarled and bit back "Well, sir, we have just appeared in an unknown system, light years away from the fucking borders!". His face was red with anger, eyes bulging.

The Admiral just made a dismissive hand movement and sat up on his chair, yawning as he did so. The system was nothing special, a garden world or two and gas giants a plenty. He took the roll, standard in his line of work. 

"Admiral Anton here, Dreadnought [i]Valiant Hearts[/i] rigged up and ready."

"Captain Joel, Dreadnought [i]Brave Heart[/i] ready. Stop sleeping Admiral."

'Cocky bastard' Anton grimaced.

"Captain Lay'Pus, Dreadnought [i]Hero of the Poor[/i] is upping and going, sir."

"Captain Rus, Carrier [i]Oppressed Killer[/i] is blah blah blah. You know sir, I thin-"

"Captain Rebecca, Carrier [i]Brothers In Arms[/i] is ready. Shut up Rus."

"Captain Willhelm, Cruiser [i]Call of Duty[/i] is charged."

The Admiral silently muted the channel as the fleet reported in, looking like he was actually listening. For some unknown reason, his fleet was bolstered up to a large degree. Having three dreadnoughts and two carriers may have seemed to be a bit of overkill. Especially with the frigate and cruiser wolf packs that formed behind, the 54th was certainly a force to be reckoned with. 

Sure the fleet wasn't as big as any of the home fleets but it was still a group the admiral was proud to lead. He pondered of the possible ramifications new territory can give to the Democracies. To be honest, he thought that the nation needed this. In the past, the numerous planets were new and weren't needed. Now with the overpopulation problem, the Democracies needed new garden worlds. The hundreds of space stations that were dotted around Democracies territory weren't as sufficient as the leadership thought. 

Anton thought back to the troops under his command. General Tar'No Sis is currently conducting drills in the bay, the numerous Tar'Lik, Krieg and Tayt troops perfecting the Art of War. He missed his footslogger days, in the dirt with the 117th, fighting alongside brothers and sisters in arms. 'Hm, that'll be a good idea. I'll visit the General and give him some tips.' Anton thought while looking at the vastness of space.

Then he saw the ships that were speeding his way, definitely alien in design. Letting out a small groan, he nodded to the strangely calm bridge crew to get to work. Once they sent the First Contact package, he gave a hand motion and saw as the local Tar'Lik readied his mind, reaching out to the ones onboard.

"Hello there, I come in peace" the slight echo in his voice was due to the Tar'Lik "I hail from the Tay'Ran Jik Democracies and I was sent here to find new territory. I see that you have occupied this system so I shall do no harm. I wish for cooperation between our countries. I have sent you the first contact package to your ships hardware. If you would like, I will send the diplomats onboard and five security guards to board your ships and conduct negotiations between our two stellar nations." 

Anton waited for a response.

((I shall wait for someone to just reply to this. If any of the new guys want to, this can be you. Or maybe one of the big players. Leaving it up to you guys though))