The First Move

Above Meridia, the a small rupture could be seen. Then, against most expectation, a fleet warped into the system. Several thousand fighters and gunships, along with several thousand Destroyers and Cruisers, and at least 500 Battleships and 500 Battlecruisers , led by a pair of flagships were just above the orbit of the planet, and we descending. Upon them bore the symbol of the Voyager, and with that symbol, the unmistakable entity who had ordered and planned the attack.

"Ah, screw it. Orbital defenses deploy, bring Marauder 1 to full combat capability and deploy a supporting fleet. Raise status to full alert. We've got an invasion on our hands." -- Planetary Defense Personnel

-~-

Admiral Hale dusted off his officer's attire as he walked briskly towards the bridge. Pulling out a datapad, he contacted docking managers.

"Are we ready to go?"

"Yes, sir, ready when you are."

Hale was the legendary 1st fleet admiral that stayed loyal to Robless when the separatists split from the Initiative movement. He was in charge of military defense protocol when the Voyager's fleet arrived.

A message flashed in his ocular implant, giving a general overview of the composition of the invading fleet. It was not a huge fleet, and he was sure that the Marauder and its forces could overwhelm them. He would not be too careless though, and would restrain himself, striking tactically and strategically, saving his major resources for the worst possible results.

"These ships bear the marking of...Verax. Calls himself a self-proclaimed dreadlord. The guy is insane but not to be underestimated, his forces are formidable. His flagship is a super-dreadnought, but it currently is not part of the attacking fleet. The force that is currently on our doorstep is miniscule compared to what he can bring. Be advised, enemy reinforcements may be holding back just out-of-system. Prepare adequately and do not show your main firepower." Hale recalled the sit-rep from memory, rounding the corner into the bridge.

Two guards watched over him as he fingerprint-identified himself on the scanner. "Clearance granted."

-~-

As Marauder 1 prepared to undock from the massive orbital defense station, the first rounds were already being exchanged between the two fleets.

Tempest-class battleships, armed with long-range railcannons, began to deliver their heavy ordnance while Raider-class battlecruiser packs started their combat maneuvers.

Wyvern carriers warped into action from their stations above Corellius, fighter crews running across the decks while their logistics counterparts started to run their operations and electronic warfare.

Their new refitted fighters would finally get a chance to be tested in a real fight. Sleek, black finishes coated each Ghost fighter, armed with pulse cannons and swarmer missiles mounted in front of powerful yet easy-to-cloak engines.

A flight of five Ghosts began their ascent into battle from Deck 35's runway.

"This is Reaper 1-1. Flight check."

"Reaper 1-2 copies."

"Reaper 1-3, green lights across the board."

"1-4 here."

"Reaper 1-5, ready for action!"

Twin engines began to glow with blue-flamed thrust, their plasma cores spooling up for takeoff. Grav-seats held the pilots in their seats while the excessive G's continued to press upon them. At 300 meters per second, all five Reaper squadron members pulled up and away from Deck 35.

The Reaper squad thrived in space. It was their home away from home, and each of them found solace in its empty vacuum that would be the resting place of millions of enemy soldiers. They were not mere pilots; they were masters of the void that others called 'space'. Space was a harsh environment, but these pilots were tougher.

"Reaper lead reporting. Accelerate to cruising speed at 500m/s. Reaper flight has arrived. Let's take the stars."

The ships were augmented by a small dreadnought, but bizarre, as around its engine it had a ring of six 250 Km long arm like structures. Emblazoned on its side were the words "The Kracken".

At the head of The Kracken was the cybernetic General Krakot, a muscular looking ebony colored red eyed robot. When he spoke, his voice was thick and metallic, like metal on metal. "This is Krakot, attention invasion fleet, our Dreadlord has put you under my command. Enter epsilon formation."

The Ships entered a dodecahedron shape, pounding the planet from space. Before now, none of them knew what to do, but know that a leader was here, not just some calculator AI, the unit could be a cohesive strike force.

"Pound their pilots, their people, and their planet!" He commanded coolly as the front line-facing side of the odd arrangement began to open fire.

The Tempest-class battleship CSV Luminus now warping into combat alongside Battlegroup Theta-141. Its massive railguns extending from their turrets, rotating to track one of the targets in the crazed conglomeration of ships that Verax's forces had assembled. One by one, they fired, thundering through the ship and sending 1800mm projectiles at blue-hot speeds towards their targets. The poor crew of the receiving ship screamed silently in the vacuum of space.

"Bring weapons to full. I want those invaders dead!" Captain Lorelius shouted orders to his crew amidst the commotion aboard the Luminus bridge. Lorelius was a veteran of many battles and was proud to command "the best ship in the fleet", as they called themselves. He would live and die happily, as long as it was in the thick of the fight.

Lorelius watched the 3-D auspex display, holograms of ships in the dance of death. The enemy force was not huge, but their dreadnought would pose a problem if unstopped. Soon the Marauder would be prepped for combat and Verax would no longer pose a threat.

Autocannon fire raked the hull of the ship, stopped by well-engineered shielding and armor. Spectacular slugging matches lit up the blackness of space, soundless screams echoing through nothingness. Lorelius thought, This is what we live for... when the next volley of railguns fired.

Krakot reeled in surprise, his dark-grey metal feet clanging loudly on the floor. These were no amateurs, these were hardened veterans. No, not veterans, masters. Even in such a short period, the strike force had taken heavy damage and losses. Luckily, this is exactly why he set up this formation.

All of the faces of dodecahedron inversed, coming outward and inward, effectively flipping the front and back of the force, and trapping the retaliation force within a sea of enemies. The sides of The Kracken hissed, steam being expelled and quickly dissipating in the void of space as the arms on the sides of the ship revealed their purpose. Each arm flexing and stretching out, they had some sort of energy shielding that far surpassed the ship's itself, rejecting enemy fire. Each arm began grabbing debris and fighters, and threw them at the thought-fast speeds through the Luminus and the other enemies.

"Let them witness the power our Lord bestowed upon us. Take no prisoners, let there be no survivors, slaughter every ship and section of this spacial scrap of special ops! Burn it all!" Krakot made sure that even the Battlegroup Theta-141 and the crew of the Luminus could hear him.

The Kracken itself began to open fire with slow but heavy and many plasma and beam weapons, save for a Zarulian wave cutter just above the command bridge.

A small fighter with a still living pilot hurtled into the Luminus, slamming into the front of the armored bridge and cartwheeling off the ship's hull, pilot still screaming. One of the crew members cursed and mumbled something about having re-painted that yesterday. Many were running around with situation reports and status checks on the current circumstances.

"Direct fire to flanking battleships and assume defensive positions. I want us in logistics range of that carrier ASAP!"

"Roger that, sir! We're--"

"Sir, the SSV Ignatio just went up in flames!"

"CSV Maren taking heavy fire!"

Odds were against them again and now Krakot's forces had surrounded the disoriented battlegroup. Lorelius could only hope that they'd make a recovery fast, although he was certain they would still win this.

-~-

"Incoming jump signature. Incoming jump signature."

A blue jump drive bubble appeared for a split second followed by a distorted rift that ejected the massive Marauder I. The Marauders were here.

"Admiral Hale speaking. Theta-141, support is on the way."

Miniature warp bubbles popped up surrounding the dodecahedron-shaped fleet that had surrounded 141. Two more fully-outfitted battlegroups warped into the fight, designated Omega-33 and Sierra-254. You could almost hear the cheers from Battlegroup Theta-141 as the rescue fleet arrived.

In the midst of this mid-battle rejoicing, a white-blue high-energy particle beam seared directly through a line of battleships in the strange formation of Krakot's ship. It ripped apart the ships like the industrial-grade plasma cutter that originally formed them in the foundry. Admiral Hale thought it ironic that the same technology used for the ion beam also made the ships that it destroyed.

"Now the real battle begins..." Hale knew that the battle could still go any number of directions despite the optimistic view of the crew. He didn't express his concern; this was good for morale anyway.

Krakot's fist clenched. Damned reinforcements..... but it was of little concern. Take out the queen bee, and the hive will collapse. But he had to locate the queen amidst this roaring ocean of war. But alas, that was the game of war. One of the nameless faceless android soldiers rushed up to him.

"Sir, the enemies have just received reinforceme-"

"I know! Any fool could see that. We will hold formation until-"

"Sir, they have an ion cannon...." Krakot slammed his steel fist against the armrest of his chair, denting it.

"And what, we're defenseless? NO! Initiate retaliation contingency plan A! ..... That means the first one. Not the last one. Or the second. Or the 52 we have in between." The android saluted so hard his forehead dented inward.

"YES, SIR!" And he, or she, or it, though it looked male, ran off.

The Kracken showed itself for what it was named after. Beginning to accelerate towards Marauder I and after getting within rang, which wasn't too long considering their lengths.... the arms of The Kracken latched on to the ship. Pulling the dreadnought along it, the hands began searching for crevices, chinks, anything to get leverage on and began attempting to tear the ship apart, while still firing at it at point-blank range.

"Overkill..... maybe. But if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing."

"This guy is out of his damn mind!" Admiral Hale slammed on the console in front of him in frustration. "Open fire with both ion cannons! I want Sierra-254 to focus all fire on the Kracken, Omega-33 will stay to assist Theta-141."

Prepare the Rapture cannon. It was the unspoken order between Hale and one of most trusted and secretive officers. They could not expose their superweapon too soon, but it would be far too late if the Kracken had the ship in pieces.

-~-

Turbulence from enemy fire rocked the Valkyrie gunship as it traveled with an armada of boarding gunships set on course with the Kracken. A nearby transport went up in flames and ripped itself to pieces upon landing on the ship.

Lieutenant Kennan gripped his assault rifle tighter, knowing that the last missile could well have hit them instead. His squad also seemed a bit nervous, but after hundreds of boarding operations, everybody knew to keep their emotions in check. Battle was a straining environment on humans. Despite this, Black Legion training kept them top-notch. A single squad could easily take on a group three times its size if it kept well-coordinated and stayed fully aware.

A red light bathed the passenger bay as the Valkyrie began its initial approach.

"Check your equipment! Ready up!"

Within the minute the team stiffened up and made sure everything was running smoothly, from their armor to their helmet to their weapons to their minds. Not one thing was left unaccounted for.

It changed to orange and the pilot gave them a heads up. "Touch-down in two minutes!"

Kennan felt the weight of their mission upon them. The entire Initiative was at stake if they could not save Marauder I. "Ready to go squid hunting."

Krakot felt amused. Had he a mouth and not a smooth helmet like face and visor for eyes, he would have made a mocking smile. The AI of the Kracken, Luna, dissolved into view. She was pure black. From the top of her head to the tips of her toes, she looked like Lurinia's shadow, save for two unnerving yellow eyes.

"Sir, we have a ship set directly en rout to us." Krakot attempted to roll his eyes, but his visor stayed firmly in place.

"Their getting in formation to attack us. And why aren't the arms ripping through this ship like a child rips through cotton candy?"

"Marauder I is exceptionally strong. And the ships that are preparing to attack us aren't approaching at an angle or velocity that means they're going to land on the ship."

"Take care of things. You two!" Two cyborgs that wore hoods and capes straightened. The looked like someone tried to make androids of Death, featureless and an evil grey, behind the hoods, two sinister red eyes glowed. One held an electro-staff, good at close range, but unless it was used like a javelin, not effective at far range, mid range though, it unleashed controlled bolts of concentrated ions, better known as 'synthetic lightning'. The other had four arms and in each hand had plasma pistol, like a normal gun, save for the deadly payload it unleashed. "Follow me." And as he passed, the two silently followed.

These were his personal guards. They functioned like ten men on their own, but just in case, he informed the patrols around the vicinity that they would be boarded accordingly. Krakot had his weapons built into him, so he could lure his opponents in with a semblance of being unarmed, then murder his victims. They were still walking when they felt a slight tremor.

"Green light! Breach and clear!"

Kennan's Valkyrie had maneuvered into position aboard the Kraken along with the rest of its flight. In sync with the other boarding parties, shaped plasma charges melted straight through the hull of the ship, the gunship's rear door blasting out the interior of a bulkhead.

Black Legion troops poured aboard the ship, blast armor and vacuum-capable rebreathers equipped. Kennan made a hand signal and waved the squad through the hall, fierce Hessler assault rifles raised and sweeping for targets. A maintenance android came around the corner to repair the hole in the wall. It barely blinked before finding itself shredded by charged tungsten rounds.

-~-

"Go, go, go!" Kennan's squad now stormed through the next hallway, directing themselves to the bridge through sonar pings. Exactly one deck below, Kennan could see the digital silhouettes of another squad engaging in a firefight. "Prepare for combat!"

A plasma round partially melted one of his troop's shoulder pad, sending him stumbling back. He quickly recovered and pulled his rifle back up as if nothing happened.

Glowing red tungsten rounds clashed with the bright blue bolts of plasma as Kennan and his squad engaged in a heated fight with a small group of normal security androids. They were only minor distractions to the well-trained squad that operated more machine-like than the machines they fought.

Within ninety seconds, the androids were a sparking mess of circuitry and blasted armor, Kennan's squad already having reached the next corridor already. "Contact eliminated. Moving on." They made it out with only the minor injury sustained by the plasma victim and a scorch mark across another soldier's armored chest plate.

Luna silently kept at attacking Marauder I and guiding secuirty forces and Krakot towards the invaders. Krakot trommped loudly down the halls of his ship, his guards anxiously playing with their weapons, unnerved by his unsubtleness. He kept tromping until his audio-receptors, which were ten times as acute as any flesh-bound race, heard human voices, "Contact eliminated. Moving on." As soon as he heard that, he yelled, "I KNOW YOU'RE THERE. COME ON OUT, YOU SNEAKING RATS!"

Kennan looked at the soldier next to him with a smirk on his face. Two seconds later the entire squad was following the walls on both sides of the corridor. They engaged their suit's stealth cloaks and moved silently. "Try and find us now, smart one." Kennan whispered this through his helmet and had it refract the audio to unnerve and disorient the enemy.

Every single member of the squad continued to prowl silently, moving low and fast while keeping complete combat awareness at all times. The Black Legion Legionnaires were the best of the best, a step above even highly-militarized races. They would hunt down and kill every last one of their enemies who stood between them and the bridge. Krakot had made a fatal mistake in trying to engage them.

-~-

"Reaper flight, do you copy?"

"Reaper copies, 141."

"Re-direct to provide space superiority for Legionnaires aboard the Kraken."

"Roger, will comply. Reaper out!"

Finally, Luna was rewarded with the sight of a large chunk of Marauder I's hull flying off into space. Though it was at a price, the Kracken could no longer maintain a grip on the enemy ship and began sliding off, though while still loading the front of the ship with fire.

Krakot tried to smile, in vain. "Oh I will."

He knew what he was doing. His visor automatically switched to an infered/electosignature mode. The slight gleam in his guard's eyes told him they had done the same. The built-in personal warpdrive Krakot had activated, sending him silently and instantly, with his guards into the thick of the group, as the clattering of approaching feet and soldiers grew louder.
He leaned over into Kennan's ear,

"Found you."

Kennan froze at the voice in his ear. He gave the silent countdown via his visor broadcasted only directly to his team members. Three...two...one...

Immediately, each one of them decloaked and spun around with near-inhuman reflexes, each one raising his rifle directly to a target. Kennan broke Krakot's grasp by backhanding him with his concealed blade in his glove. Without having time to react, Krakot struck back silently, Kennan's rifle clattering to the side. Seemingly instantly, Kennan had his heavy sidearm directly against Krakot's head, and Krakot had his plasma pistol aimed back at Kennan respectively.

Time had seemed to stop; the tension was excruciating. The Legionnaires matched in number with Krakot and his guards. Each soldier was sweating intensely, staring down their singled-out opponents with a glare that could kill. Occasionally, they would shift back and forth nervously, trigger fingers twitching.

A catastrophic screech interrupted their showdown. Explosions rocked the deck and sent Kennan cartwheeling backwards. An eerie silence caused by the leaking vacuum engulfed them. Kennan was blinded by the debris and flames that engulfed the area not three inches from him.

When his vision returned, he looked around, stunned as the rest of his squad. They were inches from complete incineration. The explosion ripped a hole in the hull, and upon looking outside, Kennan saluted. His Valkyrie pilot waved back, pulling back and turning about to continue his passes. Kennan dusted himself off and wiped the grime off his visor. Nobody could have survived that blast short of a...dangerous well-mechanized captain of the Kraken.

Kakot felt stupid. He had played arrogantly, and payed dearly for it. But he stopped, looking outside, he roared in satisfaction.

"LOOK! LOOK YOU WORMS! ALREADY YOUR SHIP FALLS APART! LOOK! LOOK AT THE HULL FRAGMENT FLYING IN SPACE! MARAUDER ONE IS NOT THE INVICIBLE CATHEDRAL YOU TAKE IT TO BE!" Luna, fed up with his stupidity, disabled his speech capabilities.

Admiral Hale shuddered as the piece of hull ripped off the ship. That was close, far too close. But it was of no matter. "Fire the ion cannons. Again. Aim for fire control."

Two bright blue beams of light tore across space, fusing parts of the front of the Kraken together and melting them altogether. One impact blossomed into a majestic fireball, exploding outwards and flowering out into a massive explosion. "I think we hit our mark. Enemy weapons are operating at a fraction of their power and some have entirely quit functioning. Good job, crew, keep it up!"

Momentarily, three of the four Marauder's main cannons came online, brought to power from in-flight start-up due to their emergency departure. The one that still read 'offline' was currently part of the hull of the Marauder that was torn away. Four-barreled 2400mm repeating artillery cannons extending from their turrets, ready to wreak havoc on the Kraken.

One of the cannons focused on the arm holding the hull of the marauder. "Nobody steals our ship!" the gunner yelled as he punched in the aiming and firing codes into the fire control computer at his station. In twenty seconds, all four rounds were fired from the repeating artillery. The arm was space debris in a matter of seconds.

-~-

"Looks like the Marauder is picking up the heat." Kennan felt the Kraken rock and hear the sound of stressed metal groaning. Their Valkyrie was en route to pick them up and had begun its final approach. Admiral Hale had congratulated the Legionnaires on their success in disrupting the Kraken's crew and ordered gunships for evacuation while they commenced the final bombardment.

-~-

The Ghost fighters that the Reapers flew weaved in and out of debris to stay in close support range of the troops should they require it. Strategic strikes were a necessary part of Legionnaire boarding parties and had saved countless lives already. The priority of this mission could not be understated, as pinned down Legionnaires were dead Legionnaires.

Reaper Lead dodged in between section of the newly detached arm and was in charge of supporting Kennan's squad. A close Valkyrie strike had saved them just recently and Captain Zuren could not risk leaving them again.

-~-

"Fire on deck 3!"

The main battle had picked up and now the Luminus was engaged in a heated battle against another surprisingly well-armed battleship. Lorelius knew it was going to be a close one when the shells broke through his shields.

Railguns reverberated through the ship, gunnery over-charging the guns in order to give them the edge they'd need in this fight. Shields were completely down now, they could only boost weapon power with all the power they had. "Fire!" A battery of four railguns delivered their payload to the enemy ship, chunks of armor crumpling and bursting with fire as the shells hit.

"We are the Luminus! We are the harbingers of light!"

Krakot refused to let this be the end. It could not be! Never! He warped to the command bridge and decided to replicate Verax's earlier move. Luna transfered herself into Krakot as he began running towards his escape pod, after he diverted all power to engines, and started moving forward. What he didn't know. is that the Black Legion squad was directly in front of the hidden doorway to that pod.

------

All the remaining droids and robots knew what was about to happen, and being prepared for this, tried to board and escape with as many ships as they could. Fighters, gunships, even a two battleships made it out before the hanger doors closed.

------

One of the two flagships in the thrall of the battle looked as if it were preparing to flee from battle. They had failed.... again. The Dreadlord would not be pleased, and would more than likley return to do this job himself. Lurinia was alread smiling at the prospect of their punishment. It was being preped to recieve Krakot and warp back to The Voyager.

"Mother of God, they're going to ram us!" Admiral Hale paced back and forth on the deck, thinking of an escape plan for the crippled Marauder. He could find none, as they barely had enough power to function and move and certainly not enough to jump away or fire the ion beams again.

-~-

Kennan and his squad were thrown against the wall as the Kraken lurched forth. The Valkyrie that had been in their sights mere seconds ago disappeared, narrowly escaping a deadly collision with the protruding shapes that jutted out of the ship, a product of a shipwright gone mad along with several railgun rounds. Part of the corridor dented when the most heavily-armored man in the squad fell into it.

"That's not supposed to happen." Red emergency lighting seeped through the crack in the wall. "Wait...it's a bloody escape pod! I didn't know Verax let his ships carry these!"

"No matter, we're still ordered to--" An anguished Krakot stormed around the corner. He simply pointed angrily at them and attempted to say something, to no avail.

"Knock, knock." Kennan grinned as he threw a non-lethal EMP charge directly into the android's riddled armor. It was a safer, cleaner version of the EMP charges carried by engineering units, utilized by special forces to disable the working parts of bio-mechanical units while preserving important data and AI. Applying it directly to the electronics worked best.

-~-

Part of the ceiling burst into flames and a console burst into electricity, killing its operator. Lorelius felt the reverberations throughout the hull as it strained to stay together. The Luminus managed to scrap their opponent's battleship, but not before sustaining a critical hit from a burst of autocannon. Her crew was now in a desperate struggle to keep the ship together.

"We're going to need to warp out. Take us here." Lorelius pointed out a set of coordinated on the sensor scanner.

"Sir, that's still in the combat zone."

"I don't care, punch the jump drive."

"But--"

"You will follow my orders, if it's the last thing you do, got it?"

"Y-yes, sir."

The warp reactor was still bleeding violently as it leaked blue plasma over the reactor room. Several shots had torn apart the walls surrounding it as its few living operators suffered massive radiation that would kill them within days of leaving the ship, and only hours if they stayed aboard. A code from a navigation computer put the reactor into a ready position. One more deadly flash of radiation burst through engineering.

"Coordinates set. Failsafe November activated. Target: Kraken, dreadnought. Fire jump drives. Let's beat them at their own game." - The Luminus AI core's last words and final sacrifice to the fleet.

-~-

Kennan's Valkyrie had just dusted off from its LZ and was en route to a nearby carrier for refueling before heading directly to the NSI Headquarters on Meridia. The squad now crammed into the back, a disabled but still conscious and quite furious Krakot occupying the floor. The Initiative must have had second thoughts about killing such valuable artificial intelligence, especially from the elusive forces of Verax. Maybe they would get an ally, who knows what Verax had in store for their failure. Kennan could only wonder as they sped off above the green and blue planet of Meridia.

The Kracken was second away from impact when the Luminus struck through the ship. All mayhem broke lose, but not for very long, as the Kracken was engulfed in some odd purple flame that burned in space, and harmlessly tapped off the exterior of other ships. The escaping Flagship warped without Krakot, as the 10th won its first battle against the Dreadlord.

------

Luna allowed Krakot his voice abilities again, and he began spewing insults and obscenities at his captors. It was to no avail though, he had lost, and whats more, he had failed to return for punishment, so he quited down, letting the Black Legion know he would not cause any more trouble, and go along without struggle. Now with out a doubt, he would be among the victims. He even passed this on, saying "You've only doomed me too. Now you have incurred the wrath of Verax. Destroying the Kracken only solidified this. You've doomed yourselves."

(Continue the story with Krakot here: Krakot's Capture.)