Fiction:Attero Dominatus/Andromeda Campaign

Overview
This subpage of covers the campaigns of the Tyranny in the  against factions such as their blitzkrieg against the Andromedan Galactic Commonwealth, their war against their revolting slaves, and even their runin with the Dominion of the Xhodocto. This page is ordered chronologically, then spatially, meaning it is first divided into years, then into the theaters of war. Battles are delineated by the title of "The Battle of x", while everything else is non combat. Different theaters have different names and different purposes, and some action in some theaters may also involve different theaters or subplots.

Participants

 * GreatDestroyer12 (Participant, Administrator, Creator)


 * Monet47 (Participant)


 * LotG (Participant)


 * TheImperios (Participant)


 * Spriggs077 (Participant)


 * The Clanden (Participant)


 * Zmr56 (Participant)


 * Xho (Participant)

Start of Hostilities
Little occurs in the universe that does not reach the ears of the Iron Systems Federation. Steadily, reports began to piece together the events unfolding around the Drakodominatus Tyranny. It quickly became apparent to the Magi of the Federation that the Tyranny represented not only a significant threat to local space - a negligible detail, mind you - but also a space power that had developed technology far beyond their means, and that would eventually cause significant damage to both itself and any other civilisations in reach. Magos Sabato, recently elevated within his order after the brilliant campaigns he had led against the Grox, and Moxix' undead horde, was placed in charge of the military forces being sent to eradicate the Tyranny.

Sabato was overseeing the construction of a new battlegroup of ships to launch a probing attack on the Tyranny. The group of seven ships was coming together rapidly, the Forgeworld's massive factories pumping out full plating, weaponry, and the more delicate systems. Initiates conducted the wiring and minutae of the construction, while originating programming was updated by the more senior Paladins to accommodate the new systems. Shipboard VI's were created and installed, while the organic AI datapool frameworks were set up. Each individual element of the ship came together seamlessly into sub-constructions, each of these constructions were then pieced together into the main hull. The massive scale of the construction meant that it could only possibly be completed with such speed by the sheer technological ability of the Federation.

The latest designs from Project Aegis were also being assembled and tested for the operation. Massive ACVs came off the production line, continually being refined and upgraded to suit the tastes of their operators. HazOp and Auxiliary suits, much smaller personnel suits, and the larger Heracles personnel combat suits. Furthermore, Cerberus VI combat mechs and Fury aerial assault drones poured out by the thousand. Massive ammunition racks, Q-G plasma generators, rows of torpedoes and banks of interceptor drones all allotted their space within the hull. Life support and cryo pods came next, as well as the necessary habitation facilities.

As soon as the primary systems were in place, the massive weapons systems were installed and networked. A massive weapon bank was situated on each of the aft flanks, seven gun decks each. Smaller batteries of three decks sat on the prow flanks, while a heavy cannon battery sat on the dorsal ridge. Lance clusters were positioned near the main cannon batteries, their high-energy weaponry perfect for piercing hulls as soon as the shields were brought down. A massive Q-G plasma caster ran much of the ship's length, sufficient to overwhelm most comparable vessels in a single shot. A weapon such as this had made the Final Word praised and feared across the entire Ko'Sa'Va galaxy for its destructive capacity.

Six torpedo tubes, able to load both ship-to-ship plasma charges, or boarding torpedos, pierced the armoured prow in a chevron formation, the massive charges known to be able to wipe out frigates with a single volley. Along the ventral ridge, interceptor drones were stowed in ranks, ready to be deployed onto launching rails. Orbital bombardment cannon and launching tubes for drop pods occupied the bulge on the aft end of the ridge, the former carrying both heavy rounds for structures and reactive rounds for wide-range destruction. ch bo The final component activated was the propulsion, a massive central engine surrounded by three smaller support thrusters. The highly efficient plasma drives were capable of propelling the ship fast enough to keep up with the much smaller cruisers and frigates, which would normally easily outpace the lumpen ship. Everything was connected in to six main reactors, and one stable Void rift generator. Between these generators, everything short of the main cannon could be activated at once.

As the reactors were fuelled, and the void rift sparked to life, the high-capacity energy shields protecting the hull flickered, and the dry-dock's bays opened up, releasing the new battlecruiser into the vacuum. The seven ships joined the line of cruisers and frigates assembling, a combined military force capable of fighting down almost any force in the universe.

Battle of Telekriz
In a remote outpost of the Tyranny in the Andromeda Galaxy, a patrol fleet of 2 Mark 2 Tyrant Cruisers stood vigil over a world, protecting the interests of the tyranny as the colony improved upon itself at a rapid rate. The Mark 2's had very little to fear in the First Gigaquadrant, being able to stand their ground against other tier 1 ships of the same class, as was seen during multiple battles in the, however this day, they would meet an enemy that was able to match the Tyranny's Mark 2 cruisers ship for ship. An enemy called the Iron Systems Federation.

The two Tyrant Mark 2s hovered rather placidly around the world they were meant to stand sentry over until a flotilla of two ISF line cruisers supported by a barrier ship exited space over the planet. The Tyranny had not met the ISF before, the civilization having slipped under it's radar due to the fact that it was busy dealing with civilizations of a larger scale in planets, and traditionally speaking, of higher power. However, the ISF was rather anomalous in this, as though they laid claim to rather few systems, their technological prowess was in the same league of the Tyranny, with their most arcane lore being equivalent to the most prototype and untested of Tyranny technology.

A brief exchange followed in which the Tyranny AIs, not recognizing the ISF as friend or foe were trying to ascertain their alignment. However, after the ISF proceeded to remain in the area without any identification with reference to foreign relations databases. However, this was merely a charade for what both ships were doing, which was scanning the other ship for armor and weapon specifications. In addition to this, the Iron Systems Federation set up the barrier so as to protect their ships. What happened next was inevitable, as the two juggernauts knew what was coming.

The first shots were fired by the Dominatus, who fired aimed their starboard and port based Subatomic Disruptors, which lanced into the Barrier created by the Barrier ship, greatly damaging it with the initial vollies, however, the barrier held. During this time, the Dominatus also started aiming and charging the Gatling Hyperlasers at the ISF ships. The ISF ships responded by firing off their siege cannons against the planet while firing off their relativistic weapons and hyperlasers against the Dominatus while also firing torpedoes. This continued for quite a bit, and it seemed neither side could gain and advantage upon the other.

The ISF however, was computing the weak structural points of the Mark 2s in front of them and began recalibrating fire, focusing on the weaker points with their weaponry and causing hull damage at certain points. This was countered by the raw power of Gatling hyperlasers, which broke through the shielding of the barrier ship in places and began dealing damage to the line cruisers of the ISF themselves. The ISF siege projectiles also exploded upon the Dominatus settlement of the planet, creating a fireball which claimed the lives of those on the colony.

The battle continued in space as the torpedoes of the ISf also impacted upon the weak ponts of the Dominatus ships, causing large fireballs while the gatling hyperlasers of the Tyranny continued battering the ISF ships. The equilibrium of the two fleets however, was preventing the battle from being anything other than a total stalemate, as both fleets were too evenly matched for even computational adjustments to make a large difference.

However, even when both forces are equal, there is the problem of attrition, and the armor of both ships began getting stripped apart by the massive amount of fire present in the encounter. The plating of both ships began getting torn apart as fire continued impacting them. The scintillating flashes of fire from both sides continued claiming more and more of each ship as energy and kinetic weapons met both ships, dealing ludicrous amounts of damage that would have felled most other vessels.

The battle continued to drag on, with the end drawing increasingly near. However, the ISF commanders made the tactical decision to withdraw, having achieved the objectives of their mission in having razed the Dominatus settlement and coming up with an analysis for the ships of the enemy, and promptly retreated with 3 heavily damaged vessels. The Dominatus suffered similar losses, the two ships being barely space worthy and their colony now being a pile of ashes.

After the battle, both sides came to the conclusion that the other side was equivalent in power per ship to the other, at least for the cruisers. Although the Tyranny possessed a slight advantage in size, armor, and raw firepower, the ISF ships were more maneuverable, and possessed more advanced sensor and AI suites, which could acclimate to battle faster, as well as more reliable weaponry, thus putting both ships at equilibrium, a portent for a long hard war ahead of both sides.

A New Problem
The forces of the Drakodominatus Tyranny presented a new and unprecedented threat to the Iron Systems Federation. In the Tyranny, the Magi and Paladins had found an enemy that could match them, ship for ship, in pitched battle, and had displayed shipbuilding power orders of magnitude beyond what the Magi had initially predicted. As such, a new approach to this enemy had to be developed.

Aboard Forgeship 13, the great repertoire of arcane sciences and technological marvels was held in safekeeping, in waiting for the dire circumstances that would require their use. The weapons and technologies stored here were so great and so potent, that were it not so necessary to keep such a collection of knowledge, many Magi would have outright demanded its destruction. The Forgeship also housed the many millions of great weaponsmiths that dominated the War in Cyberspace, now stored as streams of self-editing data held within virtual realities, their programming altered to allow the Paladins to speak with them, and access their knowledge freely. One such meeting between living being and computer code was being held even as the datapool assessed the direct threat of the Tyranny’s cruisers.

Paladin – Identify yourselves, for the records. ??? – My name is Grand Technocrat Eris of the Iron Systems Federation. ??? – I am Mage-artificer Varin of the True Order. Paladin – And your specialities? Eris – I deal primarily in high-energy weaponry and generators. Varin – I remain the primary mind in the field of large-scale shipbuilding. Paladin – The Federation has come to war with a foreign power capable of building combat-practical battleships of lengths greater than twenty thousand metres. I have made tactical readouts of their hull structure and weapons systems. I require the two of you to develop a method of combating these ships.

The two rogue Paladins absorbed the information into their knowledge banks, fully familiarizing themselves with the data in minutes.

Eris – I believe there is potential for the application of graviton weaponry. Paladin – Elaborate. Eris – I created a concept for a graviton cannon, a weapon designed to create an intense point of gravity at the target location. This would cause nearby ships to be thrown off course, or potentially even warp the hulls of larger vessels, causing significant structural damage. The idea was eventually scrapped because of the energy requirements, making a vessel large enough to carry the weapon and its generators impractical. Paladin – How large a vessel are you referring to? Eris – Approximately ten kilometers in length at least, capable of outputting a net energy discharge of several times higher than even my most advanced conventional energy weapons. Paladin – Varin, can a ship of this size be created, to Eris’ specifications? Varin – Although these readouts are incomplete, it may be possible to implement some of their structural advances in our own cruiser patterns, allowing us to create vessels of such size. Eris – If given enough space to work with, I could certainly develop energy systems to power the weapon. Paladin – Very well. Begin development of this graviton cannon, and its carrier ship, immediately. Maintain resource efficiency wherever possible, however net cost to materials is irrelevant. Eris, you may depart.

With that, Eris was disconnected from the conversation. His programming was overwritten to make development of a working graviton cannon his highest priority, and with the unimaginable processing power at his disposal, he set to work.

Paladin – Varin, is it possible that we could manufacture ships of the same size as our enemy? A twenty kilometer vessel, perhaps larger? Varin – It is within our enemy’s potential, and your information indicates we are of a higher net development point, so with more complete schematics and readouts of the ships in question, it is highly likely that the Federation would be capable of constructing such a vessel. For what purpose would it be used? Paladin – To make our mighty Forgeworlds move.

Battle for Grivenis Prime
A massive ISF battlfleet entered Tyranny space, ready to visit ruination on one of the research stations of the Dominatus. The research station was completely automated and was constantly making calculations on high energy physics for Dominatus weaponry, and was an ideal system for the ISF to attack. The ISF Battlefleet, the largest assembled to date merely encountered a Dominatus patrol fleet, and although they were generally comparable one on one, the numerical superiority of the ISF, as well as the sophistication of their sensors and their coordination, allowed them to take out the patrol fleet in a quick manner with no casualties. It seemed as if everything was going to plan as the ships neared the research station.

The Magi cheered at this on their ships, expecting a victory to come quickly and to meet all their objectives. However, as they neared the station, they seemed to notice spacetime warp around them, as Dominatus Kraken Class Dreadnaughts materialized in front of them, barring them for the research station and began blasting at them. The Krakens were of a considerable number, and began decimating the ISF fleet through the force of raw power. The 30km long vessels smashed asunder everything that faced them as the Magi scrambled for a solution in order to defeat the monstrosities that lay ahead of them.

The first cruiser exploded in a magnificent fireball as their fleet's fire dissipated on the shields of the Tyranny dreadnoughts, and the Magi eventually saw that they were facing an enemy that even their vaunted battlecruisers could not deal with. While the battlecruisers were comparable in power to the capital ships of the Tyranny, they were facing an enemy one class more powerful than that, the Dreadnaughts. They were heavily damaged in vollies from the Kraken's powerful hyperlasers, which lanced through their otherwise powerful armor and shielding. Eventually, outclassed by the Tyranny vessels, the Magi ordered a general retreat to preserve the valuable battlecruisers.

Underestimation
The defeat of the Federation’s great battlecruisers threw the Grand Magi into uncertainty. The datapool blazed through trails of information, studying the minutae of the battle, yearning for any weakness they could exploit. As the study continued, cracks in the armour began to show. The ships’ construction was unstable, possibly even untested before the beginning of this war. Their weapons, while fearsome in number and magnitude, were similarly crude compared to the Federation’s designs. And as the damage the Federation’s own weaponry caused was analyzed, flaws in the construction process showed their presence. The Grand Magi had found the weakness they sought, and they had the weapon to exploit it. Now, they simply required the schematics to, or an intact specimen of, a Tyranny cruiser, and the flood gates would be blown wide open to the exploitation of the Iron Order.

Done with petty investigations and testing strikes, the Grand Magi issued a new order: A full assault, including cruisers, barrier ships, carriers and upgraded and refined battlecruisers refitted purely to deal with the Tyranny would commence a lightning strike, their objective to recover a complete vessel, or to obtain a copy of the schematics. Their target was a slave world, upon which was rumoured to be an intact Tyranny foundry, which suggested the possibility of the enemy’s schematics being held within. Although reports indicated that freed slaves now occupied the world, the Federation had its goal in sight, and would not be swayed from it.

Away from the virtual clutter and noise of the datapool, the once-great Paladin Eris tinkered away with his designs, simulating their effects and power requirements. He had designed the weapon’s physical form, and had begun testing its effective fire. Though his initial results were promising, the energy cost of generating such a large gravity event was staggering. Delving into his old research, he began to ponder as yet unused devices which could power his great gun. Varin, on the other hand, struggled to finalize his designs. With the data sourced from the battles, he had begun to understand the Tyranny’s construction method, however the advancements which granted the ships their structural strength eluded him. He attempted dozens of simulations, none of which returned a viable result. If he was to succeed, he needed the schematics as quickly as possible.

As the Sun Sets on Tharif Prime
Gravius fleet was in hyperspace on route to the world of Tharif Prime, the first world that served as a way for them to access the gateway system of the Imperium, which would carry them on for the entirety of the campaign and ameliorate their fuel issues. This was essential for the massive fleet, lead by the 1st Zettastrategon, otherwise known as "The Fleet of Subjugation", which although not the largest military formation of the Tyranny, was one of the most elite. It was a descendant of the first flotilla that subjugated the first extrasolar world of the Tyranny, and was rather well equipped, having a greater portion of Titan and Gargantuan class vessels compared to other units of comparable size. This was a formation made for taking out most civilizations, and going toe to toe with almost all ones with a fighting chance. Arrayed against it was Tharif Prime, a frontier world of the Draconid Imperium and an outer node of the wormhole network, protected by a patrol fleet along with a large array of weapons. It was supposed to have received transmissions from it's sister worlds, but the Dominatus had intercepted that and cut it out with fake transmissions, so they their offensive could go according to plan, something they needed at this point. Soon enough, Gravius received the signal that they were about to exit hyperspace ... the sun was about to set on Tharif Prime.

Dominatus Military Intelligence knew that the control keys for the wormhole were located within the formidable Draconis Battlestation that stood sentinel over the planet, and that taking control of that installation was the primary objective. The planet meant nothing strategically but could function as a possible supply point and thus the planetary invasion of Tharif Prime was set as a secondary objective, to be executed in tandem with the attack on the Battlestation. This started off with a massive exit out of hyperspace all around the battlestation and the world. The Tyranny fleet of Mark 2s engaged the Draconid fleet in orbit over the world while simultaneously bombarding the shielding of the battlestation, while blanketing the world with chemical and biological bombs, who's lethal gases were not stopped by the powerful shield generators of the planet. Planetary invasion was a secondary objective, and thus the Dominatus merely used their AI forces in order to swarm the planet, as tanks, walkers, and swarms of robots advanced onto the outnumbered AGC forces. Draconid ships, both outnumbered and outgunned by their Tyranny counterparts were blown up as the shields weakened. Whenever the Dominauts lost a ship due to AGC firepower, a new one replaced it, further overwhelming the Draconis. Eventually, as the fighting took it's toll, after each coruscating flash of fire from the Dominatus hyperlasers, the shielding fell and an entrance to the interior of the ship was open.

The Dominatus noticed that the ceilings had a particular vertical clearance and that they could neither send the bigger overseers nor themselves, and thus were forced to send the Beholders of Oculon, Kraw overseers. These overseers, specializing in reconnaissance were not as physically powerful as the other overseers, although supersoldiers by practically every standard, and they ripped through the surprised Draconis forces, who were actually outnumbered by the Kraw overseers. In spite of the valiant resistance that the Draconis put up, in face of the azure monsters charging at them, they were overpowered throughout the station, much like how the sheer amount of the Tyranny forces on the ground was savaging Draconis resistance. Once lush and beautiful forests rotted under the power of Dominatus biological weaponry, as the Draconis noble forms necrotized beyond even what was called abominable, as the Dominatus forces surged on.

Draconis marines looked to the blast doors of the control room while charges were set by the Beholders of Oculon outside. The explosives, primed, blew up in a spectacular fashion as the door blew up, covering the room entirely in smoke. The commander coughed as he secured a breath mask, marines fired into the doorway in an attempt to pick off the assaulters. Rapid Laser fire from the Beholders soon entered the room, striking the ITN marines who were outnumbered and outmatched. The Kraw Overseers were able to pick out their targets and take them out at a rapid pace, flooding the room with lasers. After some time, the dust had settled, and the base commander was left alone, surrounded by Kraw overseers. Acting on Gravius orders, the Overseers shot out each of the limbs of the commander, leaving him a still living stump. To the surprise of the commander, the overseers still had not spoken. The commander fell on the floor and looked up at his opponent.

Commander - Going to kill me are you?

For the first time, he heard the overseer speak. It sounded warped and different, but he could swear he heard something like it from the Kraw Galaxy.

Overseer - Yes.

The commander snarled as he lay on the floor.

Commander - No honour, just like your worm-like masters! Overseer - Honor is not concern of master, only efficiency. Commander - I hate him already, not giving me the dignity of a fighting chance. Overseer - Dignity is overrated, the point of war is to take an opponent's fighting chance away. Commander - *growling* You're lucky you blasted my arms off or they'd be around your scrawny neck!

The overseer leader disengaged for the first time, and with his right hand, picked the stump of the base commander up by the neck. The door opened, as another overseer entered the room, carrying what seemed to be a flat organic looking creature

Commander - ''Urk.. you got some muscles on you...''

It was then the overseer, with his left hand, took the creature up, and it semeed to morph to fit the shape of the Commander's face. The commander looked at the creature with both confusion and horror, as the overseer disengaged his helmet, and started the Commander right in the eye. There, the commander noticed that there was nothing reminiscent of a Kraw in the eyes of the Overseer, only solid malice.vThe Overseer gradually brought the creature closer, as appendages broke out of it, conforming to the features of the face of the Base Commander. The commander struggled, not wanting the creature on his face.

Commander - Get that piece of shit away from me!

The overseer leader, not relenting, pressed it onto the commander's face, as it invaded the Commander in order to search for his memories.Only screams remained as the creature worked itself into the leader's most forbidden locations, and then they faded into silence.It worked, and the creature leaped onto a device of the Kraw Overseer, displaying the memories of the Base Commander.Deep in his memories were the verification codes to open the wormhole. The Kraw overseer walked up to the control pannel and entered the code, then pressed the button. A portal opened in front of the Dominatus fleet, and it was then, that their masterplan truly began.

Standard Operating Procedure
The first thing that was sensed by the defenders on Tharif Prime where the biomchemical weapons that the Dominatus seeded the atmosphere of the planet with. Missiles exploded in the atmosphere as nanobot based virii carried themselves out through the ecosystem. Whatever organic material was touched was turned into sludge, decayed at a fast rate. Plants withered and died, and unshielded civilians went through rapid and excruciating necrosis. Garrisons wearing enclosed armor hurried who they could into crisis bunkers in populated areas, screening people for infection as they went.

Legionnaire - Get as many as we...oh shit! Legionnaire - This is no normal virus!

The next waves of bombardment were energy based, as plasma fell upon the world from above, not enough to glass it, but to start burning up the sludge, which had released rather large amounts of methane. Garrison commanders watched the footage with grim expressions, it felt like an extermination. While this happened, massive landers full of Myrmidons descended onto the planet, supported by hordes of Gambit Class Fighters needed to gain air superiority. Not only this, but also Tyranny Steelhammer Main Battle Tanks were deployed in droves to support this offensive. Steelhammer tanks met Dragon MBTs while gambit fighters met ITN fighter drones in the skies.

They advanced towards the cities of the Imperium while more waves of troops were readied, either in more dropships, or merely teleportation arrays. For a moment, the forces deployed where evenly matched, as the equipment used by both sides was comparable, however the Dominatus began deploying hyperspecialized Predator interceptors to begin turning the tide, as well as Reaper Class Gunships in order to attack the Dragon Tanks on the ground. As soldiers approached, the open-plan cities became mazes as forcefield generators powered up, barricading several roads. The Dominatus also began deploying combat harvesters to the ground, many an ITN tank crew fell as the mining lasers on the tentacles of the harvesters ripped open the tops of their tanks, and pried them from their armored cockpits.

Commander - What is the word from the field? Officer - We're getting torn apart sir. We're getting reports that tanks are being torn open to get at crews inside.

Crews were dragged out of their tanks by the towering monstrosities and turned into Tyranny troops as their life force was drained by the machinery inside of them, as their pain was emanated as a sonic weapon from the nexus of the metallic beasts.

Soldier - ''Fuck... We're supposed to fight these things?''

As Tyranny troops marched into the cities, combat drones flew along rooftops and sniped at passing Myrmidons. Myrmidons fell by incredible amounts, not being able to fight well in a city, and were instead withdrawn to the outskirts. Walls of myrmidons built up around the cities as it seemed the forces had reached a deadlock in the urban environment.

In the Bowels of Tharif Prime
It was a temporary moment of relief for the ITN troops on the ground, although the Dominatus had deployed Titans of Corpulus to the sewers below the city from the outside, away from the forcefields. Ground legions kept inside buildings in order to protect themselves and fire on advancing Tyranny troops. Plasma cannons were used against tanks. Titans quickly came across forcefields within the sewers, backed up by heavy metal gates. The Tyranny's non overseer troops stopped advancing and formed a cordon around the city, as they waited for the overseers to penetrate. A Dominatus Sorcerer from Occult Operations was then teleported to the front of the overseer advance, one trained well in the arts of decay.

Some soldiers had been deployed in the seweres. Their full-body combat hardsuits protected them from the smell and rot within the sewers. The Dominatus was enshrouded in a cloud of flies, masking all of his armor, and was teleported to the gate which had as of now stopped the overseers. With all his might, he began to concentrate the forces of entropy and decay towards the gate, as his monstrous powers began to take effect. A squad of Sankana soldiers spotted something wrong with one of the gates, they used the walls of a junction ot take cover and readied their weapons. They noticed the gates seemed to be breaking down, but not from force of blows, but by force of age and decay from the other side as they heard the buzzing of essence flies.

Sankana - ''It rotting. Enemies using nanotech?'' Sankana - ''Probably. Prepare fire.''

The wall finally broke apart as the Dominatus unleashed the decay on the Sankana Troops while the Titans advanced. Sankana were shocked to see that numerous body parts were jutting from the Titans of Corpulus, arms, mouths, eyes, everything.

Sankana - They disgusting!

The Sankana soldiers set their viewsets to provide a 'simplified' appearence, one that did not disgust them and they fired back. Furthermore, they noticed that their comrades near to death did not die as they should, but were somehow subsumed into the Titans, as their body parts and appendages appeared on them. The foul magic of the sorcerer quickly eroded at the armor of the Sankana, at a much faster rate than at the gate as they noticed their faceplates steadily be consumed as the flies entered them and consumed them from inside out.

Sankana - ''Command. Enemies in sewers! Containment protocols failing, prepare for--''

The only other sound that was heard was buzzing. The forces of the Dominatus continued to advance towards the forcefield generator through the sewers, so as to disable it. The Dominatus forces continued approaching the emitters, so as to be able to allow thier forces on the surface to continue attacking. The Dominatus figured out the emitters were buried under the rock, and thus that they needed to blow up the tunnels themselves in order to get to them. Quickly, they began to beam down powerful antimatter explosives to the locations where the forcefield did not reach and positioned those explosives throughout the tunnels. At every step the garrison ambushed them, knowing the tunnels better than the dominatus, they fired back, hoping to stop them.

Although the valiant efforts of the garrison stalled the Dominatus troops, the Titans of Corpulus who now roamed the sewers eventually overpowered them. However, they had bought the other defenders some time. They exfiltrated from the blast radius and blew them up as the tunnels collapsed on them, and the forcefields in some areas were shattered. As the shields started flickering, heavy Dominatus ground artillery commenced firing at the city with a heavy kinetic weaponry. In the bunkers, the surviving civillians could feel the ground shale and the rumble as the city above was gradually destroyed. Reaper LCass Gunships commenced fire on the foundations of structures so as to destroy the urban environment and turn it into a land more conducive to the Dominatus. The massive fusilade of cannonry all pinpointed and falling down at once caused a deafening noise that could be heard for miles, and started a small earthquake. Although the city itself was reduced to dust, the bunkers underground remained perfectly intact, while the service tunnels were merely weakened. The Dominatus looked over the ruined ashes of what was once a city and demanded a 3D scan of the area, where he found what semeed to be elevators going deep underground. There msut have been dozens of elevators, but there was one in the centre that connected to all the others.

Don't You Worry Child
The Dominatus strategists did not know how to approach the problem that lay before them, it seemed impossible to reach the bunkers. However, soon, they received a transmission from Honor Guard Meshuggah Metallicus, advocating the use of The Anathemae of Xenomortis. After a short review of their capabilities, the go signal was given for their deployment on the ground. The overseers, around 5,5 meters in length for their average variety, prowled the streets, looking for any survivors.

The Overseers found what appeared to be a small Draconis boy, still wandering across the wasteland, seemingly unscathed by the carnage around him. From intelligence, the Dominatus knew that they needed the biometric scan of a PDF soldier to access the bunkers. They needed a way to pry one of them out of the tunnels, to use them to open up the elevator.

The boy panted, frightened at the carnage. During the evacuation he had gotten lost. The child was eventually surrounded by the Anathemae, who after giving him a moment to scream, unleashed tentacles from their midsection, which unfurled into facehugging apparatus that sent a parasite into the boy's nervous system. Using the Dalek brain inside of them, one of the overseers was able to telepathically control the attached parasite, and therefore the boy, who they ordered to go to the elevator shaft. Once the boy entered the room, he started talking into the PA.

Boy - ''Daddy, can you come get me? It's cold outside.'' PD soldier - Who is this? Boy - It's me, don't you recognize me? PD- Hold on, tell me your name and I will see what I can do. Boy - Alius Vortimion.

Terenus, a soldier stationed at the security station stood up as he heard the conversation.

Terenus - ...Alius? Alius - It's me Dad, help me!

The boy silently began crying.

Terenus - ''Alius stay calm. Someone send an elevator up.'' PD soldier - Are you mad, the surfacei crawling with Tyranny troops! Terenus - ''My son is out there! Now let him in!''

The sobbing grows louder and louder.

PD soldier - ''You know protocol. Once the doors shut we cannot allow anyone in or out until the all-clear signal is given.'' Alius - Don't let them get me, please don't! Terenus - If we don't do something my son will die! PD soldier - ''I will risk it. We are charged with protecting thousands down here I will not open the doors to save one person.'' Terenus - I won't leave him out there!

Terenus pushed the soldier aside and entered into the console to open the doors. As he input the final sequence, the soldier shot him in the leg.

Breaking In
After some time, the doors eventually opened, with the boy alone by himself, walking out. The boy ran to his father, and gave him a hug.

PD soldier - ''Someone get this boy into quarantine now. You too Terenus.''

Terenus embraced his son and held him tightly. As they turned back to put the boy in captivity, the Anathemae began to emerge from the lift, sprinting at full speed towards the Draconis.

PD soldier - OPEN FIRE!

The boy, under control, hit the switch so that it could be controlled from the surface as well.

Terenus - Alius what are you doing! Alius - It was so lonely, so very lonely!

Turrets, sentries and droids fired on the Anathamae as they emerged out. At that, Alius attacked Terenus.

Terenus - *tried to fight off his son* Those are monsters Alius!

The Anathemae, at such a close range and in such close quarters were at a slight advantage, as their enemy had never fought them before, and the fighting was reduced to melee combat. Alius merely moaned in response to his father’s pleas.

Terenus - Alius?

From the Overseers bellies sprang tentacles which attacked the faces of the Draconis, turning them into mindless slaves as well, while they pummeled others with more conventional attacks. The elevator shuttled back to the surface as well, continuing to bring in more Anathemae each trip.

Commander - Seal off the entire entry level NOW!

They crawled across walls, attacking, striking, covering the refuge of Draconis with the blood and ichor of those who were supposed to be saved. The entry level was eventually overrun, but was soon quarantined by the competent commander. There was now a line, however thin, between his people's lives and death. The Draconis waited behind their gates, hoping that it would prevent the enemy from entering.

Commander - ''Damn these Dominatus. Damn the mall to the blackest and most empty reaches of the void!''

In order to counteract this, the Dominatus began sending concussion demolition charges down the mineshaft, which were placed at the gate. After size scans were made, the Dominatus sent down Reaper Class Gunships and Grox Overseers in order to break down the fearsome barricade. The Gunships, which fit in the cavernous spaces, soon began opening fire on the gate with all manner of rocketry and cannon. While they did this, the Grox Overseers primed their siege drills and prepared to change against the wall.

Commander - ''We're losing containment. Gas the quarantine chamber now!''

On his command, the quarantine zone was flooded with nanotechnology that chewed up any vehicle or overseer it did not recognize. The remaining overseers began retreating up the elevators while the gas took effect. They watched as before their eyes they were devoured by the gas. The commander smiled as they retreated. As the gas was swept in to the soldiers, the nanites attacked the parasites.

Dominatus 1 - These fucks have countermeasures for everything. Dominatus 2 - Destroy the elevator, then EMP the whole complex. Dominatus 1 - That will prevent our equipment from functioning as well. Dominatus 2 - I don't care, do it.

Fade Into Darkness
The Draconis heard the sound of the elevator exploding, then suddenly, all the lights went out.

Commander - ''What? Activate the backup generators, quickly.'' Soldier - EMP sir, everything that was working is dead. Commander - ''So we can resort a power supply but we can't run anything that was on when the EMP hit? Perfect.''

The Anathemae crawled down the wreck that was once the elevator shaft, down to the base, back to the gates, and began spewing acid at it.A single Dominatus was sent down as well, but to no ones surprise, his equipment stopped working as well.

Dominatus 3 - Hmph.

Much time passed as the acid of the Anathemae wore away at the gates of the quarantine zone. The Draconis there were shrouded in Darkness, but some at the gate were noticing something changing.

Soldier - ''Erm... I think that gate is going to blow.''

The gate soon eventually crumbled, and the line between the two darkness’s was gone. Anathemae began rushing into the once safeguarded zone, where everyone was reduced to melee combat. The soldiers had to go into battle without faceplates as the EMP had disabled their HUDs. The soldiers found out that there guns did not work, and were forced to draw melee implements. The Overseers tentacles attacked the now unprotected faces of the soldiers and began the unpleasant process of implanting the parasite.

Commander - Damn them all, we're done for.

Acid wore away at flesh and bone and the muscle of the overseers tore through wings. The screams of agony were silenced by the implanatation of the parasites. The Anathemae continued pouring in, and so did death, in a place that was meant to preserve life.

Commander - ''Someone send a courier to ANY nearby bunker. Any one that still has an energy supply. We need ot let the Imperium know!''

On his word, a courier ran for one of the trams that led to another bunker in the hop of sending a transmission.

A Terrible Mistake in Segmentum Adnihilo
Aside from the main taskforces that were dedicated to the practice of going through the wormhole network of the Draconid Imperium in order to strike at their core worlds, there was also a separate task force, which was working to use prototype Rivshadelman drives in order to navigate their ships. While in a laboratory with experimental conditions this may have worked out perfectly, in real time use, much like the Dominatus were going to find out, the drives failed terribly, causing them to pop up not on a Draconis world, but on that of the feared Xhodocto Dominion, an empire the Tyranny had been trying to avoid for it's omnipotent military for the longest time. However, as soon as they were yanked from their previous area in timespace to another, they knew that they could not handle it with petty speeches and resolutions, but if they were to save themselves, they would have to use blood and iron. As the battle would later tell however, it is not necessarily the smartest of endeavors to go into a contest of brute strength with the god's themselves.

The first thing that the Tyranny saw was a fleet orbiting the world, composed of surreal ships composed of colors that could not logically exist, but were made possible by the macgicks of Xhodocto engineering. Even more unnerving, the size scans of the ships of the Dominion of the Xhodocto had just recently come back, showing that the monsters were at the smallest, 40km. This partially unnerved the Dominatus, who had not only made the Mark 2s big to accomodate the lack of miniaturization in their weaponry, but also to intimidate the foe. The fact that even the smallest of the Dominion ships dwarfed the Tyrant Mark 2s sent chills down the biomass of some of the Dominatus. The first ships to attack the Dominion where the Tyrant Cruiser Mark 2s, some of the most feared and numerous ships in the First Gigaquadrant, who opened up with their banks of subatomic disruptors and Gatling Hyperlasers.

They were less than happy with the returns they got, as even though they knew they were doing damage to the ships of the Dominion, the sheer size of the monstrosities meant that the Dominatus had to blow up more and more in order to just destroy one of them. However, the Dominatus suddenly got return fire from the monsters that they faced, as pure energy lanced out from the surreal Dominion ships, which instantly overwhelmed the shields of some of the smaller Dominatus Cruisers due to their better technology and increased size. Such an event had never happened in Dominatus naval history before, except during the battle with Exodium, but to see this coming from an enemy ship was an unnerving sight. The two navies continued to exchange fire for a prolonged period of time as each took a toll on another. Massively powerful fire from both sides, each salvo enough to flay a planet was fired at the opposing ship, engulfing it in raw power. The Dominatus however, had the advantage of numbers, and soon had destroyed the Dominion ships, but at great cost to themselves, having lost around a dozen Tyrant Mark 2s for each of the 40 km monstrosities that they destroyed. This was instantly relayed to high command, and although high command was rather intimidated by the capabilities of the Dominion, they decided to press on with a land invasion so as to test the capabilities of the ground forces.