[u][b]Commander Cassius Caspian Thera ( Dominion Controlled Planet) 30km outside of City 001[/b][/u] [img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c0/6c/99/c06c9959f1b884503ff624e24bc0eb60.jpg[/img] Cassius checked his watch, it had been five minutes since the call for the fire mission went out. From experience, he knew that the rounds should be entering the atmosphere soon. Suddenly, a pair of sonic booms were heard in quick succession as Cassius reflexively dropped down into the hole he was in. “ Those are the Marines landing….” another commando said quietly, his eyes still glued to an optical device. “ They’ll know we are here now..” he finished before a symphony of loud sonic claps could be heard. Large columns of smoke could be seen streaking downward over the town before seemingly exploding in mid air a couple hundred feet above the ground. Through the advanced optical devices, one could see the warhead drop from the delivery device and onto the target. With the naked eye however Cassius observed two explosions, once in the air above the target and the second when the warhead hit the target on the ground. The sky seemed alive with fire, it looked almost apocalyptic as more rounds fell from the sky and impacted their targets. The targeted buildings along the edge of the city were quickly dispatched and the air around the perimeter of the city was full of dust and flying debris. Grabbing a handled set of binoculars, Cassius pushed the zoom as far as it would go before starting to observe the city. He could see soldiers of the self defense force running around and towards the now destroyed buildings and field emplacements. Some were attempting to dig their comrades out while others hurriedly tried to salvage equipment and get to some state of readiness. Cassius was surprised, on Mordant, the initial bombardment of cities usually left the defenders utterly shocked and unable to function. The planetary defense force here seemed to have good training and more importantly, the will to fight. “ Follow on targets!” a commando said in a louder tone as he panned his optical device around the city. “ Target, mobile AAA battery moving east of the destroyed barracks. Secondary target, anti tank position and stockpile, north of the motor pool” the trooper barked as it was quickly repeated by another commando on the radio It felt almost cruel to Cassius, he felt sympathy for the humans on the ground as they tried to dig their friends and comrades out of destroyed buildings and bunkers. They had no idea what was coming their way and there was certainly more coming. The squelch of a radio shook Cassius from his thoughts as foreign female voice burst over the radio. “ Assassin 1-1, this his Chaos actual. We are at 50% deployment and are sending two company sized elements your way. Request target data and egress points. Marine artillery is ready and standing by for targets…” The voice finished before the familiar sound of rumbling tracks could be heard. The invasion of Thera had started in earnest and Cassius had front row seats to the whole show. [b][u]-One Week later- Task Force 2 Inside dominion territory ( Designated System: Vescyr)[/u][/b] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/799488649443934249/804017233684725831/Vescyr.jpg[/img] The radar warning receiver of the destroyer immediately began to light up upon exiting FTL travel, the software tentatively classifying the target as an orbital station. A box appeared on the ship’s heads up bridge display as the radar officer began tracking the orbital station signal, complete with range and orbital drift data. “ Launch recon craft and communications probes…” the destroyer captain barked before pressing the general quarters alarm. “ Don environment suits! GENRAL QUARTERS, GENERAL QUARTERS!” an automated messaged yelled over the intercom as crew members began readying themselves and their stations. The Orbital station was still roughly 100k kilometers away and well outside of visible range, but still inside the maximum known range of some Solite weapons. The captain of the destroyer was being careful and rightfully so as his communications officer began intercepting messages from the orbital station. “ Sir, they are hailing us, sending identification tones. Should we respond….” The crewman said turning to face the commanding officer “ Identify ourselves, tell them to surrender or be destroyed” the captain of the destroyer barked, his eyes glued to the heads up display on the bridge. “ No response sir, sending again…” the communications officer said before he was cut off by the radar warning receivers shrill siren “ LAUNCH TRANSIENT!!” the radar officer yelled over the siren of the warning receiver as the vessel’s heads up display changed to show the projected course of the weapon coming at them. “ Shit….” The captain said under his breath before hitting the collision alarm twice. “ Make for flank speed, pull to starboard!” the captain yelled as the thrust of the powerful star engine could be felt. The straining grown of metal could heard as the vessel made its way up to speed and shifted to the right. As the munition fired by the orbital station rapidly moved closer, a timer appeared as it could be more accurately tracked by the vessels radar. 30 seconds was displayed and rapidly began counting down as the heads up display continued to track its progress. The captain gritted his teeth as the timer got down to 10 seconds before the loud sound of metal of metal contact could be heard on the bridge. “Damage report!” The captain of the destroyer yelled into the intercom before another voice could be heard over the captains intercom. “ It was a ricochet, minor damage to plating, no structural damage, interior atmosphere intact and stable” the crewman’s voice replied in a relatively calm tone. The captain grunted to clear his throat before looking towards the radar and weapons officer “ Ready missile tubes 1 through 16 with APHE and lock the orbital station” the captain barked before receiving affirmative answers from the crew members. “ Fire when ready” the captain finished as the thundering sound of missiles leaving their tubes could be heard. [u][b]-A few hours later-[/b][/u] After a quick skirmish with the orbital platform, the threat had been subdued and the remainder of the task force exited FTL travel and made its way to the planet designated “Ibirius”. Much like operations of Thera, the task force set up in a far orbit of the planet and began deploying reconnaissance teams and marine detachments to take the planet. [u][b]-Two weeks Later- Task Force 3 Designated System : Yanna[/b][/u] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/799488649443934249/804017261986709544/Yanna.jpg[/img] The recon destroyers of Task force three entered the system designated “Yanna” without much activity. The destroyers stopped a few freighters, captured their flight logs and confiscated their cargo before moving on. According to the flight data captured from the freighters, they indicated a large industrial space port on the nearby planet, designated “ Othae”. The remainder of the task force exited FTL travel and entered into a far orbit of the planet to begin combat operations. While doing this, a pair of recon destroyers were sent towards the expected Saxonian frontline in order to finally make contact with Saxonian forces and merge their front lines.