Fiction:Da Reckoning/Da Milky Way Front

The Milky Way Front was led by, with help from and. It was an attack launched by Hagto'Zhl against one of the Loron's oldest rivals, the, in the. It was up to Hagto'Zhl to lead to a major victory, and for Kal'kuir to advance their technology to a point where they were capable of tackling the much more advanced Delpha Coalition, and their allies in the form of  and the.

This front is yet to be concluded; feel free to continue to add to it.

Da Revengeance
It was clear when Hagto'Zhl set his eyes on the DCP world of Mirenton, that he was aiming big. The DCP's technology outmatched the vast majority of civilisations within the universe, let alone the Milky Way. But with their vast territories and a space force that outstretched any the Loron had previously owned, Hagto'Zhl went in confident. His first target: an outer DCP colony, a forest world home only to a few orbital defenses and a relatively small population of s defending it.

His ships had already engaged the orbital defenses. Though a Loron Sik Ship was almost nothing compared to a ship of equal size belonging to the Delpha Coalition, it didn't matter when the Loron outnumbered them twenty to one. And when Hagto'Zhl, with his army of, swarmed the world's outpost, he knew it was time to get revenge.

The Loron had never tasted vengeance against the DCP after the. They'd never had the opportunity to confront one of their oldest foes in battle once again. So the excitement among the Loron as they swarmed and hacked away at the Grimbolsaurian defenders was felt. Every Loron gave it their all, firing every bullet they had, every shell in their tanks, and attempting to break every bone in the body of their foes.

Hagto'Zhl led the charge himself. His demonic powers from within him surged. The biologically and cyberntically enhanced forces of the DCP's troops made them strong, but not strong enough for him. As he towered over them, his strength ripping even their toughest defenses apart, Hagto'Zhl grinned and chuckled to himself with every trooper he stomped.


 * Hagto'Zhl - DAD IS WIV US TODAY. WE TAKE DA DCP FER ZR'AN'KAR. WE HAV BEEN WAITIN FER DIS!!!!!

Hagto'Zhl was joined by two others. The first was Knar'gank. Sneaking behind enemy lines, Knar'gank attempted to rip into the larger soldiers among them. However, many of them spotted him first, and many others weren't killed so easily by his knives. Knar'gank was forced to fight, though he was still able to claim decisive victories over his foes. The second was Kal'kuir. With his cybernetic limbs and his mad genius weaponry, Kal'kuir distorted space and time, killing not only DCP, but his own Loron soldiers, in the process.

Hagto'Zhl, as per typical of Loron, was here for a specific prize. The surface-to-space ace-to-space cannon mounted on the world. A subatomic disruptor, the weapon would destroy any Loron ship that would pose immediate threat to the world. Once the Loron destroyed it, they were free to annihilate the planet and turn it into yet another world broken down with nanomachines and quantum replicators for their grand space navy.

The mad scientist Kal'kuir had a huge grin on his face as he chuckled with laughter, firing his insane inventions at the DCP. Feeling that he was outsmarting them, Kal'kuir brought out his bigger guns once the horde finally reached the cannon. All sorts of unnatural disasters, from randomly appearing comets to seemingly causeless whirlwinds, threatening the lives of everyone involved, spawned from the spacetime defects of the trigger-happy Kal'kuir, as he slaughtered those in the path to the cannon.

As the Loron piled on the cannon, whacking away at it, even their combined strength could not take out its incredibly thick armour. Hagto'Zhl signalled to them to move aside, as he prepared his fist. Charging up his demonic strength, he delivered a single, powerful blow to the armor. Once exposed, from a distance, Kal'kuir let off a blast from his cannon, as an eruption was caused from the inside.

The Loron then fled back to their starships, as they were ready to consume the world. They'd won a victory over the DCP, which was almost unprecendented for them. But it wouldn't be this easy from now on.

The Coalition Reacts
The very first reports of the attack were already being streamed to the minds of the DCP's leaders before the nature of the attackers were known. The attack was sudden and came as a surprise. It was even more of a surprise when it turned out to be the Loron, as the Coalition had not anticipated that the Loron would strike out of Borealis so soon, nor had the technology to penetrate the warping of space that shielded DCP territories. The DCP's newly appointed Emperor Lunarai felt troubled by these invaders, as he was born from after the DCP-Loron War, and so consulted his older brothers and father, Wormulus II, who confirmed that the Loron were amongst the most unpredictable species in the universe. And with that, reports streamed in that the Loron had indeed swiftly conquered the planet and were already beginning to dismantle it with hypermatter detonations and self-replicating machines. They had overrun the DCP's defense fleet to keep them busy while the Loron brandished weapons never seen before on the surface.

Lunarai speculated that the Loron planned to disable the DCP's fighting ability first, before heading to other major civilisations of Plazith like France, so he forced his head of intelligence (who begrudgingly complied) to share this information with France, the Draconis and the Plazith Cooperative, which the Delphans now had a special relationship with. This was a move that the Loron or more likely who was commanding them; may not have anticipated.

Lunarai ordered all systems within a hundred light years be stripped to a minimum crew of colonists. Most of the DCP's peoples inhabited space stations and megastructures so this was a fairly easy operation to conduct. Furthermore, the shapeshifting cities of the surfaces of planets entered fortress mode or optimised shielding. Many of Lunarai's commanders were in the opinion of saturating the invaders with hyperspatial weapons, but the Emperor was interested in the new weapons that the Loron had acquired. A much closer confrontation was needed, and Lunarari's brother Warlord Titanozor was feeling fit for the role. Titanozor had previous experience fighting the Loron on numerous occasions and had the most connections with the Borealis galaxy. Meanwhile, the Loron appeared to have stayed put, demolishing the planet using quantum replicators and nanomachines to consume the materials blasted into orbit and construct weapons and ships, all at an insanely high rate. This had to be slowed at all costs, so Lunarai directed all secondary and tertiary defences from the Maelstrom in a volume of ten cubic light years to challenge the Loron front. These were comprised of trillions of drones, nanomachines and hyperspace missiles. The first of these hit ships, manufacturing zones and replicators that had been erected by the Loron.

It was now a battle of attrition between the Loron's nanomachines and the DCP's, which consumed and barricaded against each other. The friction alone destroyed many of the fabrication units and orbital tethers that hauled material from the surface. For now, the Loron advance had been stalled until either the DCP or Loron made the next advance. It was hoped this pincer movement could grind the Loron front enough for Titanozor to get close.

Apalos Pizza With Extra Q-Balls
As the devastation of the Loron swept through the universe, the knew it had to take action or else risk the fall of the  that it had chosen to support. As none of the Alliance's member states had opted to call upon Apalos aid, the collective consciousness was free to make its own decision about where to act. Firstly, it needed to gather as much information as it could about Loron tactics and strategy, and the safest place to do that first-hand was where the DCP had managed to bring the Loron advance to a standstill.

This standstill was about to end, for the warfare that currently engulfed the Loron beachhead was not the kind of warfare that involved Loron armies. It was warfare involving nanomachines and missiles; something to which the appropriate response was comparable technology, not guns and fists. Unable to properly fight, and with their pizza production slowed down by the DCP's attrition, the Loron grew restless. With what ships they had available that could evade the continuous barrage, they moved to attack the next planet on the path to Mirenton.

While they were prepared for an attack, the colony was not expecting it. The fleet of thousands of Sik Ships dropped to sublight dangerously close to the planet's stratosphere, bypassing the planet's outer shielding and pummelling the rest with hypermatter shockwaves. The thick and study armour of the fortress cities was no match for a quick bombardment of antimatter missiles, which opened the way for Loron ground forces to run straight inside and massacre their enemies as the Sik Ships turned their weapons to the orbital defences, who had by this time only just been able to react to the sudden invasion of their space.

The DCP would have been able to get reinforcements through, but they would not easily pass the blockade of Sik Ships to reach the cities, and this was where Apalos came in: to distract the Loron space forces.

The Loron sensors at first detected a large flying saucer, about 45 kilometres in diameter, a light-second or so away. However, this saucer was different to any vessel they had ever encountered. It emitted infrared radiation consistent with an internal temperature of over 450 kelvin, and large volumes of similarly hot gas containing a mixture of volatile organic compounds spewed out of several vents around the rim. Most strangely, while the outer hull appeared to be made of some kind of ceramic, the ceramic in question appeared to be indistinguishable from baked clay.

Unbeknownst to the Loron were the processes occurring inside the saucer. The centre, far cooler than the rest, saw the shaping of large pieces of Apalos replicator-computronium into kilometre-sized discs covered in a mixture of complex carbohydrates and elastic proteins, and into long cylinders of a smaller radius, iron-red in colour, which were sliced into thin pieces that were then attached to the top of the larger discs by a sticky paste of lipids and cellulose. These conglomerates were then moved through the hotter regions of the vessel towards the rim, where proteins were denatured and water evaporated.

It was a giant pizza oven, baking pizza-base motherships and pepperoni escorts, which were launched out of the vents towards an incredulous and insulted Loron fleet. Determined that this cultural appropriation could not be allowed to continue, the Loron broke what little formation they had to engage the Apalos saucers. Although comparable in size to, and outnumbered by, the Sik Ships, the saucers did not have to maintain life support (indeed, life support would allow the toppings to go off) and so were able to arm themselves with many more weapons and supply more power to their defences.

As the motherships' shields were worn down, the smaller pepperoni saucers detached from the top and dived into the Loron fleet, outmanoeuvring their larger opponents and using their flexibility to curl up and evade missiles, but their lack of armour meant they were easily burnt by turbolaser bolts. The motherships were much more resilient, for their starchy exterior was for nothing more than appearance, and thick diamondoid armour lay underneath.

After the initial wave was over, the Loron were able to destroy the Apalos ships at a faster rate than new ones were being baked, so the Sik Ships were free to take aim at the oven and open fire. It was only when they had dealt significant damage that they realised the DCP had arrived at the planet's surface with their reinforcements several minutes previously while the Loron had been distracted by the flotilla of soliton beam-firing pizzas.

Mendel on the Defense
Meanwhile, as Hagto'Zhl and his troops skirmished with the DCP and Apalos, a minor Boss had broken off his fleet from the main force to seek out some easier targets to plunder and planets to strip bare. Boss Yar'khal was on the hunt, and wished to make a name for himself among Da Rogue Boyz. His barbaric appetite for battle was matched only by his delusions of grandeur. Still, his fleet's breaking away and their venture towards the outer rim had not gone unnoticed. A small group of corvettes tailed the Loron Sik ships, unnoticed. Ever since the Loron had entered the Milky Way, their Mendel owners had been on high alert, and this break away fleet confirmed their doubts and fears.

One of the ships pressed a button on his seat, contacting his commander.


 * Captain - Commander Saren, we are tracking the Loron break away fleet. It's heading towards Jeroi, at a surprisingly slow pace.
 * Saren - Excellent. Keep up the scouting and report whatever news develops. I will have our forces ready.

Meanwhile, Yar'Khal was in deep "discussion" with his minor retainers and assistants.


 * Loron #1 - oi where weez even headed man. nuthin ta fight here except...nuthin.
 * Loron #2 - yeh shuldnt weez be joinin Hagto's boyz against dem DCP dumbos?
 * Yar'khal - shut yo mouff all yoos a buncha chikz. who here iz descendeded from Boss Trenn'fal himself?!
 * Loron #2 - yoo I guess
 * Yar'Khal - ME. DATS RITE. wat eva I say goez, ya got it?
 * Loron #1 - *disheartened* yeh boss.
 * Yar'Khal - we gonna go to dese planetz and fite whoeva iz livin dere, kill dem and use der planets to create more shipz for mai Sik Fleet of Sikness. AND I WILL BECOM DEH GREATEST BOSS EVER

Yar'Khal held out his arms in a dynamic pose, expecting to here his troops yell and voice their support for his ingenious strategy. Instead, they merely scratched their heads, some staring at Yar'Khal, others poking the walls with their Shankaz in boredom.


 * Loron #2 - if yoo wantz a bigga Sik Fleet why cant we just join Hagto and dem othas man
 * Yar'Khal - CUZ I SAID SO YA DUMBO. NAO GET SOME BOYZ AND THROW DEM AT DAT PLANET OF DUMBOS.
 * Loron #3 - WAT PLANET, YA TOSSA?
 * Yar'Khal - *Points to his holographic projector* DAT ONE IDIOT
 * Loron #3 - oh. didnt see dat.
 * Yar'khal - NAO GO AND KILL SOME PEEPS BEFOR I KILL YOU DUMBOS FER NOT RESPECTIN MA BOSSLINESS

The other Loron Bosses and leaders grunted and grumbled in response, heading out to grab some Boyz and begin the assault.

The Loron ships encountered no problems, causing many captains to question if there really was anything to fight here. After many a slap from Yar'Khal and his "Biggest Boyz" in charge, they became more quiet. The rest of the boyz happily loaded into their transports, tired of sitting around doing nothing and wanting to kill something. Many of their transports landed, some crashing done from bad piloting and over-excited boys distracting the driver (or killing him). The transports doors either opened, or where blasted opened, and out came hordes of eager boyz ready to fight, some with shankaz, others with big blastaiez, and others on their tanks and carriers.

Meanwhile, they where being watched. From high upon the tree branches and in the hills and trenches criss-crossing the planet, where a number of Walgolorian scouts, their bright armor painted over to hide them in jungles and underbrush. One of their leaders pressed a button on his comlink in his ear.


 * Mer'doth - Commander, I've spotted the Loron, sending you the information now.
 * Saren - Excellent Mer'doth. Engage part one of the plan. Begin sniping and hit and run tactics.
 * Mer'doth - Aye, Commander, Glory to the Clans.
 * Saren - To the Clans, and good hunting.

The Leader gave the signal, his Gvanta and other scout teams loading and clicking their sniper rifles into position and ready for battle. Now began the hunt.

The Loron continued their march, some running ahead in excitement for the battle with whoever was in their way. As they came to a valley, they found nothing. Groaning, they lowered their guns and shankers in disappointment, beginning to trudge back to the group, when one of the boys noticed something.


 * Troopa - ey boss deres a red dot on deh back of yer hed man
 * Boss - watcha meen

He begin turning around, trying to find the red dot, as several more lit up, covering the biggest Loron in red lights. As they began to take notice, a loud crack sounded as snipers opened fire, blue plasma rounds arcing through the air and cutting through the Loron and their primitive armor and grab. Some of them opened fire at random directions, some cutting each other down. Finally, the last of the Loron fell to the ground, blood trickling out of their wounds, as the Gvanta moved on.

The rest of the Loron continued their march at a faster pace, coming to the valley, figuring their brethren had found a good slog. The Loron came around, finding their dead comrades. The Loron grew angry and began shouting at each other and the corpses.


 * Boy - dese idiots found a good fite and got killed lik some wankaz or somefin
 * Big Boy - dis wasnt a fite ya git. in a fite da Loronz always win. so how could dey lose?

One of Yar'Khal's lieutenants, Grimm'killa, lumbered forward, his armor smoking and clanking about as he approached, inspecting the bodies.


 * Grimm'Killa - dis was a sneaky kill it waz. so we need some sneaka boyz to take out dese sneaky gitz. get me some.
 * Boy - yeh ok boss

A number of Sneaky Boyz marched up to the Boss, weapons ready, as though they had arrived there the moment Grimm'killa needed them.


 * Grimm'killa - *pointing to the trees* go to da treez an kill wat ever you find dats not a Loron. Stomp em, eat em, shank dem. Do whatever it takes ta kill dem.
 * Sneaky Boy - an wat if dese ar Loronz killin us
 * Grimm'Killa - DEN SLAP DEM AN MAKE DEM JOIN. we iz da TROO EMPIYA of deh Loron, and all of em join us unda Fre'kloar

The Sneakiez nodded, and ran off, splitting into three groups and heading toward the swamps and jungles, looking for their foes. As they hit the tree line, their coloration changed to a more muted, brown tone. Mer'doth looked at them curiously from his perch, not sure what to make of them. Silently, he gave a signal, ordering his scouts to withdraw, as his veterans remained with him, one of them contacting him via comms.


 * Gvanta - What is your plan, Leader?
 * Mer'doth - I have never seen such formations from the Loron back home. We will watch and observe, and see what happens.

One of his Gvanta nodded, and moved to a lower perch to get a better view of the enemy. As he did, one of the Loron turned and opened fire with his blaster, the high caliber bullets tearing right through his armor. The warrior's bloodedied corpse fell to the ground, as Mer'doth turned to his soldiers, shouting in Mendel.


 * Mer'doth - Attack! Leave none alive!

The Gvanta Warriors opened fire with their pulse weapons, exchanging fire, as the Gvanta leapt down, some attempting to run off, only to be caught by the Loron, and brutally beaten to death, as the Loron opened fire, cutting down the scouts in short order.

Mer'doth and 2 of his brothers moved as fast as they could, attempting to get some space between them as Mer'doth contacted his other comrades.


 * Mer'doth - Gvanta-Brothers, retreat. These Loron are more cunning then thought, regroup at the rally point so we can try this again, a different way.

Merd'oth received nothing but static, trying again and again to raise his troops. Finally, he contacted his Commander.


 * Mer'doth - Saren, my best scouts have been neutralized!
 * Saren - You must be joking. Your best scouts got killed by a bunch of Space barbarians?
 * Mer'doth - I kid you not. They deployed camouflage, seemed far more respective to changes in environment and noise, where not the aggressive barbarians we expected. I know not how to deal with such threats.
 * Saren - Get back to base. We'll figure this out.

Grimm'killa and his troops sat waiting in the valley, as the Sneakaz came bounding out, one of them with a bloodied figure over his shoulder. The lead Sneaker walked up to Grimm.


 * Sneeka - found some gitz. neva herd or seen em before. deyz pretty weak, even fer some not-Loron gitz.
 * Grimm - whose dat one dere? i fort i sed ta KILL EVRFYIN
 * Sneeka - A PRISONA OF WAR. we wanna to know who dese gits ar ennit?
 * Grimm - hm ok

They threw the Walgolorian down, who sat up, struggling against her bounds, her face contorted into an enraged glare.


 * Grimm - WHO ARE YOO GITZ?! WHO DO YA FINK YOO IS KILLIN MA BOYZ?
 * Walgolorian - I won't waste time to talking to such lowly barbarians! You are all savages! The Mendel are coming for you, all of us! A race of true warriors who will...!
 * Grimm - YEH YEH SHUTZ IT DUM CHIK. DERES MOAR OF YOU ON DIS PLANET?
 * Walgolorian - *Smiles* Yes! Many more. Our Mendel kin will slash you to pieces with our Claymores and axes. The Kadalian will crush you under their firsts! The Orgaat will make a feast of your bones! Kill me and my tribe if you wish, but know more will come to see you dead!
 * Grimm - hmm. i fink ill do jus dat.

Lifting up his blasta, mounted on his left arm, he opened fire, tearing through her armor and organs, as she feel to the muddied ground, her blood soaking into the muddied earth. Several of the boys cheered, ready to fight.


 * Boy - so moar fitin?
 * Grimm - Yeah, and MOAR WINNIN to do.

In the Mendel base, in the capital city of Avernai, the Mendel where busy preparing for battle. Fuel and supplies where being counted, soldiers drilled. Some, off sharpening blades and axes for battle, some checking ammo, and others painting themselves and their armor. Saren sat in the middle of all of this, checking her supplies, as Mer'doth and his remaining scouts hobbled forward, bloodied and weak.


 * Saren - Mer'doth, Brother, what happened?
 * Mer'doth - Something I did not count upon, sister. Loron deploying strategy beyond, Shot, stomp, smash.
 * Saren - This is not the end, what happened to our allies won't happen to us.

Mer'doth nodded grimly as his comrades carried him to the medic bay, as Saren contacted one of her other comrades.


 * Saren - J'kal, are your tribes ready?
 * J'kal - Yes, we await your signal.
 * Saren - Just checking in. Keep on alert, and stay out of sight.

Twin Tides
The Mendel capital city of Karacum, was a center of business and trade amongst the warrior people in the Plazith Rim, in constant flux from trade with both allies, and strange aliens unseen by most of the galaxy. Yet, as was usually the case, the Mendel where quick to turn their cities into a fortress world when trouble began to stir. Razor wire, automated turrets, anti aircraft Mass Drivers mine fields and other defenses surrounded the city. Nothing the Mendel did not want was getting in.

Two Sneakaz watched the Mendel as their forces marched and drilled in preparation for the coming battle. One of them watched from his Snipa, trying to discern what was what. His partner whispered to him.


 * Sneaka 1 - yo see anyfing?
 * Sneaka 2 - yeh, lots of stoff. Dey really, really like their Dakka. And der shankaz.
 * Sneaka 1 - den let's get bak to da boss. He's gonna wanna hear dis. Its gonna be gud.

The two nodded, and activated their camouflage, and bounded into the forests, heading back to the others to report.

Commander Saren sat in the middle of the war room, with her various Sub-commanders and lieutenants, discussing the Loron and how best to destroy and route them. Two days had passed, and nothing had occurred since their breath skirmish between the Mendel scouts and Loron's "Sneaka" units. It had many Commanders understandably on edge. As of now, many where speaking of inevitable tide of Loron death that could come at any moment. Commander Saren calmed her comrades with the only way she knew how. She took out her sword, and slammed it into the table, silencing everyone else.


 * Saren - Now then, let's think rationally and not going losing our heads. These are Loron, we can expect brute force and direct combat. However, what our scouts have reported over these past few days, are sightings of Loron using scouting and infiltration techniques, not unlike our own Gvanta Clans.
 * Ugandalorian - What are you saying then, Commander?
 * Saren - I am saying that the strategies we employed against them in Mirus will not work here. The Loron here have more emphasis on stealth, for now, and seem to be observing us as much as we are trying to observe them. They may not be like my teacher, but there is more then brute force to them now.

Saren stood up, pulling her sword out of the table, and with a single curt motion, re-sheathed it.


 * Saren - Our victory today will rely on doing the unexpected, and fighting our foes a different way. Our god, Hoorangiir demands evolution, and so we must evolve to face this new threat.
 * Walgolorian Commander - Then what do we need to do?
 * Saren - Simple. We deploy our scouts once more, but this time, we deploy our Orgaat. Only they and a few others can match the Loron in close quarters. Once we have located where they are operating out of, we will launch an all-out assault. A rolling tide of death, a hurricane of destruction.
 * Kodalorian Commander - Poetic enough, but can it be pulled off?
 * Saren - It will have to. We have to break the Loron horde here, or we will be broken ourselves.
 * Kodalorian - Then may the Gods grant us victory in this hour of need.

The Commanders nodded solemnly as Saren dismissed them with a gesture. It was time to implement a new strategy, and win this battle.

As the sun began to dip under the hills of Jeroi, packs of reptilian creatures left the city, hunched over, and carrying with them large rifles and polearms. These creatures began splitting into small groups and heading out. The had begun their hunt. While no where near the full amount of Orgaat in the Mendel's armies, the few packs that had stayed in the city, and not the swamps of Jeroi, where eager to get out and meet their foes in the open fields of battle. Night was when they where truly able do their best work at scouting.

The Reptilian-bird creatures, with their muted coloration, where difficult to see once the sun finally slipped below the hills, and night fell upon the planet. Now would begin the moment the Orgaat had waited for. A fight with the Loron, in savage melee, just as they liked it. Where's most of the time, Mendel would deploy fire teams and Orgaat together to systemically remove Loron hordes back home, these new Loron where far too cunning. As such, the quick, stealthy movement of the Orgaat would be paramount in this operation, with most Mendel being too heavy set and armored to allow such a thing.

The Loron, for their part, did not know what awaited them, simply believing the Mendel, as always, would hunker down and wait for them, giving them able opportunity to "plan" and formulate their attacks. The Orgaat however, had other plans, mostly to feed. The first few Sneakaz, going about their nightly scouting to observe and report on the Mendel, where silently removed by mostly unseen foes, who came upon them too quick for the Loron to react.

The Loron leadership was, of course, angered at the loss of contact with several of their sneakaz. Many felt the Mendel had stopped being "Stoopid wankaz" and had finally come out to fight. Many Loron joined together, grabbing whatever guns, shankers and other tools of war and moving to meet their foe. The Orgaat, where too small in number and lacking in any serious weapons to fight the Loron head to head, and stuck to the trees and under brush, where a game of cat and mouse began.

The Loron fanned out, first finding the bodies of their dead scouts, before doubling back and fanning out to search for the attackers. The Orgaat would have to move quickly, as the Loron where coming closer and closer to finding their attackers, and would certainly overwhelm the aliens.

The Orgaat moved in closer, and closer, and many packs began to head back, believing the mission hopeless without more numbers. However, the more resolute of them, probed just a bit further, before coming across the Hell-claw Mountains. A sector once used for mining, tectonic activity had rendered the area dangerous to local workers. Yet this did not deter the Loron, who seemed to have settled in and using the abandoned depot as a base of operations. The reptilian creatures began hissing and releasing pheromones, communicating to one another beyond the range of Loron ears, calling a full retreat.

Unfortunately, the Loron where not as ignorant as the Orgaat would've liked. For what the reptilian barbarians did not know, was that the Loron boss, Grimm'killa was there, and he displayed a much more cunning side then expected. The Loron boss, from a distance, looked like every other major opponent the Orgaat had tested themselves against; large, brutish, covered in scars and trophies of his fallen foes, several heads mounted upon the spikes on his shoulders and back.

Turning quicker then what his size would suggest, the Loron boss opened fire, his blasta tearing through trees and underbrush alike. His bodyguard, confused, but eager to kill something opened fire as well. The large caliber bullets not only could tear through the thick, noted trees that flanked the passes through the mountains. Many Orgaat where shot down, their thick hides and slight armor no match for the fire power of Grimm'killa and his boyz, even if they where shooting blind. The remaining Orgaat rose from their hiding places, opening fire with their rifles and long guns, but not amount of fire power could pierce the Lorons' hides, especially Grimm'killa, and his thick, muscled body further protected by armor, that will scraped together, could still shrug off the Orgaat's own primitive weapons.

Realizing this battle was untenable, and having what they needed, the Orgaat made a run for it. Though they managed to put distance between themselves and Grimm'killa's lot, several of the Packs ultimately ran into the lumbering hosts of Loron making the march back. Here, they not only faced the tender mercies of the Loron infantry, but many would be cut down by the Loron troops transports and tank pieces they had deployed, some merely cut to pieces by bullets, others had their very atoms burnt away by savage and unstable time weaponry.

Despite this onslaught, many Orgaat made it back to their camp, though where embittered at having to leave so many of their kin behind, their flesh to be wasted in Loron jaws and not that of their clan. Though battered, the Orgaat ultimately where able to bring Saren the information she would need, the location of the Loron base, and just a few details of the weapons they used. Curious of how advanced the Loron seemed, Saren made a note to have her troops loot whatever wreckage could be salvaged from this battle. Until then, she would need to wait and begin preparing her troops for the coming assault.

Through the Mountain Pass
Grimm'killa and Yar'khal stood overlooking the many jutting rocks and outcroppings in the great passes. The thought that such a defendable position, with able supplies for vehicles and other weapons, was left abandoned, seemed strange to the Loron.


 * Loron Boy - must not be da smartist gitz arond if dey leff dis place abandn'. dere's so much stoff ta build tankz and wut not, y leff it?
 * Yar'khal - dun know. deyz a weird bunch. cant say i'm impressed with der fittin skillz.
 * Grimm'killa - deze were jus sneakiez and scoutin forces. I still wantz to see wat der made of!
 * Yar'khal - tru. I cam here in fact to see wen dey wold com to fite. I wanna see wat der realy made of.
 * Grimm'killa - hur hur, so do I. dis will be fun.

The Loron had gathered in the enclave, new weapons and tanks glistening in the sun. The sight of such a large horde of boyz filled Yar'khal with much excitement. Such a massive horde would only grow, and, soon, he would rightly feared and respected for his power to conquer in the name of Da Rogue Boyz. Surely, Fre'kloar himself would promote him to an even bigger position of power within the Rogue Boy power structure. He would be the greatest boss of bosses. None would doubt him!

Grimm'killa, meanwhile, merely eyed his boss. He knew what thoughts went through his bosses' head, of ambition and glory, and Grimm would have none of that for himself. While a Boss himself, Grimm merely got that position by killing his enemies. As his name would suggest, he cared little for such things as power, or even bling. To kill and murder where his goals in life, any promotions and higher positions he achieved where merely because he was good at killing. So, if Yar'khal did indeed seek higher position, Grimm would follow. It would mean more gitz to kill, such as these Mendel boyz, and was less about loyalty to the cause.

Thoughts of bloodshed and murder where not far from Commander Saren's mind as her forces moved to the mountain base of the Loron. Surprisingly, no ambushes or Loron scout units had been engaged. Many Mendel where put on edge, though Saren expected this. Indeed, these Loron where, as she had always said, not mere idiots. They where most certainly as cunning as any foe the Mendel had faced, and to under-estimate their abilities was a fool's errand. It both unnerved her and excited her at the same time.

Alongside her was the tank of the famous Ugandalorian Tank-ace, Fenn O'Keless, who spied the horizon through his helmet's range finder. He turned to his Commander, who was, by now, in full battle armor.


 * O'Keless - We are nearing the Loron base. I can spot no enemies or traps. What is your directive, Commander?
 * Saren - Continue forward, with Cadre Companies A and B, and keep C and D in reserve.
 * O'Keless - Yes Ma'am.

The Tank Commander gave the signal, as the first two companies made their way forward, loading their rifles and carbines for battle, as the tanks glided forward. Now was the moment they had been waiting for. A chance to gain glory for their clans and ancestors, and be immortalized forever in the sagas.

Still, despite their lust for battle, this did not take away their tactical sense. They where going through a mountain pass that, while allowing them to march at full strength and not thin themselves out to make it through, still left them open to an obvious ambush. Many turned their rifles upward, ready for any Loron to poke his large head and fire their ramshackle guns down upon them.

They headed deeper into the pass, not picking up any signs of the Loron. The Sub-Commanders of the Cadre Companies, turned to one another, communicating via a quick exchange of gestures and body language, before continuing forward. As they did, Saren ordered the rest of her companies to edge closer, so as to constantly be within range of support.

As the Mendel edged forward, Grimm'killa and the other Loron watched from their hiding places. The Mendel had a feeling the Loron would appear from the rocky out-croppings above their heads, but they had no idea what Yar'khal had planned. Despite his bluster and claims of being a descendant of Trenn'fel, Yar'khal was not to be under-estimated. Seeing as this was, at one point, a mining station, it made sense to use the tunnels for battle. As such, the Mendel knew there where Loron possibly above them, but not below them.

Grimm'killa himself smiled just a bit at Yar'khal's thinking. There would be no escape for the Mendel. So many to kill. But Grimm held his bloodlust back. Not until they reached "Da Killy Point" would they launch their attack. The Mendel, meanwhile, lumbered closer and closer. Soon, they would right where Yar'khal wanted them. The Mendel approached, and 2 of the Ugandalorian Troopers approached a spot marked in a red square. Curious, one of them called over the Rally-Master, who stepped forward to see what they where talking about.


 * Trooper 1 - What do you think it is, Sir?
 * Rally-Master - Not sure, we should back away though, and inform the Sub-Commander.

As he spoke, a sub-terrain mine exploded, collapsing a section of the tunnel, and taking with it several infantry men and tanks. As that happened, several more explosions went off, all around the Mendel Position. The Warriors encircled, their tanks taking up position as Loron began to swarm out of the tunnels, very much like army ants on a rampage. Some used primitive jet packs to fly up, others, their natural wings, some just crawling over each other to reach the top. As they did so, Loron from across the top of the mountains and other out cropping popped up, firing machine guns and blasters down at the Mendel.

The barbaric defenders cared not, firing back at any Loron who approached, not matter their crushing numbers and firepower of their own. One of the Mendel sub-commanders hefted his sword out of his sheath.


 * Sub-Commander - The Battle is joined, come brothers, to war, to war!

The Mendel warriors gave a battle cry, some hefting out their great swords and claymores, others taking out axes and side arms as they prepared for the Loron charge. War cries went out on both sides, both making wild and barbaric gestures, their yells filling in the air even before the battle was joined. In a mighty tide of flesh and blades, the Loron slammed into the Mendel lines, some torn apart immediately by he Loron "Shanka" blades, as other meet them in melee, swords and axes clashing. Others stood back, roaring in laughter as their blastas opened fire, loud and screaming in blood rage. The Mendel answered with war calls of their, taking aim with plasma guns and opening fire, the air burning with the plasma smoke and gun fire.

The Loron piled onto the Mendel, and, although trained swordsmen from the day they could walk, could do little to stop and sheer numbers and unbound brutality of the Loron, many falling, swinging at their foes even as they fell. Gripping their weapons hard, many Giants rushed forth, matching the Loron blow for blow, smashing skull and bone with their massive guns, as the Loron answered with fists and their own melee weapons. Walgolorian gunners held fast, even as bullets began to tear through their armor, facing every Loron gunner emplacement with stoic resolve, set against their comrades' hot-blooded aggression and rage. Candarro Assault rumbled forward, grinding Loron bodies beneath them as they aimed their mass drivers, destroying out-cropping where ever the Loron pecked their heads out.

Meeting this brute power of the Mendel, where the Loron's tanks. Driven forward by an insane lust for violence that might well have eclipsed their own, the Mendel and Loron tanks clashed, Mass Drivers and other rounds blasting apart tank after tank, leaving wreckage all around. A few infantry squads bravely marched forward, rifles and other weapons firing away, as the Loron countered, then the Mendel countered back, a bloody dance reaped across the mountain pass, each displaying their barbarity and savagery in battle, as the other side repaid it with their own.

All the while, Saren did not simply sit back and watch. Indeed, her jet pack forces where already organized, and ready to move, her own jump jets primed and ready. With but an order, she and her troops rushed over the field, several of the troops firing wrist rockets and blasters down upon the savages. Grimm'killa himself was almost impressed by their resolve, but such would not save them from being made fine trophies and another group to be killed by him. Bellowing and roaring to his Jetpackaz, the highly trained Loron broke off from beating upon their foes, and leapt into the air, eager to meet their foes. A few Loron smashed into the Mendel midair, crushing them in their hands, or pulping them in a brutal bear hug, some landing and using the Mendel as crash-pads, a few of the more crazy ones smashing into the ground and exploding in a brilliant display, promoting their comrades to whoop and cheer at such a glorious end.

The Mendel that remained landed and opened fire, not letting the loss of their comrades stop them from repaying the Loron's blows with blaster fire. Saren landed in the middle of her troops, fusion guns blazing as she fired upon several Loron, her guns melting through armor and flesh alike, and leaving smoking holes in their corpses. The odor filled the air, the smoke of Loron guns, the smell of plasma burn and Mendel blood intermingled with the Loron's own. Even in her battlesuit, Saren could not stop the foul odors from meeting her nose. Striding forward with determined confidence, Saren blasted away any Loron in her path, as she made her way forward, trying to find the Loron Boss in charge. Her hunger for blood would not quenched by his mere cronies. She wanted the strongest of these savages, to truly test her mettle upon. Her longing for a challenge would soon be meet.

Grimm'killa smiled to himself as he looked down upon his approaching foe. This one looked different, bigger and meaner then the other Mendel boys. Certainly he had to be the boss of these wierdos. He carefully positioned himself above the pass, before giving a whopping yell and leaping down. Saren back flipped out of the way, as Grimm'killa smashed into the ground with the force of a torpedo, sending dirt and rock flying away from him. She primed her blasters, as the mighty titan raised himself up, armor creaking and whirring. He gave a bellowing laugh, as he pointed his gun at her.


 * Grimm - yo pretty tuff, i'll admit dat, but ur gonna get crushed nao.
 * Saren - Good luck with that, tough boy.
 * Grimm - *Reeling back* wait ur a chikk?!
 * Saren - Yeah, aren't you?
 * Grimm - Shutz it, Chikk or not, I'm gonna stomp ya flat. especially after dat remark. dat's jus roode.
 * Saren - I've been waiting for this. I hope you are worthy opponent.

Saren charged her Fusion Blasters as she smiled within her helmet. Grimm'killa charged, swinging his Power Claw at the Walgolorian Warrior. The Commander merely ducked to the left and fired away, the plasma rounds hitting the armor and causing sparks to fly. Grimm merely growled and swung his claw back around, slashing into her side, and barely missing any major organs as she moved back. Charging up again, she fired to more blasts, causing his armor to spark again as the blasts hit. Grimm paid it no heed, merely turning around again and opening fire with his blasta, machine gun peppering the Mendel warrior.

The rounds struck, denting and scratching her armored suit. She activated her jump jets, leaping over as the rest of the rounds plastered the rocks behind her. Although more durable then most armor suits, her battlesuit could not withstand the same punishment as other battlesuits used by other Mendel Commanders. Grimm'killa turned with unnatural speed, for a being so massive, and opened fire again. Again, many of the bullets merely dented or ricocheted off her armor, but 2 actually pierced the armor and hit the flesh beneath. She grinded her teeth as she held back a yelp of pain gathering in the pit of her throat. Blood spurted out and gave the formally white armor a bloody red coloration.

Grimm laughed to himself, as he lumbered over to the injured Mendel warrior.


 * Grimm - i kno dat last bit hit ya. Nao hold still so I can finis da job.

Saren said nothing, only charging up her Fusion Guns again. She would stay still, she would stop, when she was dead. The Loron seemed to read her mind, aiming his blasta once more, as a smile slowly crossed his face. As he was about to open fire again, Saren's form slowly faded from view. The Loron looked confused for a moment, before opening fire where she once stood, bullets striking the ground uselessly. What trickery was afoot now?

He did not move, simply maintaining his position, his eyes darting back and forth. She would have to get close if she wanted to attack him. The guns she used lacked any power at long ranged. As such, no matter what she did, the advantage would go to him. As always. He was, after all, a Loron.

Put Ya Hood Up
The battle of attrition had been stalemating. Both the Loron and the DCP had an almost endless supply, but the Loron were running out of both planets to convert to their nanomachines, and patience. They could only eat other aliens for so long. They needed to eat Grimbolsaurian. They needed to exact their revenge.

Hagto'Zhl, with Kal'kuir and Knar'gank in his ship, all stared at the DCP's maelstrom. Hagto'Zhl slammed his fist into the wall.


 * Hagto'Zhl - WHY WONT DA DCP LET US FITE DEM WAT A BUNCHA COWARDS
 * Kal'kuir - i cant even sneek behind deir lines
 * Hagto'Zhl - IM GOIN IN
 * Rogue Geek - Unfortunately, this ship, nor the rest of the fleet, can withstand the maelstrom defenses. Furthermore, if you do not attack anymore planets, and leave the fleet lying here, the DCP will continue to artificially create black holes and destroy your ships. Even if we get through, their ships use nigh impenetrable defenses. There is simply no way to attack the DCP.
 * Hagto'Zhl - MAN DIS IS SO ANNOYIN
 * Rogue Geek - ...Unless Kal'kuir's plan works.

The other two turned to Kal'kuir, who was whacking a terminal with his wrench and screwing it in place with his goggles on. It was made of mostly spare parts with a single fat screen, and a few levers with no description of what any of them did. But a sign on it read "DA BEST ONE". Later, he took his goggles off, turned to the others, and screamed with glee.


 * Rogue Geek - Indeed, Kal'kuir has the solution to our problems.
 * Kal'kuir - YEH MAN I GOT DA BEST FING
 * Hagto'Zhl - WAT

Kal'kuir rubbed his hands together, and on his new installation, pulled a lever. The machine whirred, steam came out, as the other two stared in excitement at this new tool. Finally, it steadied. Instead of steam, the machine burst out confetti, as the screen opened up to reveal a few Norol mechanical dolls dancing inside. Hagto'Zhl's look of excitement changed to a look of horror, while Kal'kuir continued to look excited. Knar'gank facepalmed.


 * Kal'kuir - SEE MAN ITS A LITTLE BUNCHA DANCIN FINGIES DEYZ FUN TA WATCH. DISLL SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS OF BOREDOM BY GIVIN US SOMFIN TA DO

Hagto'Zhl stormed over to Kal'kuir with a stern look on his face. He gripped him by the neck and slammed him up against the wall. Kal'kuir looked frightened and held out his hands.


 * Kal'kuir - WAT MAN I WAS TRYNA HELP...I CAN BUILD YOO RAPPIN DOLLS INSTED
 * Hagto'Zhl - I DUNT WANNA DOLL SHOW. I WANNA SMASH DA DCP
 * Kal'kuir - eh? why didnt ya say so i got dat ages ago

Hagto'Zhl kept his stern look, and released his grip. Kal'kuir fell to the floor, then scurried over to another computer, and pressed two buttons on it, as he grinned.


 * Rogue Geek - Oh, that solution? Kal'kuir...that uses stolen technology you and I reverse engineered and we have no idea if it works yet, not that it stopped you from installing it on every ship.
 * Kal'kuir - DIS ONE I CALL "DA HOOD". ITS A ONE WAY MIRRA DAT STOPS EVRYFIN FROM GOIN THROO WHILE YA USE IT. USES A LOTTA POWA BUT IT CAN STOP MOST GUNZ AN MOAR IMPORTANTLY GET US THROO DA BUBBLE

Kal'kuir continued to slam away the console. The invention he referred to was "nightshade". While in use, it could effectively hide the ship using it from the dimension itself. As Kal'kuir activated it, several other fleets in the vicinity, at the order ot the Rogue Geek, followed suit. A jump through hyperspace later, and they had arrived at DCP territory. Kal'kuir grinned to himself, as the cannon on Hagto'Zhl's ship aimed at the nearest DCP warship.


 * Kal'kuir - DIS ONE I CALL "DA SOLUSHON" altho da geekz call it da soliton. IT DOES A TRANSISHON FINGY DAT BREAKS SYMMETRIES OR WATEVA AN BASICALLY MAKES FINGS BREAK APART. ITS KINDA A BLAK HOLE. HURHURHUR I CANT WAIT TA USE DA DCPS OWN GUNZ AGENST DEM

Surprised that the Loron had not only broken through their defenses but aimed at them, the warship was barely able to respond before Kal'kuir fired his ship's weapon. Unable to deploy any countermeasures, the warship, as the soliton blast hit it, was torn apart, as the ship combusted. Other Sik Ships in the vicinity fired their own soliton weapons at the DCP's fleet. And with the enormous Loron fleet, it was not long before DCP defences around the star system were gone. Kal'kuir laughed as he turned his ship towards the planet, ready to fire Da Planet Eeta and turn it into more materials to build more ships of his own. He looked back at Hagto'Zhl, who had kept his stern expression.


 * Hagto'Zhl - i admit dat was sik BUT YOO SHULDNT HAV WASTED TIME BUILDIN A TOY AN JUS USED DIS FING. YOR GONNA SPEND ONE DAY IN DA BRIG DEN YOR GONNA MAKEMOAR SIK WEPONS LIKE DIS
 * Kal'kuir - MAN DATS NOT FAIR

But one thing was for certain: the Loron, with these two tools at their disposal, now posed a serious threat to the DCP.

Protectors of the Milky Way
The Loron fleet, now bigger than ever before, dismantled the world of Eeta at a higher rate than before, allowing them to hound surrounding systems continuously to weaken defences. Lunarai immediately realised the new striking advances made by the Loron had undermined his plans to hold the Loron at the gates of the coalition and wear them down. Specialised metric shields and soliton weapons were somehow now in Loron hands. So what next, he wondered? For now, the Loron had as much chance to gain on the DCP as they could repel it. Surprise had gripped the DCP's public consciousness, of which had now grown much more weary of war. The truth was, the coalition's territories no longer felt so safe, not since malign elements of the Technoosphere scattered the DCP fleets like reeds in the wind, and subverting control of the DCP's Maelstrom almost as immediately, ending the DCP's campaign in the Great Xonexian Schism.

Lunarai met with his chief commanders for the beleaguered sector, as well as his father, the former Emperor, and brothers. Even the the rogue Warlord Eclipsos had arrived, who had become Lunarai's mentor, and had experience fighting hordes of Mantisorac. Eclipsos took not even a glance at Wormulus, who did the same. Lunarai was now the leader, regardless. Warlord Titanozor was enraged, gazing away before smashing the power-axe he always carried through the floor. Titanozor now prepared his weapons. ''Remind me why he is here?! He is war criminal, if not THE war criminal.'' Wormulus then glanced at Eclipsos for the first time, if just fleetingly. Lunarai realised this was the first time he had seen Eclipsos since the pivotal fight over Mirenton many decades before, but no words were spoken. Would this be the first of a reunion, or the last?
 * Emperor Lunarai - Greetings gentlemen. It disappoints me hat it will now be unreasonable to send Titanozor to fight the source of the Loron in a single battle.  The unexpected turn of events have quadrupled the Loron's numbers.
 * Suzerain Eclipsos - Fitting that our best Loron killer acts like one.
 * Sherif Brakenmal - We have moved back as much of the key sites for industry as we could in the sector. The people, however, are growing unsettled, many want to stay and fight.  This is not the War of Ages however!
 * Emperor Lunarai - Well, it is starting to look like it. What troubles me is that many forces have attempted to breach the Maelstrom before: the Grox, the Dominatus, the Vermulans, Xonexi Alliance and indeed the Civilisation.  But in either case, it was either an attempt to win a campaign of rapid dominance or hold territory.  The Loron are effectively consuming to fuel their war-front in our own yard.
 * The Venerable and Amaranthine Wormulus II the exalted Idol and Father of and for the Delpha Coalition of Planets - I have given you the gift of compassion, Lunarai. You are indeed compassionate for the welfare of our people, for now I believe you must listen to the public consciousness.  We are losing territory, so what if we can move our colonies?  It means we are fleeing, and we cannot do that forever.
 * Warlord Titanozor - I say we let our people stand and FIGHT. The Loron are stronger than non-augmented soldiers, but we fought the Xhodocto with valiant fervour!
 * Suzerain Eclipsos -No, fool. What good is there fighting at home like that when the Loron turn every planet they reach into rubble?
 * Emperor Lunarai -Lets not forget that we have a big advantage over the Loron. They may have developed or stolen advanced technologies, but they are still very poor strategists.  It is believed they had this technology all along and forgot to use it, or something!   My point is, this "nightcloak" technology is new to them, but we have known it since the Cognatus wars.
 * Sherif Brakenmal - Yes, whenever they turn those shields on, they can't see out, and it taxes them of power. I see...  We could manoeuvre our ships, and perhaps cloak our worlds with ghost phase!
 * Emperor Lunarai - You are right yes, but we should be careful not to overuse said strategies. What is important is that we get to the source of the Loron invasion, stop their advances and kill whoever is commanding them.  The Loron are barely cohesive even now.
 * Suzerain Eclipsos -I suggest you send fast craft with hard hitting weapons, that are capable of out-manoeuvring Loron weapons by hopping in and out of phase. That way, we can get Titanozor through the Loron melee.
 * Emperor Lunarai - Warlord Titanozor, I ask you to be in charge of this fleet. Meanwhile, I will see that resources are directed into slowing the Loron invasion.  I will have all capable citizens in reserve ready to fight, but in the military.
 * Warlord Titanozor - I cannot wait to obliterate their ships and smash their leader's skull in! Just like the old days...
 * Suzerain Eclipsos - Can't believe I was created with that thing.
 * Emperor Lunarai - Now now, we are not here for family dispute. I will have you both gone from my chambers.
 * Idol Wormulus II - Titanozor, be careful, my son. The Loron capabilities now are different.  You must channel your rage for the final assault, and use that head of yours to get there first.

Coalition forces were mustered from thousands of light years around to fight the Loron threat. The Maelstrom now breached, needed to be protected not by drones but by full military force, which would hit hard and fast at Loron manufacturing zones before they could ready their nightcloak. The Loron now believed they were unstoppable, and predictably were going in the direction that would lead them to the Delpha Sector and Mirenton. But many did not realise the nightcloak technology would blind them while in use, allowing the DCP time to out-manoeuvre the Loron ships by a tiny margin.

Lunarai also had one more trick that the Loron would not have anticipated: the DCP had new allies and now saw the value of collaboration rather than reaching for dominance on all levels. Lunarai was entrusted as a "Dual Protector of the Galaxy" along with Alexandre I, Emperor of the French Empire and president of France. The DCP had been giving knowledge to Alexandre's administration about the Loron threat, who up to this point like the DCP believed that the Loron were a mob, a disorganized and highly erratic actor whose energy and power will crash harmlessly on any form of organized, systematic defence. They believed the Loron could be channelled like water such that their destructive rage would be mitigated by directing it at themselves. France at this time was not enthusiastic about being embroiled in a war as they were busy in Borealis. Hearing that the Loron now had made massive gains, Alexandre honoured his commitment to the security of the Milky Way through the Grand Commonwealth of Sovereign States. It was decided that France would hold the rear, taking command of trade routes while maintaining a free flow of traffic and surveying hyperlanes for suspicious activity while DCP forces returned home to fight head on. France, and other allies of Borealis were tasked with investigating the black market for any advanced technologies that could have been feeding the Loron advance.

The French Dilemma
"It is important not to overstate the threat posed by the Loron. They possess advanced technology and the means to do serious damage, but that does not change the fact that they are a mob, not a state. They are disorganized, highly erratic, and lack any form of serious leadership or direction even in this moment. They have no strategy, no grasp of tactics, no organization beyond that of momentary greed and lust for violence. To take them on like one would a state––on equal terms, in a competition of military and industrial might, would not only be a waste, it would be a grievous mistake. The Loron onslaught is a tempest whose character can be likened to water. Their energy and power will break itself harmlessly on our walls when faced with any form of systematic, organized defense. But if we were to wade out into the shallows, we would be surrendering that advantage. Fighting on their turf, on their terms, we would be deferring to their strengths––flexibility, spontaneity, and instability––and risk being trapped by the rigidity of our own forces. I fear that we might be swept off our feet and drown. The Loron threat must be addressed through mitigation and a limited marshaling of forces. The question is not how it must be defeated, but how we can best protect ourselves before it disintegrates on its own."

- Lord-Ambassador D'Arcy Marcoux

If the four years after the Great Xonexian Schism had seen the galaxy rebuilt through the coordinated efforts of Emperors Lunarai and Alexandre, the first major security challenge to the integrity of their galactic system came in the form of the Loron Crisis. It would be remembered as a textbook example of cooperation between the former rivals, of governance and security implemented in proportion to the means and the strengths of the two protectors, and of their willingness to sacrifice materiel, treasury, and manpower in the defense of their galaxy despite being under limited threat themselves.

While this is the narrative quickly became mythologized after the fact, it is often forgotten that France appeared to vacillate in the early days of the crisis. The power which had been most insistent on the creation of binding galactic norms and laws, of bodies of collective security, of responsibilities doled out to the most capable among nations, seemed content in its political discourse to pretend that the Loron threat did not exist, its attention instead consumed by dramas unfolding in its Borealian and Bunsen colonies. When the Loron poured into the northern Milky Way and southern Andromeda, French representatives dismissed the need for extraordinary measures, confident in the idea that the onslaught would break immediately when faced with even the weakest organized defense. France would honor its commitments if called upon, these statesmen assured their interlocutors, but to call for preemptive action would be premature, a waste of resources, a pander to sensationalism, and dangerous given the unpredictable nature of the Loron. France, the revolutionary power and grand master of coalitions, would not lead in 2810 as it had in 2793, 2802, and 2806; it would follow.

This evolution of the French character baffled contemporaries, especially the leadership of the Delpha Coalition of Planets––which perceived in the Loron an undeniable, irrevocable threat of the same kind as the Dominatus or the Xhodocto, if not on the same scale. To a union guided by warriors and governed by technology, there was no question: the Loron were worthy and potent adversaries with the means to do harm, and thus needed to be confronted and defeated in the field of battle. To the French Empire, a nation led by statesmen and governed by systems, it was baffling that a group without the cohesion and organization of a state could be any more than a nuisance. Burdened by a contested political situation, two colonial crises, and a public increasingly weary of foreign entanglements, it seemed more likely with each passing day that Paris would issue no response.

Yet, behind a deceiving facade of seeming assurance and disinterest––even willing denial––the French government was paralyzed by internal debates happening at every level. Factions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Grand Navy of the Empire, and in the entourage of the Emperor himself, agonized over the framing of policy in a heavily politicized and contested process. The Imperial Parliament waged its own turf wars, with the Valérist coalition split over whether this was an issue to be decided by the Parliament or the Emperor, and the opposition derisively trumpeting Alexandre's next misguided military adventure. With no ability to maneuver, with no means to fund any additional military ventures, with his popular support and political capital drained by his efforts to remedy the situations in Borealis and Bunsen, Alexandre assented to the pressure of his Premier and delegated the matter to Parliament.

Another Slice of Apalos
Apalos had observed how the capabilities of the Loron had vastly increased in a short span of time. Now that the Milky Way Front was about to truly begin, it was time to strike at the Loron leadership, both as it was at its most vulnerable - the Loron forces would only increase in number from here, and were presently spreading out to engage with their enemies - and in order to ensure that it would no longer have any influence in the conflict.

Kal'kuir's ship was soon located, and a squadron of probes were sent to engage it. The Sik Ship quickly responded with a storm of turbolaser bolts, but a few unexpected superlaser blasts from the probes weakened its shields and scarred its armour. The probes broke formation as the armour healed itself, darting around to evade the batteries of particle weapons as their own weapons cooled down. Little by little, the wounds in the Sik Ship's armour started to accumulate, and as its weapons were targeted, its ability to inflict damage of its own was also reduced. This was just compensated for by the overwhelming firepower that it was still able to muster, which filled the surrounding space with glowing fusion-grade plasma and was able to break though the probes' shields and hulls at enough of a rate to reduce the stress that its own defences were under.

It did not take long before Kal'kuir's two most powerful weapons were brought into action. Within the space of a second, one probe found itself gutted by an exploding black hole, while a second saw the effects of "Da Solushon": vortons vaporised its shields and shredded its armour, and then monopoles and Q-balls reacted with the resulting plasma and turned it into a viscous gas of antimatter.

Although only four probes were still intact, the Sik Ship would not have the opportunity to finish them off, for an Apalos Temple Ship a kilometre in length materialised in the near distance. The Loron, no longer concerned about the tiny probes, fired all of the weapons that they could at the dreadnought, including a black hole and a supernova-bright beam of solitons. Although damaging, a single barrage was not devastating, and the Temple Ship responded in kind as one rectangular face shifted into an orderly array of gun ports and saturated the Sik Ship's shields with antimatter bullets. The four surviving probes took advantage of the opening and another few superlaser blasts struck the vessel, taking out its engines and most of the supporting infrastructure around them.

Knowing better than to let this continue, Kal'kuir ordered all of his weapons to fire once more at the Temple Ship, and activated his vessel's nightshade to give his ship a chance to repair its armour before adopting the time-honoured tactic of firing randomly in every direction in the hope of hitting enemies that they could no longer see. They were not alone in having nightshades, however, and the Temple Ship took the opportunity to make use of its own as well. Unlike the Loron, Apalos chose a less wasteful technique, and launched a few dozen mini pizza-shaped missiles instead. Once the missiles passed the half-way mark, they turned off their engines so as to cruise the rest of the way, and folded themselves into the form of shaped-charge calzones. Although several of them were caught by turbolaser bolts, the rest were joined by the (now three) remaining probes, and with the coordination of the climax of a posthuman synchronised swimming routine, they all simultaneously triggered high-powered hypermatter self-destructs.

Both the Temple Ship's and the Sik Ship's nightshades dissolved away, revealing two warships whose fully-healed hulls shone in the starlight as though they had been freshly moulded from the finest diamondoid, and whose guns almost seemed to twitch with excitement as they were ready to rend their opponents into interstellar dust. The exchange that followed was almost an anticlimax. From the Loron vessel, as soon as the black hole and soliton weapons fired, only a few more particle beams emerged before the cannons spluttered, struggling for power. Meanwhile, the Temple Ship did nothing, focusing all of its energy on maintaining its shields and armour against the Loron attack. The Sik Ship's fusion reactors quickly produced enough power to allow the turbolasers to open fire again, but it would soon be to their detriment.

The hypermatter explosions had altered the topology of spacetime up to nearly a light minute out, destroying the planckscale curvature required for hyperspace to exist throughout the entire volume. Two warships, both designed in a universe where the resources of hyperspace were freely available, found themselves hopelessly unsuitable for this small region of spacetime where it had ceased to exist. However, Apalos had one advantage over their adverseries: they were aware of this. Not only could neither Apalos nor the Loron draw upon hypermatter as a power source, they could not dump their waste into the cryogenic sea of hypermatter fog either; while the Temple Ship stayed still, doing the bare minimum necessary to survive against the Loron onslaught, the crew of the Sik Ship continued as though nothing was wrong, only to find their weapons overheat and explode in front of them. Now unhindered by the need to maintain their defences, Apalos fired another volley of antimatter bullets, not only overloading but also burning out the Sik Ship's shield generators. Now neither offense, defence nor escape were open to the Loron, while the Temple Ship was still fully functioning, albeit far from unharmed.

It was at this moment that hyperspace, having spread back through the void at the speed of light, at last returned to the location of the battle. Apalos no longer held back, sending a hailstorm of blaster bolts pummeling through the Sik Ship's substructure, beating bulkheads and blast doors alike into a cloud of molten dust. From where the bridge had been, Kal'kuir's escape pod emerged through the red-hot smoke and flew away from the devastation. This did not evade the attention of the Temple Ship, which had no intention of letting it get away. A glowing blue pulse emerged from the end of the Temple Ship, opened up into a wormhole, and swallowed the pod. Kal'kuir found himself back in Borealis, no longer in a position to affect the war in the Milky Way.

Ants against Ants
On the Milky Way front, the Delpha Coalition had taken much of the Loron's brunt forces. The hyperlanes between the Milky Way Cooperative and Grand Commonwealth of Sovereign States on the opposite side of the galaxy were being harassed by stealth warboss Knar'gank with increasing ferocity, and civilian lives were being cost for it. The DCP had entrusted that France would send all they could to the region while they worked to repel the massive Loron infestation that had breached their territory, although sent forces coreward to barricade the centre. France had proved to be indecisive on playing their part, leaving much of the galaxy an open field to attack. The DCP was trying to convince the French that the Loron were just enough organised to be a threat, and had struggled to understand how the character of France could change so quickly.

The war boss Knar'gank was surprisingly intelligent and organised for a male Loron. A numerous species such as the Loron were bound to have anomalies, and he had developed a reputation amongst Da Rogue Boyz for his cunning, to become the the highest ranking "Sneeka". Knar'gank had hoped that he could steal some advanced technology being exchanged between the Cooperative and Commonwealth. A base of operations had been established over a dozen planets, all heavily fortified and thermally silent in hyperspace, and all being consumed to build a fleet. Unfortunately for Knar'gank, many of his Boyz were not quite as intelligent as him, sometimes forgetting not to blare out their rap battles into hyperspace for all to hear. However, the war boss felt at ease, neither the Apalos, DCP or France had shown any sign of being near. And better still, his Boyz had pirated a strange and crystalline artifact being transported through a nearby hyperlane. It didn't appear technological, and was just small enough to fit around his neck. He thought it was "Propa bling".

Knar'gank was awoken one morning later on the main planet to a commotion of swearing and shouting, such as "WDaF is dat?" Peering up and squinting, he could see the faint light of a dozen new moons. However, in space it had been a different story, as a large swarm of asteroids and planetoids had materialised, crushing many of his ships in orbit. The Loron had never seen anything like this, and Knar'gank was mesmerised as meteor-like objects began to rain down on the surface. Some of the larger bodies had begun to fragment from coming within the planet's Roche limit. Loron snipers sighted long tendrils extending the planet's surface, from the bottom of which tumbled a liquid biomass. Small starfighter-like objects, but with wings rushed at the Loron at high speed and were the first to arrive; the Sniparz eagerly shot them out of the skies. But what the Loron saw approaching on the ground appeared to be a huge, scurrying land army. Jumping at the opportunity for a fight on the ground, many of the Sneaky Boyz relished at the opportunity to fight in close combat, forgetting they were stealth troopaz. As the invading force came within visual range, they became more excited, as the army appeared to be composed of giant beasts which the Loron are raised to fight, many put down their long-range weapons. Knar'gank's army charged the incoming wave with blasters and melee weapons.

The Loron were unknowingly fighting the Mantisorac, an insentient species of insectoids that lived in symbiosis with space-borne organisms. The ensuing battle was of raging ferocity, that lasted well over a day. The Loron were strong enough to fight the Mantisorac one on one despite being of similar size, and were able to to send several of them flying with a single blow or squashing them when they were down like bugs. But the Loron found that the Mantisorac did not seem to care for their losses, or have any sense of pain or fear. Not that it mattered, to the Loron, bug squashing was very fun to begin with. But the Mantisorac kept coming and coming in great rivers of super-hard flesh and jaws, and even the Loron began to tire as they had forgotten to microwave enough pizza that morning. Eventually the Loron found themselves outnumbered and overwhelmed, more and more Loron lines became buried alive, crushed many of the Mantisorac too. Knar'gank realised he had made a tremendous mistake in letting his Boyz fight hand to hand, and called a retreat back to base. They must shell the hell out of whatever the new attackers were. Back at base, cannons and sniper fire was attempted to force the invaders back, but a great wall of dead had risen and was being pushed forward. Meanwhile, the air became toxic as vapours from the myriad of asteroid impacts now filled the air. The Mantisorac began to spit corrosive fluids onto the walls of the base, and started building towers of bodies to climb over barriers. Meanwhile, swarms of flyers landed on any structure they could find in great numbers, and beat their wings furiously, their own body heat baking tanks and fortifications from the inside out. The defeated war boss didn't feel so clever as he had beaten several of his fellow Boyz out of the way to a shuttle craft. He needed to warn his other bases and prepare them for a defence in space.

Knar'gank didn't know the connection between the "Dat Blingy thing" he had chosen to wear around his neck and the Mantisorac. Over a decade before, the Vermulans had discovered the crystal had a strange connection to a precursor race. The crystal had an enraging effect on the Mantisorac that seemed to call them from across an entire galaxy. Originally from the Large Magellanic Cloud, a gigantic swarm had descended on the Milky Way and gradually dispersed, but not disappeared. The re-appearance of the crystal had once again self-organised Mantisorac from across half a galaxy. In the next system, Knar'gank had barely a few hours to warn his forces before the Mantisorac followed him. This time the Loron put up a fairer fight, antimatter weapons and "solushun" beams tore the rocky asteroid ships asunder. But once again, the Mantisorac kept coming, and now the Loron were fully on the defence as opposed to building fleets of ships or harassing trade routes. The need to use hyperspatial technologies to fight and communicate also revealed the coordinates of their hidden bases to the Delpha Coalition of Planets and France.

The genius behind this was strategy was from a neither a French strategist or from the DCP's generals. It was from Eclipsos, Lunarai's older brother and leader of the Magellanic Sovereignty. It was not because he had great love for the DCP, but that it would relieve his younger brother of problems. The Sneaky Boss Knar'gank could now be located from the sheer number of Mantisorac chasing him, and the Loron would in return reduce Mantisorac numbers in the galaxy.