STGOD: The Phoenix Wars (Chapter IV)

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

A'millan Prime...

The two mysterious ships didn't hail back, but they're now getting out of Unicron, moving away as possible from the giant robot.

Aboard the Death Star, the familiar three words are spoken; the words that brings terror to anyone who opposes the mighty battle station. The very same words that now bring relief to the freedom fighters dubbed themselves The Army of Lights.

"Commence Primary Ignition."



Aboard the Executor-Class Command Battleship Phoenix, Darth Kreshna pours himself another glass of Vermouth.

Aboard the Genator II, Lord and Lady Adam hold each other's hands as they see the hope to save their home planet.

Aboard the Death Star, Amiwen merely stares at the looming giant robot called Unicron who's menacing the planet A'millan Prime.

Aboard the Trollish Carrier, Commander Flotsam muttered the words 'come and get some' in Trollish language.

Time seems to pass around very slowly as the Death Star charges its superlaser.



OOC: alright Allen, the Death Star is charging its superlaser. Are you going to do anything?

[Dark Silver]

From the first blast against Unicron's hull, till the time that the Death Star made it's orbit, Unicron had been changing.

By the time the Death Star cleared the horizon of the planet, and gotten into range, Unicron was no longer a planet sized orb, but in it's more massive, robot form.

It loomed over and above the Death Star, dwarfed only by the planet itself, as he flew upwards, away from the battlefield.

Unicron would not be destroyed so easily in this battle...

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Everyone cheers as Unicron flees from the battlefield; Lord and Lady Adam are embracing each other, while the A'millans who are still on the planet praise with excitement as their planet is saved.

But then again, Guardian fleet is still strong. Only Darth Kreshna's Imperial ships are able to stand toe-to-toe with the Guardians, but still, they are heavily outnumbered. The Death Star shield and firepower is worth thousands of capital ships, but the battle station can't be at many places at once. And the Guardians are not stupid either; their ships cleverly avoid the Death Star; concentrating on the weaker ships like Imperial Star Destroyers or Goa'uld Ha'taks.

Sipping his Campari Vermouth, Darth Kreshna realizes that the battle is far from over. Captain McKenzie is busy directing the course of the battle, which is getting more fierce since the Guardians, now abandoning their plan to destroy A'millan Prime, are now free to turn their attention to the ships of the Army of Lights.

One Imperator-Clas Star Destroyer is limping under heavy barrage of a Guardian Battle Galleon, but two Allegiance Class Star Destroyers quickly provide covers; aided by three Ha'taks. Darth Kreshna winces; his personal fleet, while providing the backbone for the Army of Lights, is actually more susceptible to losses since he does not enjoy the massive industrial capacity that the Empire has.

Darth Kreshna puts the glass and the bottle; the Vermouth now feels like bland compared to the battle he's watching.

[Dark Silver]

With Unicron's departure, the guardian ships were free to fire as they wished.

Biolasers shared the blackness with streaks of turbo lasers and Go'uld weapons. Not spread to thin, the Guardian ships poured their combined might into the Allience ships, several ships ganging up on the younger races.

What could have been a route with the coming of the Death Star, was becoming a bloodbath in short order.

[Ra]

"All ships rally at the Death Star," Galadriel ordered. "We will hold our ground."

The swarm of Alliance ships make a retreat, firing at the Guardians as they do. Ha'taks, Imperial ships, A'millian ships, Troll vessels, and Rebel Alliance vessels all fled back behind the the protection of the monstrous battle station. A group of Guardian ships pursued, only to be caught in tractor beams and bombarded by thousands of turbolasers simultaneously.

"Fire on as many ships as you can," Amiwen ordered the station commander.

A hulking Guardian battleship was ruptured open by a low-power blast from the superlaser, while more frigates and scouts shrivelled under the sheer volume of fire coming at them.

Ra huffed. His fleet was running out of naquada-enriched nukes, and he knew it. Much more, and his entire fleet would become a liability to the Alliance. He addressed the other fleet leaders.

"We need more powerful ships to combat these bastards. Both the Goa'uld and A'millians lack the firepower to do any significant damage. I have my naquada-enriched weapons, but we're nearly out now, and will require a long time to replinish our stockpiles."

"I think we can help out," Sandra Kuat noted. "We'd be willing to equip your fleets with a ship of considerable firepower. Consider it... a business deal."

"When can such a vessel be ready?" Lord Adam inquired.

"Probably not long after we end this battle."

Ra smirked. "With these fools attacking the Death Star so brazenly, that won't be long. That is, unless they decide to pull another trick out their asses. Whatever, we're listening."

"It's a project we've been working on," Kuat noted. "You'll see, in due time."

[Senator Clark]

Senator Clark is having a headache.

The news of Darth Kreshna's secesion has caused a political stir among the Empire, and while the Senate has agreed to oficially renounce the secesion, in practice it is more difficult to put out the Sith's rebellion. De facto, Darth Kreshna's territory is outside the Empire. It is actually legal for an Imperial Citizen to build their own private territory outside the Imperial space; another constitutional amandment made by the Sith to ensure their feudal supremacy, the one which Clark has been attempting to erase.

Darth Kreshna, however, has been stripped of his powers before the secesion, and the majority of Senate argued that the Kreshna's Death Star, among other vessels he took to his new territory, actually belonged to the Empire and not his private properties anymore. In fact, the only ship legally belonged to the Sith Inquisitor before his secesion was the Executor-Class Command Ship Phoenix, and nothing else.

Yet the Senate's decision seemed to be ambigious; while the Imperial goverment has decide to disacknowledge the existence of Darth Kreshna's 'independence', it has refused to take actions either. The Empire is too busy in her war against the Guardians to quench Kreshna's secesion. Not to mention the public opinion in favor of the Sith Inquisitor because the secesion is actually fighting the Guardians.

However, the government doesn't take the missing ships lightly; Kuat Drive Yard has been facing legal charges of various degrees from negligence to treason . Of course, the company itself has been quick to save its ass; the KDY Board of Directors has replaced Sandra Kuat as the corporate CEO, while denying any involvements regarding to the 'missing ships'. Her shares in KDY has been frozen as well. The problem is; the Kuat family has been so unbelievably rich that their shares in KDY is no longer an important portion of their assets. In fact, there is rumors that Ms Kuat has been using her influence (and bribes, of course) among the politicians to stall any attempt to drag her to court.

Clark is really angered; such shenanigans would never happen during Palpatine-era. Now the Empire has been a victim of the bad side of democracy, making such things possible. The Empire needs a strong government; a dictatorship! Senator Clark thinks while clenching his fists.

But he is a patient man after all. Eventually, he will raise to Presidency, discharge the weak old man Sate Pestage from Prime Ministership, and return the Empire to its former glory.

His time will come.

[Dartzap]

Well, looks like Unicron is needed elsewhere...

"Indeed Sir."



Outside, Gaurdian and Trollish ships are exhanging blows rapidly, Detritus has orderd that ever one of the Guardian fighters would require atleast 7 Boldar fighters to even make a dent, with the aid of the Trollish Constructor was rapidly deploying RC Fighters, evening the odds to some degree. away from the dogfights, Destroyers and Cruisers are battering and weakening Guardian capital ships.

swarms of frigates are flying in formation making a border for the battle, ensuring no ships flee without atleast being pummled once or twice.


A hologram appears before Lord Kreshan

Ah, Lord Kreshna i doo hope your not havinga hard tome drinking all of those spritzers.
due to some fear on the part of whoever controls Unicron, we may have gained some leeway in this battle, But as you may or may not have noticed.. what exactly are YOU are going to be doing after we've beaten this damn threat? As far as i can recall.. everyone of your allies were at each others throats, may lives were lost.Plantes lost, millions of ships wiped out. I hope you have a plan as to what we will do once we terminate the problem. Detritus out.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Ah, Lord Kreshna i doo hope your not havinga hard tome drinking all of those spritzers.
due to some fear on the part of whoever controls Unicron, we may have gained some leeway in this battle, But as you may or may not have noticed.. what exactly are YOU are going to be doing after we've beaten this damn threat? As far as i can recall.. everyone of your allies were at each others throats, may lives were lost.Plantes lost, millions of ships wiped out. I hope you have a plan as to what we will do once we terminate the problem. Detritus out.

Before Detritus' turns off his comm unit, Darth Kreshna quickly replies, "Hold on".

The Sith Inqusitor continues, "to be frank, Lord Detritus, I still don't know what to do after we finish this battle, but I am certain of one thing: we cannot simply stand against the Guardians using brute force. Only the Empire has the scale and technology to engage the Guardians in a full-scale war, but even in that case, a prolonged war between the two Titans will cost the entire universe, including innocent Imperial citizens. I ain't no saint, Detritus, but the Empire is still my country, and I hate to see my fellow people suffering in this war."

Darth Kreshna pauses for a moment, "yes, I am the Phoenix. Alas, that's the only fact I'm aware of. There are many great things that beyond my comprehension. I believe we need to find solution to end this war, and we need to investigate things.... A quest, if you will. Meanwhile, the Death Star will be stationed on Earth after this battle. You are all welcome to use it as base of operation, since provides us the strongest defense against the Guardian's Onslaught. The Guardians need a million of ships to destroy the battle station; something I believe they cannot afford because they're busy in a war against the Empire. A war that we can take advantage to perform our investigations without attracting too much Guardian's attention; which is, ironically, also the very same war we need to stop, before the universe is ruined to ashes in the clash between two Titans."

"Meanwhile, we are still having a battle to worry about. Man the guns, Detritus, because Guardian forces here are still strong. Kreshna out."

Meanwhile, Captain McKenzie is still busy directing Darth Kreshna's ships. Ra's tactic seemed to work during the early phase; amassing the alliance ships near the Death Star so the battle station can give them protection from the onslaught of the Guardian ships. But the Captain just noticed that the tactic works like a double-edged sword; those ships actually stand on the way of the the Death Star's field of fire. Millions and millions of Heavy Turbolasers bristling its surface are now facing difficulty in aiming at the Guardian ships because they have the burden of avoiding to hit allied ships in friendly fire.

He nods to his comm. officer, "inform Lord Ra of the Goa'ulds that we have trouble."

[Ra]

"Ah, so we're hurting your gunners' aim, are we?" Ra fusses. "Fine. All ships, fucking advance!"

The allied fleet suddenly lept out from behind the Death Star's shield perimeter, with a cloud of starfighters leading the way. Streams of energy bolts and missles impacted on Guardian ships, tearing into their flank. Past the fleet streaked a green beam, obliterating a Guardian dreadnought in one blow. The new advance had begun.

[Dark Silver]

Guardian ships where taking the blows in stride, as thier numbers began to bitteninto by the new advance.

But even with the Death Star, the allied vessals where simply overwhelmed by the number of Guardian ships. removed from the Death Star's shield perimeter, they were nothing more than annoyances.

The Deathstar's superlaser had fired, one dreadnaught destroyed. Guardian frigates where being blown apart, but the battle wagons and cruisers moved to the fore. Biolasers flashed and ships began to explode.

A wave of Guardian pickit ships flew under the protective fire of a wing of Battleships.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"We have to retreat."

"I understand your concern," Darth Kreshna replies, "we're just wasting ships here. The problem is; will the A'millans give up their home planet?"

"Well at least we stopped the giant robot from destroying A'millan Prime; buying some more time for the A'millans to completely evacuate." Captain McKenzie says, then continues, "I don't know what others think, though."

Darth Kreshna exhales. The Army of Lights needs more centralized coordination, otherwise it will be wasted easily by the Guardians.

He pours another drink as an Imperator-Class Star Destroyer explodes under heavy barrage of a Guardian Battle Galleons. Darth Kreshna's fleet is the backbone of the Army of Lights, but they are scarce compared to other factions. On the other hand, the Goa'ulds and the Trollish has tons of ships, but their firepower is relatively weak to face the Guardians.

It's not an easy situation.

[Ra]

"Ah, they're putting up a fight," Ra said with some annoyance. I'm getting tired of this shit. Have Ha'tak Wing five accelerate to ramming speed. Have their naquada reactors overload, and all weapons set to autodetonate."

"M'lord?"

"DO AS I SAY! The Death Star can assrape their heavy ships, but they still have lots of other ships. We're going to decrease their numbers."

Several older Ha'taks began to collide with Guardian frigates and other heavy ships, blowing them apart as they ignited in ungodly large explosions. Ships from Baal's force began to do the same. The hits were devastating, destroying an entire formation that had been hammering the A'millians. Swarms of missiles, Death Gliders, and Al'kesh bombers joined in the suicide attacks, annihilating yet more Guardian ships. Meanwhile, another blast from the Death Star vaporized a dreadnought.

"This is madness, Ra," protested Galadriel. "Stand down."

"This battle is HOPELESS!" spat Ra. "I'm fucking sick of it. We're not fighting to win anymore. Our only HOPE is to take as many of these bastards to hell with us as we can!"

"And what then, when all your ships are exhausted? Used in this meaningless attack?"

"The empire is lost... enemies are all around us? What do you expect me to do?"

[Ra]

Meanwhile, all was relatively calm aboard the Death Star. The hulking battle station was in no danger from the huge Guardian fleet, and its vast array of turbolasers were working on them in support of the allied fleet. The superlaser was recharging, as Amiwen calmly watched things unfold. She then closed her eyes, meditating.

She sensed something within the Guardians. The virus that Ra had planted in the master nexus has weakened the Guardians; they were not as powerful as before, yet still extrememly dangerous. But any weakness caused by the virus was made up for by their wrath. They no longer wanted the Phoenix; they wanted revenge. How could the sorceress use that to her advantage?

And she meditated...

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

"Prepare my modified TIE V-38."

"Kresh...? WTF?"

"Ron, the Goa'ulds are launching their Death Gliders in a suicide attacks. I bet the Guardians will be launching their fighters as well, or at least trying to shoot 'em down with their point-defense weaponries. We need to cover them."

"Yes, that's my plan too," McKenzie replies, "but not with YOU being in charge. You ARE drunk, for crying out loud!"

"I'm not," Darth Kreshna winks, "I am the Phoenix, remember?"

"No. Fucking. Way. Milord."




Moments later, several TIE Avengers are launched from the the Phoenix's hangar, led by a black TIE V-38 6000; a very agile and formidable starfighter that never went to mass-production due to its cost. There's only one prototype in the galaxy, and it belongs to Darth Kreshna.

"Scarlett One to Wingmen, remember our primary goal; those Death Gliders should reach their target intact. Protect them from Shog-Oth fighters or point defense Biolasers or whatever the Guardians throw to their path."

"Roger, Scarlett One."

"This is Scarlett Three. Understood, Scarlett One."

Inside his cockpit, Darth Kreshna actually smiles.

It's been a long time since the last time he experienced the excitement of starfighter combat.



OOC: Note my homage to the 3dfx Voodoo5 6000.

[Ra]

Ra looks around.

"He's WHAT?"

"Leading a flight of starfighters, m'lord," a Kull answers.

"Well... Why not?"

Galadriel raises an eyebrow.

"I wanted my chance to have some revenge," Ra states. "You take command of the fleet."

"As you wish," answered the Elf.

Moments later, several Goa'uld Death Gliders leave the Vengeance behind, with none other than the Supreme System Lord leading the squadron... He spun the ship in a barrel roll, and flew up towards the Guardian formation.

"This is more like it."

[Dark Silver]

The Guardians where being hammered now by the new suicide attacks. But still, ther ships were not going out without a fight. For every Death Glider and ha'tak that impacted, three others fell to point defenses and Sho'gth fighter craft.

The Guardians's heavy ships began to fall back, letting thier lighter and more agile craft to handle the suiciders, when two of the Dreadnaught's exploded in brillant flashes of light.

From the dust of the debris, a swarm of missles flew on, tearing a System Seige vessal in half.

On the Sensors of every ship in the fleet, the new blips had appeared.

Hundreds of small fighter sized craft, surged forth, plasma engines igniting a trail behind them, hundreds, then thousands. Behind the fighters, thousands of vessals appeared, all of varying shapes, some flat and beautifully crafted, while others where massively long, with strange protrusions which seemed to be fighter bays.

The communication lines erupted with the sound of a gravily voice, deep and commanding, obviously use to having his orders obeyed. "Nemesis II to all ships, This is Reaper, Commander of the Combined Transformer Assault Fleet Omega. Prepare to retreat. Decepticon Seekers, Autobot Aerialbots, attack the Enemy vessals"

The oddly shaped ships, some looking like f-14's, f-22's and harriers, while others appeared to be flying pyramid shaped flew through space.

Lasers and missle flew from the figthers, tearing apart Guardian armor, even as point defense weapons caused small spherical explosions of the Transformers.

Still out of range, but drawing closer, the new fleet closed in on the Guardian Flank..


OOC: Yes, I'm introducing for the allience, a new faction which will help aid all of you. They came insearch of Unicron..... Ra, Kreshna, feel free to play them.

[Dartzap]

You can't be serious! if anyones going into a damn dogfight it's me!

Not today Flotsam, your brother is taking command of the fleet, I shall be taking myShard intercepter. I'm sure you can manage blowing up a few gaurdian ships...

Flotsam clearly furious, was about to say something more, Detritus interuppted his train of thought.



If it makes you feel any better, I am taking a squadren of slayers as well

... You are?

Indeed, I'd not be stupid enough to go gallop through the the enemy fleet without some back up, after all , Detritus out

From the side of the Trollish carrier When Did We Last Meet for Dinner, 13 ships launch, heading towards the ever expanding dogfight...

[Ra]

A Guardian Shog-Oth fighter splatters and tears appart under a barrage of yellow bolts, as Ra's Death Glider dives into the dogfight. A squadron of laden Al'keshes are in the distance, making their final run toward a Guardian pocket battleship.

Another Death Glider is suddenly jumped by a Shog-Oth fighter, which begins raining biolaser fire at the craft. The Jaffa pilot looks back and forth, trying to spot the assailant.

"He's in my behind!"

With that, the fighter explodes from several direct hits, sending the pilot tumbling through space.

"Fucking wingman. Let's just tap the breaks..."

The Death Glider suddenly surges back, dropping in behind the Shog. Ra squeezes the trigger, blasting the organic fighter into goo. Ra smirks sadistically, and gets back toward the Al'kesh formation. Suddenly, something pounds the craft. Checking his scanners, Ra's mood goes sour.

"Shit. A Guardian scout?"

[Dark Silver]

Sho'ogth fighters swarmed enmasse, from the Guardians ships, just before those same ships exploded in balls of expanding gas and metal.

The Allience's fighter craft were quick at times, others heavily shielded, and others, just plain old tough, but the Shogoth's where faster and more heavily armed.

Still, many died in the opening minutes of fighter combat.

One of the new alien fighters entered into a dogfight with a pack of guardian ships, thier biolasers streamed about it, as it's own weapons unleashed missles and purple energy beams at the fighters.

The Guardian ships finally found thier mark, it seemed, and the ship disappeared, only to reappear behind the shoggoth, ripping into them.

The entire pack were obliterated before thier scanners picked up the change in location.

As Ra made his way through the fighting, his Deathglider spitting naquadah enhanced death upon it's foes, three of the shoggoth converged, and began thier attack run, while another five came up behind Darth Kreshna's TIE, thier opening volley ripping open the TIE Fighters near him,.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

As Ra made his way through the fighting, his Deathglider spitting naquadah enhanced death upon it's foes, three of the shoggoth converged, and began thier attack run, while another five came up behind Darth Kreshna's TIE, thier opening volley ripping open the TIE Fighters near him,.

Alpha One, Beta Two was out!

Shit! Copy that, Alpha Two. Alpha One to Beta One, concentrate on the Shog-Oths! Leave the Deathgliders to us!

The TIE Fighters break formation and starts engaging the Shog-Oth fighters while Avenger Squadron, designated Alpha Group, keep protecting the Goa'uld Death Gliders. A pair of Shog-Oths, however, decides to pursue Alpha One --Darth Kreshna, that is. Their biolasers score some hits on his TIE V-38 Phantom Ultra. Kreshna quickly engages a Barrel Roll maneuver; driving his TIE into a cockscrew path so the enemy will overshoot. Brief moments later, he is behind the enemy. He quickly launches two AIM-540 Advanced Concussion Missiles; each to one fighter. Almost in succession, the Shog-Oths explode.

Kreshna then notices two other Shog-Oths sneaking up behind Ra's Death Glider. He quickly banks to the left and fires his laser cannons. The Shog-Oth disengages its target as it makes a jink maneuver to , but the other still follows Ra's tightly. Its Biolaser cannon are blazing, almost scoring hits on the Death Glider.

Darth Kreshna has to make split second decision then, should he pursue the escaping Shog-Oths, or turns his attention to the one firing on Ra? He wonders how good the Goa'uld System Lord as a fighter pilot....


OOC: Alright, Jon. Can you handle the pursuing Shog-Oth, or should I give you a hand? And Allen, how good is the Shog-Oth 'pilot' pursuing Ra? And how good is the Shog-Oth 'pilot' who's escaping? If Darth Kreshna concentrates on the pursuing Shog-Oth, will the escaping Shog-Oth pose more trouble for Ra and Kreshna? Don't forget there are still a lot of Shog-Oths out there, and Alliance fighters as well.

Also, how about the Rebels? Would they lend some help to the Army of Lights, or would they hate Darth Kreshna so much that they won't give a damn? If they decide to be involved, how about some X-Wings dropped out of hyperspace and join the battle?

I wonder how the fighters of other's government would perform, like A'millan fighters, Trollish fighters, or even the Transformers.

PS: the Imperial fighter destroyed by Allen is a TIE Fighter; so it is not supposed to be Darth Kreshna's flight group because Avenger Squadron are TIE Avengers (TIE Advanced). So I made them Beta flight group.

[Ra]

Ra noticeed the Shog on his tail, and manuvered sharply, swinging his Glider on a direct path toward a Guardian frigate. The seemingly insane maneuver resulted in his ship being buffeted by a spray of biolaser fire. Most of the shots missed at such short range, but several crashed against his shields. Ra then swooped straight up, looping back over the cruiser. The Shog-oth fighter kept on his tail, but couldn't react as Ra suddenly pulled his nose up and hit reverse, causing the strange vehicle to swoop right past him.

"Go take care of the other one!" Ra shouted. "I can handle this one."

"Copy that," came the response.

Ra then dropped the nose and accelerated back to full speed, spraying the craft with golden energy bolts. The organic fighter was hit twice, and sprayed a black mist behind as it jinked and rolled. The wounded beast-fighter then pulled a hard turn, trying to get back behind Ra. However, its fate was sealed. Another spray of bolts from the Death Glider, and the craft exploded in a shower of flame and shredding flesh.

"More contacts, bearing one-seven-three mark zero-eight," one of the TIE pilots called.

Pulling his Glider into a turn, Ra saw that an entire wing of Shog-oth fighters were inbound, decending down on an Al'kesh suicide squadron like a dark plague of locusts.

"Have one of the cruisers give us some support!" Ra yelled.

"I will see what is available," answered Galadriel.

Long-range fire came from a nearby Venator, its turbolasers showering the wing of Guardian fighters in a lethal emerald rain. More than a few of the abominable vehicles exploded, but the sheer volume of them was too much. Ra raced up to meet them, along with several other Gliders. But they were heavily outnumbered.

All of a sudden, a new transmission crackled in over the radio.

"Scythe Lead to all ships," came a calm, almost apathetic female voice. "We are weapons free on all contacts. Let's turn and burn."

A group of sleek gray fighters swooped in, lighting the heavens with crimson blaster bolts as they attacked the Guardians. The squadron of X-wings flew head-on toward the Shog-oths, immediately causing the dark ships to break and engage their new threat.

"Plenty of bandits for all of us, boys and girls. Keep away from the Ven's firing solution, and kick some ass."

One of the powerful X-wings swooped in, settling onto Ra's right wing. The ship opened up with its blasters, destroying one of the Shogs with ease. The Rebel ship stayed on Ra's wing, and the two fighters swooped down on a flight on Shog-oths, ripping into them. The Death Glider obliterated two of them almost immediately.

"Bandits are getting cold," the wingman said jokingly.

"Then we should heat them up!" Ra said with a flash of his eyes.

[Dark Silver]

Guardian ships and fighters where being pummeled by the Allience craft, and the strange aliens which joined the fray, still the Guardian ships continued to pour thier full might into the battle.

Ammilian Prime may have been saved, but the annoying pests would be crushed.

It wasn't until the new fleet got within weapons range, that the Guardians took full stock of them.

As one of the System Seige ships, for the most part untouched by the Alliences lesser weapons through the battle, began to close in to lay heavy fire into the Deathstar, a barrage of lasers and missles from hundreds of ships poured into it's flank. Within seconds of the opening, the ship was reduced to spacedusts, and a new horde of the strange attack craft poured through the debris.

The Guardian's numbers were being withered down considerably now, as they were being outflanked and outgunned.

It was with that, that the first of the Capital Ships of the Guardian's ruined Armada, began to waver into thier Hyperspace.

[Ra]

Another Shog-oth fighter exploded as the newly arrived X-wings continued to pounce at the Guardians.

"Woo, splash another bandit!" Ra's wingman shouted.

"Enemy forces are in full retreat," Galadriel announced. "All forces rally to the Death Star."

"Copy that," Ra sighed.

"Roger, good copy," Schythe lead answered. She then pulled her ship into a sharp spin, and fired off in the opposite direction.

In a cascading wave of lights, the Guardian fleet phased away, leaving the beseiged world of A'millian Prime behind. Across the worn, decimated Allied fleet, there was celebration, cheers, and embraces. The desperate battle was finally over.

* * *
"The Guardians have been defeated," Galadriel told the gathered leaders, "but at immense cost."

"Ships can be rebuilt," Ra answered dismissively. "A'millian Prime has been saved, after a long and victorious battle. The fact that we won it at all will send a message to the Guardians."

"Indeed it will," Amiwen added. "It will send the message that we are a serious threat to them. If that is the message you intended, Ra, then yes, it is a victory."

Ra raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying?"

"I am saying that they once only considered the Empire a true threat. That everything else would be consumed when the Dreaded Day comes."

"This was our last desperate stand," Baal quipped. "They know we won't be able to press our advantage, whatever that may be."

Galadriel looked down, and pondered a moment. "Amiwen is right. But we must use this chance to rebuild, and regroup. The Guardians will not wait. Rebuilding our forces should be top priority. And at the same time, also finding out more about the Guardians and their mysterie. How to find a true weakness to exploit. There are many mysteries that remain, and many that must be solved, if this terror is to come to an end."

"We must ask you all to endure this storm longer," Amiwen added. "Though we are not forcing any of you to remain."

"Count me in, Lady," Scythe Lead, Major Grace, chimed. She then took a puff from her cigar, and added, "As long as I can pop some damn Shogs, I'm with ya."

Galadriel smiled. "Very well, friend."

"You've saved our worlds from being consumed by the Guardian menace," the Lady of A'millian added. "I am with you."

"And count us in," Sandra Kuat added. "I'm in this for the long haul. Especially considering how my company isn't all that happy with me. Anyway, remember what we talked about earlier, Glads? I think we have some work that needs to be done."

Galadriel nodded, but then gave Kuat the strangest look she could muster.

[Destructionator XV]

"So, I do wonder, what do we do next? We can't launch a counter attack; they have no bases! Is all we can do is wait for them to come again?"

"What of the nexuses? Can we seek and destroy?"

He looks intently at Darth Kreshna, only he seems to know the secrets of the Guardian's nexuses.

[Ra]

"The master Nexus was infected by our psychic virus," Ra added rather nonchalantly. "It's effect was only temporary."

"On the contrary," Amiwen interjected, "The Guardians are being adversely affected by your weapon. However, as you saw over A'millian Prime, your efforts only emboldened the Guardians' resolve. They fought us with a fervor and rage that has not been seen before, even during their attack on Coruscant. How this virus will continue to harm the Guardians, neither myself or Galadriel can tell."

"But I agree with Lord Adam," Ra answered. "We should continue on the offensive. Darth Kreshna attacked several Nexuses early on in this conflict."

"And no one knows what the effect of that was," said Amiwen. "These events are rapidly in motion. Even I cannot see the potential outcome of what has already been set into play."

Kuat raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying we should avoid the Nexuses?"

"Actually, I am not. What I am saying, is that we do not know the effect of destroying a Nexus. Further investigation is required."

"I Agree," Galadriel said. "Discovering more about the Guardians' weakness is our best hope now."

"Then we should find a planet with a known Guardian presence. A... ruin of some kind, like the ones we have explored in the past," Ra added.

"Indeed," the Eldar Queen said. "What locations do we have knowledge of?"

"I will check our starmaps," answered the Lady of A'millian.