[h2][center][color=yellow]The Imperium[/color][/center][/h2]

[h3]Davians Hope[/h3]

Aboard the [I]Dark Horse[/I], Admiral Graff sat comfortably on his chair. There was little emotion in his eyes as the tracers from his ships cannons disappeared into the void. He didn't bother magnifying the image, but was rather content seeing the tiny flickers of light in the distance from what his chief tactical officer exuberantly declared

"Sir! we scored four hits!"

"Primitives." Was all Graff could muster. 

For nearly half an hour of constant fire, Graff ordered them to stop. He was curious as to why the fight was going only one way, why were the barbarians not firing. "Just content to sit in your little chairs so far off eh?" he mumbled, "Alright, Launch a couple... drones. Lets see if we can draw them out a little."

A mere two minutes passed before two drone strike craft darted from the left hangar pod of the [i]Dark Horse[/I] 
Their trek was simple and the travel was fairly uneventful. They passed small bits of wreckage until arriving at visual range of the Horde fleet. "Lets see what our next kill will be." Graff said with a smirk.

As the Drones panned their cameras, all aboard the bridge gasped. A few holographic emitters, projecting an image of a huge fleet, and four large ship props had been set. A elaborate ruse that the Imperium fell perfectly for. "Sir, your ord-" Alerts began sounding all around the fleet as Horde ships began erupting from the darkness. Graff slammed his fist, "All ships, Battle stations, Fire at will!"

The order wasn't even half given when the other ships began firing wildly. Horde ships rushed through the fire to get in range to launch their payload, masses of fighters. The two fleets clashed in a dazzling spectacle of lights and flashes. Graff leaned back in his seat and banged his head gently. "Is this all they have?" he said with clear disappointment. Ahead of the [I]Dark Horse[/I] a massive ship appeared, the first any in the fleet had seen and Naval intelligence had seen once, A Behemoth slowly pulled itself from warp. 

It, like all the rest, became a target for the Imperium gunners and in yet another array of dazzling lights, the ships fired in that direction as well. At that moment, Graff signaled for his ships to begin evasive maneuver patterns and his own ship to fly closer to the Behemoth. He could see the massive guns on all sides of the ship and hoped to get under some of their guns, guns that had scored some well placed shots into his fleet. There were losses, although at the expense of many of the Horde ships. "I've never seen the Horde fight like this before." Graff said, almost impressed. Almost.

with an ear to ear smile he leaned towards the comms officer. "Alright, they played into a trap too. signal the first two battlegroups. Time to drop this house of cards. Checkmate." he said with sheer, sickening confidence.

On cue, the two battlegroups, Pegasus and Gryphon, darted in from warp speed. The Horde had now been encircled and they knew it. Horde forces began to scatter in various directions, attempting to get a better hold on the situation but the sheer volume of fighters and ships prevented any chance of regrouping. 

Four hours into the fight, the bulk of the Horde forces had been destroyed as the Imperium's elite pushed their ships beyond the safe limits. Some captains treating Ganymede cruisers like fighters, dipping and dodging. Albeit at much slower speeds. The Horde had seen an opening though, an weak point in the Imperium's line and began to exploit it. Droves of Barbarian ships broke off from the fight and made for the breach in the line they made. "Good.. good." Graff said, watching as the enemy ships took smaller formations to escape the Imperium onslaught. "Battlegroup Centaur, you're up."

Hundreds of flickering lights against the void heralded yet another mass of Imperium warships. All eager to join the fight. Their foe, tired and beaten from Graff's well executed play had thought escape was ahead. Only to see five Sol class dreadnoughts waiting for them. 

It was six hours that the battle lasted before all that was left was the Behemoth. It's outer hull was heavily damaged and most turrets were gone from an intense dual with Graff's ship, which hadn't suffered near as much damage. "Bigger isn't always grander." Graff said, remarking on the fact that his own ship, immense and huge as it was, was still less than half the total mass of the Behemoth.

Only an hour more of fighting brought an end to that menace. Massive beams of energy tore through the innards of the Behemoth as it slowly broke apart from the sheer impact of kinetic and energy weaponry that had pounded it four hours. 

"Strike up another victory." Graff said with a smile. 

"Sir, we have taken some losses. Perhaps we shou-" a young bridge officer stated

"No. Celebrate with what we have as this is only the beginning. There will be far more losses. We can mourn later." Graff replied sternly, but finishing with a respectful nod.

[h3]Carina Prime[/h3]

"Damn them. Damn all of them." Uther shouted angrily as he paced around the massive central chambers of the capitol building. All around him, Generals and politicians sat bewildered at a massive holographic display showed the declarations of war against their nation, as well as the rushing wave of Dominion warships tearing through the western Imperium. 

The only thing keeping him from truly blowing up was the messages from his allies, that they would help him stop the madness of his tyrannical neighbor. "We have to bolster our southern front due to Musashi's entry into the war." Uther said, pointing to an admiral. "And recall our forces from the western front to a defensible line."

One of the Politicians rose his hand, "That line puts your capitol world of Astrion in danger of attack."

Uther shook his head. "It pains me greatly to leave it. My love for my home is unfathomable but the issue at hand is, do I commit forces against a fresh and well executed invasion that will end in tragedy?" He looked towards the holographic display. "It is fate that placed my home so close to his. But it will never fall, not so long as our Imperium lives. And the only way it will survive is if we are smart with the resources we have."

"Signal our Allies. Let them know we have had losses, but far from beaten." Uther said and then stood before the politicians and military officials. "Let it be known that the Imperium will not fail. The Forces of Varangians, Dominion, Musashi and the damnable horde will all fail. Our allies are strong and have their hearts set on the biggest threat we have, Faust. Once he is dealt with, the others will fall in line. However, we must still make sure to defend against the others." 

"I want options of a pre-emptive strike against the Musashi military or against their populated worlds. I do not want to become a monster but them being in the war puts too much pressure on us." Uther said.

One of the Politicians spoke up, "Why do we not strike against Dominion worlds first?"

Uther frowned, "Because those people are only emboldened when attacked, too fanatical to take losses to heart.. and the Horde only see it as us freeing them from an obligation. Less for them to worry about defending. No, it has to be people that still seem to care."

"And what of the horde?" the same Politician asked.

"We are getting reports as to the full scope of their invasion and its worse than we imagined. Yet analysts are suggesting that they are attacking with less than a quarter of their military force. I sincerely hope they are gravely overestimating the size of our foe." Uther said. "And with that, I must head to a secure location."

A day later, Uther's fleet had left the second imperium. They were heading at flank speed for a fortress that was hidden from most, The Imperium's war-time command facility, Black Rock.

[h2][center][color=yellow]The Dominion[/color][/center][/h2]

The battle for Earth had been hard and long fought, nearly two days on constant combat before the Imperium forces had fled. The losses of both sides were great but the Dominion had fared much better. All around the region, Dominion ships destroyed fleets and stations and attacked countless worlds. There weren't many planetary invasions, rather they were content to deploy combat satellites in orbit of a planet that could pin point target cities, bunkers, even people with devastating efficiency. Fear did wonders for controlling a population.

Faust wouldn't admit it but he was rather blindsided that the other powers declared war in the Imperium's favor but it was no matter, fleets began bolstering the 'southern' borders to intimidate would-be invaders. It was a show of force that they hoped would stall their foes long enough for the Dominion to finish off the Imperium.

[center][h2][color=yellow]The Horde[/color][/h2][/center]

All across their borders, one would still see signs of the Horde falling back. To an ignorant leader or commander, which has already been proven, would see this as retreat, but to a careful observer, would know something else was going on. The Horde wasn't what it used to be, this new leader had brought with him new tactics, new technologies and new ideals. Ideals that would make the Horde more dangerous than ever.

On the Imperium front, the Horde had done well to cause disarray and confusion. Imperial fleets were evading systems that were safe for systems that Horde fleets controlled. The lack of communications and rapid movements of their newer, well fueled fleets enabled them to keep the Imperium a step behind. Though it was well known to the Hordes leader, Bragga, that the success was in no small part due to the Dominion's blitz into Uther's nation. Bragga was content to sit and watch the Dominion do the most work. Faust was doing well at this point which enabled Bragga to not use up as many forces. He knew they would be needed in the future as word had reached him that the nations to the 'north east' had begun moving on his territory. 

Orders were issued to keep them guessing, keep them confused as it was working wonders so far. All the while, preparations for the 'event' were being made, something that made Bragga excited. 

"With how well the Domon is doing and the Musi joining their hand. The great enemy has no chance." Bragga said, staring out of a crude window, overlooking a large green valley. In the distance, a skyline could be seen that was bathed in black smoke. It was yet another victim of his crusade. One of his trusted friends spoke, "But Bragga. We aren't to be the ones that kill the great enemy?"

"While they weaken, we will prepare the final blow. But we have enemies that are looking to our lands. Enemies that will be crushed." Bragga said.