Empyrdom × Federations Q/Q1: Ouroboros of Strife

## Storyline

On the surface was a multitude of colonies established by the Empyrdom of Anticytheris and the Jkirk Federations. However, little did one know that the two allies are having a conflict.

*Indeed, there is a galactic war.*

It is ambiguous as to why this happened. However, they strangely seem to have almost equal strength. The Empyrdom's might in individual units and their magitech is pitted against the Federations' rapid spread of influence and comparable technology. The planet of Vakom was the core of the conflict at hand. What is happening between the two factions that sparked a war of a massive scale?

The scene pans near to the beginning of an indirect attack skirmish on the border of the Imperial colony Mocavé and the Jkirkian colony Gerado—the Ouroboros of Strife. Will this site live up to its name?

### Act 1: Borderline Battle

**17:30, March 30th, 3248 ATS: Ouroboros of Strife, Mocavé-Gerado, Planet Vakom**

There was an array of celestial arcs meting judgment upon the enemy with their arrows. Of course, they were accompanied by a diversity of Imperial units, from aether secutors to Cimmerian gryphons.

Militant shielders made up the first line, attempting to shield Jkirkian infantry, mainly the RI-CU7 and RI-MF4 terminators behind them, as Alverx mobile anti-missile/mobile shields were seen as well, accompanied by Seravix assault mechs. TU3D medium artillery was behind the lines, firing plasma at any Empyrdom units in an attempt to suppress them.

Mostly due to the enemy flank lacking air support, Cimmerian gryphons would easily bombard them with dark matter attacks. The ballistae would obliterate any enemy artillery upon contact. Because of the enemy's prevalent usage of energy shielding, snowstorm machinae made sure to weaken them with supercooled plasma blasts. Few cataclysmic wings reared by phantasmal wings and prismatic arcs loomed over the enemy battlefront.

Ruptures began to appear overhead, as some artillery units were destroyed, and the shielders began to struggle against the DM attacks. The mobile shields held on, but were facing heavy damage. The assault mechs began to retaliate, as well as the infantry.

Since the battalion lacked units that would soak the damage from AOE, the bolts would take the full brunt of the plasma shells. The assault mechs were intercepted by swift aether secutors.

Salem Misthophorius, now an Imperial feudal lord, oversaw the battlefield, watching as the Empyrdom and Federation units clashing in combat. "They are attempting to make another push. We need to push them back!"

The Seravix's shields helped absorbed the damage, as they continued to fire at their targets, as well as the infantry, and some of the surviving artillery, who now just launched a volley of missiles. Regiment G26 frigates began to exit the ruptures, as they began firing plasma blast from their plasma cannons at the Empyrdom's ground units.

Likewise, Imperial ground units pushed through with all their might, focusing on mitigation of rear damage when returning the favor stronger than the enemy could usually pay.

A modified standard Archetype was seen landing behind Salem. It was slightly larger than the default standard since it has five crew bays. He looked behind himself, as the Archetype just landed. "*And we just brought out the big guns,*" He thought to himself.

Peregrine chassis were seen behind the Imperial aerial reinforcements as they dropped array machinae to intercept any enemy aircraft.

"Sir Salem, please hurry!" Seventeen spoke through the comm inside the Archetype. "We have brought your Archetype, as per your request." It was named Meteorion in the memory of Salem's past mentor.

"Ah, many thanks Seventeen! I'm on my way!" he said, making his way to the Meteorion. As he drew near under the main hull, he was transported inside his bay through data transport.

The Regiment G26 frigates fired plasma rays from their defensive plasma cannons and proton torpedoes at any Empyrdom star vehicle or starship within range while they bombard ground troops. The frigates launched CSR3 fighters and CSR9 bombers in an attempt to take air superiority. However, these fighters and bombers were being intercepted by azure eidolons flying around them. Phantasmal marauders were still at full power, taking advantage of the material units before them. As such, they began to release antimatter blasts at the Jkirkian aircraft and aerostats. Prismatic arcs would attempt to ease enemy aerostat casualties with focused photon beams.

Four astral panels appeared before Salem in his bay.

"Boss, you're back!" Hydrargus greeted.

"S'been a while, Boss," Borias said.

"Sir, it is nigh time that we show the might of the Round Order!" Ryssus (Seventy) said.

"Likewise, everyone. Let us show the Federations that the Round Order is not one to be taken lightly!" Salem said.

The shields of the fighters and bombers held, as the fighters began to fight the opposing aircraft while the bombers began to make their way towards the ground troops. The frigates' shields also held, as their defensive plasma cannons kept firing at the aircraft and the main plasma cannons firing at the ground forces. Jkirkian infantry and ground vehicles attempted to make another push, firing their weapons at Imperial ground troops.

As usual, the Imperial battalion retaliated. Its array machinae proved lethal to Jkirkian aircraft.

The Meteorion sported a Hexadon missile array on its back, four Hephestian plasma cannons around it, Hexadon tachyomagnetic autoturrets on its shoulders, and a multi-pronged spear-like weapon. That melee armament looked strange, indeed, yet it has a special function as to why it is developed like that.

The Jkirkian aircraft would not easily hold as the melee attack of the eidolons surpasses even the antimatter blasts of the marauders. The Meteorion started to take off as its ranged armaments are retracted from multiple sites of its anatomy.

The shields of the aircraft were almost at their breaking point, but the fighters kept on their defense, as the bombers tried to get to their target.
Couple ruptures appeared, this time behind the Empyrdom's line.

"Milord, aerial ambush!" A bolt pilot warned.

The array machinae turned to the two ruptures as their missile arrays were ready to fire at emerging aircraft.

Two Reaper X3Y airships appeared from the ruptures. It seems the Federations is enacting the box-in tactic, as the Reapers began to fire plasma blasts from its plasma cannons at the Imperial ground forces, who now have to face a battle on two fronts.

The Meteorion's spear retracted its blades with metallic wires as these blades surround the frontal Jkirkian aircraft.

The array machinae prepared to retaliate with their Hexadon missile arrays and Hexadon tachyomagnetic vulcans.

The current Imperial forces were holding quite good but the Reapers were a threat to their army size as of now. Plus, they are fighting against two fronts. They have to hold out until the Judgment Armada III arrives to dominate the Ouroboros aerospace.

"Sir Salem, we have received news from the Receptacle," Seventeen relayed.

"What news is it?" Salem asked.

"The Judgment Armada III will reinforce us within 15 minutes."

The Reapers' defensive plasma cannons began to fire at any missiles and aircraft attempting to take it down, as the main plasma cannons continued to fire at the Empyrdom's ground Forces, as well at the frontal frigates, which the Empyrdom's casualties might begin to increase at this point. Hatches began to open below the Reapers, as CSR3 fighters, Verstrafe dropships, T7-N4 VTOLs, and CFT59 interceptors began flying out of their hangars.

"That is great news. Now we only need to hold out for that much time," Salem said.

"For now, we have to eliminate enemy aircraft. The starships are a problem."

"Agreed. Take out their Aircraft, and their dominance in the skies will diminish further, and will leave the Armada much more room when they arrive."

Azure eidolons swarmed the rear flank as the front flank was probably reduced to a small number of aircraft. Phantasmal marauders took advantage of the aerostats' size, allowing automatic antimatter blasts to have increased accuracy. Prismatic arcs enacted surgical strikes upon the Reapers.

However, since the Imperial aircraft were also fairly reduced, they would be fighting at 78% efficiency.

3 minutes and 30 seconds has passed. The Imperial battalion added few reinforcements to balance their morale and the enemy's. The reinforcements were composed of few scelirian mounts, aerial warmice, and three dominator machinae.

The Reapers tanked the shots from the Empyrdom with their shields, as two Jkirk-7RV Warmech Mk Is were deployed from the two Reapers, the ground shaking when they landed. The combined might of the Warmechs and Reapers seemed like it was going to be a very tough fight for the Empyrdom, as both the aerostats and Warmechs began to push a lot of pressure on the front they were on. It didn't help that dropships carrying infantry and land vehicles were deploying their units on that front as well.

"Sir Salem, we have unexpected company!" Seventy notified.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Two more Archetypes inbound, Boss," Borias said.

"I see. Who sent the Archetypes?" Salem asked.

"The Receptacle, Boss."

"Oh. Well that'll put some pressure off of us."

Unexpectedly, two strange Archetypes warpdrove in the battle as 30 seconds passed afterwards. They didn't seem to be any of the four Primordial Archetypes.

Hydrargus checked the astral sensor for visual. "Boss, these are Transcendent Archetypes!"

"..What." Salem said.

Two additional panels appeared before Salem. The two pilots there were Reius Draganea and Alice Argentum.

"We're here, chumps!" Reius exclaimed.

"Ah, greetings you two," Salem greeted.

"We came to support the force while the Armada is prepping for a warpdrive sequence," Alice said.

"Good to have you with us. We could use the support with those mechs deployed," he said.

Reius was piloting a rather large Archetype named the Denamion, dubbed the "Hand of Retribution". On the other hand, Alice was in a more slender Archetype called the Sophion, the "Mirror of Burden".

Those Warmechs and Reapers with ground support were still firing at Imperial forces while this conversation was happening. Possibly high casualties were inflicted.

The current ground forces barely held out on their own but the Warmechs were a nuisance. The Imperial aircraft was able to harass their aerostats with interception and antimatter blasts, followed by powerful surgical strikes.

Now with Denamion, Sophion, and Meteorion, it would seem that the tide is slowly flowing back to the favor of the Empyrdom.

The Reapers and frigates defended themselves with their defensive plasma cannons, as well as their deployed fighters and interceptors.

The eidolons were relatively too fast because of their tachyonic drives. Meanwhile, the other aircraft were busy harassing the aerostats. They forgot that there were still Imperial ground forces retaliating with AAA fire from array machinae and aerial warmice.

"No chickening out! Let the beatdown begin!" proclaimed Reius as the Denamion's armaments retracted.

Six more minutes have elapsed. Five minutes remain.

The Reapers' shields took quite a beating, but they still hold strong. The Warmechs began to target the AAA, to halt any more damage to the aerostats. On the front of where the frigates were, something in the distance can be seen approaching.

"Boss. We have enemy reinforcements inbound. Could be a battle group," alerted Borias.

"Do we have visual on it?" Salem asked.

"Faint, Boss. But it seems we could sense their energy signatures somehow."

The object began to move closer to the front.. it seemed very massive.

"It's a large force but we need to decimate the enemy force before us," advised Alice. "Before their fresh ordnance destroy us."

"Agreed." Salem said. "We need to target their Warmechs first. If we get them by their legs, they will be of no more concern.."

The Denamion started its first attack. It unleashed a barrage of Hexadon missiles, followed by plasma blasts towards the lower extremities of a Warmech MK I.

The effected Warmech's shields managed to block the barrage, but said shields had collapsed, having to rely on its armor now. The Warmech began to turn its attention to the Denamion, firing it's massive antimatter/dark matter arm cannons at it.

The massive object got closer. At this point, it didn't look like a large battle group anymore.. because then why travel conventionally when they could use ruptures? No.. something massive was approaching.

The Sophion has 11 nexus bounders surrounding it. These bounders are nexus cluster units that deflect incoming non-explosive and non-solid projectiles and can attack by themselves. They assembled at the front of the Denamion as they took the brunt of the dark matter and antimatter blasts.

The Warmech began to focus all of its weaponry on the Denamion, firing it's mass quantity of missile launchers and plasma cannons at it.

Since DM and AM are matter, therefore they are subject to gravity, the blasts were deflected towards the two Warmechs. The Denamion descended as a means to evade. It then retracted a pole from its right arm as a massive plasmatic axhead was formed from its tip.

The massive object was now in full visible view by anyone in the battlefront. It looked like one massive mech that its size even put the Warmech to shame. It looked like 10 Verstrafe dropships were transporting the mech with their gravitational lifts.

Upon formation, the Denamion got close to one of the Warmechs and swung its ax across the shield-deprived mech.

The Warmech was hit in its left arm, as it fired another DM blast with it's right cannon, as its left was disabled. Both Warmechs were hit, but the one with the shields had managed to block it, while the one without the shields tanked it with its armor which damaged it further.

The Denamion took the brunt of the DM blast. However, it seemed to be protected by a strong Class B ethereal shielding which soaked 10% power from the blast. This reduced its shielding to 60%. Regardless, the Denamion was at point-blank range with the Warmech it hit with his ax, allowing for easy attacks from its missile arrays and its four plasma cannons.

As soon as it attacked, it took off the plasmatic ax from the left joint of the Warmech.

The Warmech was damaged heavily from the missiles and plasma, but it was barely functional. Since the Denamion was also at point blank range, it too would be somewhat harassed by the still functional plasma Cannons and missile launchers.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently. Was it an earthquake?

The bounders gathered around the Sophion. A prism retracted from its chest, revealing its Penultima cannon. The bounders' gravitonic field and position allowed for greater velocity for the incoming beam. The Meteorion was still there, harassing the other Warmech.

The other Warmech shot every bit of it's weaponry at the Meteorion, determined to bring it down.

As soon as the massive object landed, foreign energy signatures would be detected from behind it.

"Boss, the Armada will now arrive," Borias told Salem. "Let us regroup with Lord Reius and Lady Alice."

"All right. Prepare to regroup."

The Meteorion flew beside the Denamion. The three Archetypes were now together. The Denamion's energy shielding was slightly more than half of its reserves.

"Milord, massive object inbound!" a warmice crew member notified Salem by astral comm.

"Do we have visual?" Salem asked.

The Meteorion's astral sensor was able to have a full view of the Super Colossus at the front of the frigates.

The presence of the Colossus might have drastically increased morale for the Federations. However... The flank of Reapers and Warmechs was met by a multitude of high-density particle beams, Hexadon missiles and SCP blasts from behind. It didn't help when another concentrated volley of SHP plasma blasts followed.

The Warmechs and Reapers were faced with sudden fire. The Warmechs were instantly destroyed, but the Reapers only had their shields collapsed.

The Super Colossus, on the other hand, looked like it was going to be a very big problem..

Worse, the Reapers were faced with the same vulcans and missiles.

The Reapers, attempting to avoid any further damage, activated their rupture drives, to escape the battlefield.

The Judgment Armada III has finally arrived to dominate the Ouroboros aerospace. It didn't look like a battalion as it was many years ago. It looked like a theater in itself!

The Reapers entered their ruptures, as they tried to escape. The frigates on the other hand, remained strong on their front, with the Super Colossus backing them up.

Strangely, the Armada was backed up by the 8 other Transcendent Archetypes.

The two lone frigates began firing their proton torpedoes at the Armada, along with their main plasma cannons, as the Super Colossus aimed its eye laser at the Judgment Armada III, while its chest extended.

The morale of the Empyrdom increased drastically as the Judgment Armada came into play. The hecatoncherein carapaces dropped another set of ground units from its transport modules. Mostly composed of firestorm machinae, graviton bikes, few dominator machinas, aerial and ground warmice, scelirian mounts, etc. The Armada's star vehicles, composed of the usual Imperial star vehicles, accompanied by astute corvidd, Cimmerian gryphons in addition to the previous forces, and C-frame nexus crafts. The ground units were met by the volley of attacks from the other side.

The Super Colossus then fired a ray of superheated plasma at one of the Armada aerostats, as its chest activated its gravitational pull, attempting to pull in anything smaller than it into its chest. However, here came the worst part in using gravity weapons against any Imperial unit, except foot soldiers. Their Rey-Graviton modules cancel unwanted shifts in gravity that may influence them!

Since the three previously-deployed Archetypes were at the front of the Armada (the two flanks boxed in the Reapers and Warmechs), the Sophion would firstly detect the laser beam trying to head straight past them. Its nexus bounders detached again and took the brunt of the beam (as the Sophion was still charging its Penultima cannon).

The laser beam seemed to have a lot of power into it, which didn't help them because the sheer size of the mech was troubling enough. There is a chance that the nexus bounders might get destroyed, and the laser, since it's firing continuously, would continue to its target, as well as the bounders would have to fly roughly a couple hundred feet to reach the laser anyway. Multiple Imperial infantry might have also been sucked into the mech's chest, in which they did. As a result, multiple aether secutors would harass its shields.

Unfortunately to the Super Colossus, the results were unexpected. The bounders took the brunt of the beams, in a way that they trapped the laser beam's energy before they made contact. The Sophion was nearer to the beam than the Armada so the nexus bounders would not need to travel in a fair distance as the laser is traveling toward it. Also, the continuous laser helps even more, as more accumulated energy would be deflected, resulting to greater damage to anyone getting hit.

The Super Colossus began to refocus its eye beam from the Armada to the Sophion, as its chest's gravitational pull stopped suddenly, and with a few more seconds, it fired a wave-motion plasma blast from its plasma cannon at the Armada, covering a very wide area of effect. Due to this, the bounders would be traveling perpendicular to the panning of the eye beam towards the Sophion. It would be very destructive when the Sophion fires its Penultima cannon into the gap of the bounders. One of the Transcendent Archetypes, the Themelion (which is in fact the largest among them) retracted a folding panel board that looks like the shielding device of a Gishilian scale, but larger, from its chest. The wave-motion blast clashed with the board upon contact. The device soaked the plasma beam's power by 25%.

It has a similar function as the Sophion's nexus bounders, only that it does not entirely deflect the beam but it only reduces impact time to minimize kinetic energy which is one of the factors of applied force. Also, the panels have Class A ethereal shielding though the Themelion has Class C ethereal shielding overall.

Immediately after the plasma cannon fired the wave-motion blast, the Sophion took aim at the Super Colossus, slightly adjusting its nexus bounders even while they are gathering the eye laser's energy into a single mass. The Sophion then released an electromagnetic beam from its Penultima cannon through the nexus bounders. The EM beam struck the mass (which was still connected to the Super Colossus through the continuous laser beam that acts as a conductor), causing it to spread across the beam and connect with the Colossus' eye laser cannon which will in turn send the disturbances all over its metal body.

The result was that the Colossus was entirely disabled. As such, it just stood there, powered down. Upon seeing this, the frigates had no choice but to retreat, as they opened up ruptures to escape the battle.

The remnants of the battle's Imperial infantry marveled at an unexpected victory. Although this was but a single battle, this is a big step to the Empyrdom's goal.

"T-Their monstrosity... It stopped moving!" one of the aether secutors exclaimed.

Alice sighed in relief. The nexus bounders gathered around the Sophion. "Their weaknesses do not change..."

"Boss, the Federations has made their retreat," Hydrargus said. "The Receptacle sent news to regroup to Mocavé."

An energy reading may or may not be detected from orbit.

Few Q-frame Emphaneiae were in orbit so they took the reading quite easily. The signal was then sent to the Meteorion as Salem was under command of the force.

"Sir Salem, we have detected an energy spike in orbit," Seventeen said.

"An energy spike? I see.." He replied.

"What is it, Boss?" Borias said. "Strange. You seem too nonchalant about it..."

Suddenly, a high-density wave-motion plasma beam was fired at the Armada from orbit. It was the Xervedia Orbital Plasma Cannon's Overcharged Blast.

"Orbital strike incoming!" Seventeen saw the blast through the visuals. It was lunging toward them.

"What?!" Hydrargus exclaimed.

The Themelion was still recharging its shield reserves! It won't survive the overcharged blast at that state.

Alice, receiving the signal on time from the Emphaneiae in orbit, began to type on a keyboard-like device inside the Sophion's cockpit. The eleven nexus bounders, traveling at high enough speeds, positioned themselves before the impending blast reached them. Strangely, the wave-motion blast halted before the bounders, the focus aggregating into an enormous mass of superheated plasma. Due to the velocity of the blast, the bounders would get pushed back slowly to keep the gravity field in its optimal position. "Eep! This blast is at full power!" Alice alerted, holding on.

"Sir Salem, should we retaliate? We have no time to waste!" advised Seventy.

"Yes, I believe we should retaliate. Immediately!" Salem said.

The blast was slowly making its way to its target. If even a single thing touches the beam, the explosion will trigger.

"We cannot let the sacrifice of Lady Alice be in vain! Let's settle this, Boss!" Hydrargus advised.
The Judgment Armada III star vehicles proceeded to the skies in an attempt to stop whoever fired that plasma blast. The carapaces and chassis loaded the ground units back into their modules as the other Transcendent Archetypes, plus the Meteorion, reared the aircraft. The Armada's dirigibles comprised the middle flank of their battlefront. The Armada was at full efficiency, still. The strength of their aerospace was yet peerless.

The Sophion was left there below the atmosphere, still holding out with its nexus bounders.

The dirigibles spearheaded the attack. All 42 of them loaded their tachyomagnetic accelerator cannons and prepped their nexus cluster units.

It seemed the cannon was being fired by only a lone satellite. The Federations already lost 2 Warmechs and a Termnatus, so they really didn't want to lose a J.O.S.S as well.

Two Q-frame Emphaneiae in orbit rushed to outflank the satellite cannon. However, the core of the satellite started to overload.

"Issuing orders to all Armada units," a male voice resounded in each astral comm within the assignation of the Judgment Armada III.

"The Emperor!" Seventeen heard.

"Regroup to Mocavé. I shall be there personally, for a joint meeting with the Round Order. Today's battle is over."

The Q-frame Emphaneiae maintained a good distance from the satellite cannon, detecting a drastically enlarging energy spike. They took aim with their particle cannons.

The satellite suddenly panned its cannon towards the Q-frame Emphaneiae, which moved the XOPC's beam albeit in a slow pace.

"Understood," Salem responded.

The cannon still continued to pan towards the Emphaneiae, as the satellite's core continued to overload. After calibrating their aim, the two Q-frame Emphaneiae released concussive streams of particle energy at the satellite cannon which a lot of damage. It looked like it was about to blow up! The two kept on blasting the living heck out of the cannon, keeping up as to not let it release a destructive explosion upon self-destruct. As a result, the satellite was destroyed. However, extensive damage to its core allowed it to unleash a large explosion. Not as large as it was originally intended to, but it was still large. The heat released from the explosion somehow reduced the shields of the surrounding Emphaneiae by a small margin. Fragments collided with the shields, reducing them fairly.

On the ground, the Super Colossus was back online. As such, it began to march forward towards the Empyrdom's territory—West Mocavé! One of the Emphaneiae in orbit detected the energy spikes within the Super Colossus manifesting again. As such, it transmitted a signal to all Archetypes on the surface.

"Boss, we have company!" Hydrargus notified.

"They are still coming at us? They are highly stubborn, I give them that," Salem said.

"Relaying visual, Boss," Borias said, typing on a keyboard-like device.

A view from the Meteorion's rear astral sensor showed the Super Colossus charging towards them, albeit slow.

Salem looked at the Colossus as it was charging at them. "... I thought we took that thing out."

"Perhaps a stronger blast would suffice, Sir," Seventy replied.

On the back side of the Super Colossus, something opened up, as some aircraft began to emerge from it's back. It seemed it has a mobile aircraft factory.

"Milord, their monstrosity is trying to pursue us," said one of the carapace crew.

"Worry not. We shall put a complete halt on its tracks," proclaimed Megresiel Septans inside the Basilion, the last Transcendent Archetype. "Nexus cluster units, engage."

"Yes. Remember, aim for its legs!" Salem relayed.

Most of the aircraft emerging from the Colossus were some kind of drones (75 in total), as the Colossus kept advancing.

The 42 empyrean dirigibles deployed their dreaded nexus cluster units. As of now, there were 8,400 of them swarming around the Armada. All of them fired a manifold net of continuous particle beams at the Colossus and its drones. It was made worse as orbital bombardments from Q-frame Emphaneiae was meted upon them.

The Colossus aimed its eye laser cannon at the cluster units and fired as the drones suddenly sped towards the dirigibles, at speeds reaching Mach 5.

The Sophion went with the retreat but it was trailing behind the Super Colossus because of the mass aggregation. Currently, its nexus bounders are carrying the gathered plasma sphere.

12 ruptures suddenly appeared behind the Colossus. This is quite a nasty surprise!

Since the cluster units were indeed fast, it would not be likely for them to get hit by the eye laser. Regardless, few would get caught. The manifold net of particle beams would make it highly difficult for the drones to pass through it.

The Sophion let go of the sphere as it diffused into numerous blasts, most lunging towards the ruptures.

The plasma blasts hit the ruptures. Nothing seemed to happen, as 10 Regiment G26 frigates and 2 Reaper X3Y airships/dreadnoughts emerged. They did get their shields damaged, but they came out, ready to fight in one last attempt nonetheless.

"Sir Salem, should we eliminate the pursuing enemy?" Seventeen asked.

The 75 drones on the other hand, continued to boost towards the dirigibles.. and many more were being deployed by the Colossus.

"Yes." Salem answered.

The drones, assuming that they are larger than the cluster units, would easily get caught within the net. Plus, the net does not stop moving—it kept on harassing the Colossus and the drones.

They did, but upon crashing into anything they encountered, they would unleash large explosions, effectively destroying multiple cluster units at once. Contrary to regular assumption, the cluster units are not dumb enough to be stationary so most of those drones would crash through the beams instead.

The Reapers and frigates fully emerged, unleashing copious amounts of CSR3 fighters and CFT59 interceptors to combat the overwhelming number of Empyrdom's aircraft.

Sophion's nexus bounders gathered around it. "Oh? Quite the surprise fleet, hm?" Alice spoke. "But I'm afraid their size hampers their movement. Ruptures have no capability of chasing individual units as fast as a warpdrive sequence." The Sophion retracted its two missile arrays. A barrage of missiles was unleashed upon the rear of the Jkirkian starships and the Super Colossus.

Some of the kamikaze drones would try to ram into the cluster units, while some tried to go around. Some of the newly deployed drones would start targeting one of the Archetypes.

"Orders to all units," Aelianos spoke through astral comm from the Receptacle. "Reach West Mocavé. We shall distract the Jkirkians with defensive attacks and retaliate upon reaching our colony."

The Themelion, after the tedium, has replenished its panel shielding. It deployed its device which retracts into a panel board, tanking the drones with its Class A ethereal shielding. This would protect the Armada's rear flank while they proceed to West Mocavé. The other Transcendent Archetypes (except for the Sophion) proceeded to strike back systemically. This could be dangerous as 9 of them are prepared to retaliate.

Suddenly, the Themelion would soon find itself getting harassed by Kamikaze strikes, as more drones begin to target it. Behind the Themelion was the Agaphion which was sending energy to it in order to replenish lost shield reserves, hence it being the "Clerical Object". This reduced the efficacy of the drones.

The Super Colossus would find it increasingly difficult to attack consistently because of the nexus cluster units. It didn't help that the net of particle energy filtered most of the drones. The Basilion assisted the empyrean dirigibles with its nexus arcs, which were smaller versions of the prismatic arcs. They released diffused particle beams at the drones, which would make passing through the net much more difficult.

Due to the tedium, the armada would take 10 remaining minutes to reach West Mocavé. As of this moment, the Armada has maintained aerospace dominance.

The Super Colossus began to focus most of it's weapons at the clusters, using mounted plasma cannons, miniguns, missile launchers, and antimatter/dark matter cannons. The frigates and Reapers, on the other hand, began to target the Basilion and Themelion, as the fighters and interceptors began to fire at the cluster units.

The Jkirkian aerostats would have to engage the cluster units as they are separating the Jkirkian units from the whole Armada. It would seem that the Themelion was holding on just fine, thanks to the Agaphion. The Basilion was nevertheless protected by the barrier of roughly 8,000 nexus cluster units which were consistently draining the shields out of the Super Colossus and the aerostats. It was worse as they were boxed-in—the Sophion kept harassing them from behind with Hexadon missiles.

The defensive plasma cannons of the aerostats were already defending them, as they continued to use their main weapons at the Themelion and Basilion. The mass arsenal of the Super Colossus would start to become an issue, as more of its weapons were being used, with more drones being deployed from its factory. Hatches on the bottom of the Reapers began to open as well.

The larger issue at hand was the massive number of nexus cluster units with additional 400 nexus arcs from the Basilion that would plummet the efficiency of the boxed-in Jkirkian units, even though the Super Colossus was able to eliminate a fair margin of the swarmers. The amount of defensive plasma cannons would not suffice against the cluster units. Some might get caught in the particle beams. The Sophion was consistent in launching missiles which would deal significant damage on the Jkirkian units (since the missiles were not easily hit due to the nexus cluster units distracting their defensive plasma cannons). Some of these missiles entered the Reapers' hatches as a means of destroying them from inside.

It was nigh time for the other Transcendent Archetypes to attack. The Stemmanion virtually transferred its vessel into the astral realm [Archetypal Astral Somatic System] that would last for short-lived five minutes before recharging. It proceeded above the aerostats as a means of ambushing them. The other Imperial aircraft (phantasmal marauders and prismatic arcs) did their job to overwhelm the Jkirkian aerostats and the Super Colossus. The drones were filtered more efficiently by azure eidolons. It didn't help as C-frame nexus crafts released concentrated linear EM blasts at the boxed-in Jkirkian units. The Meteorion launched its multiple spearheads which lunge at the drones.

The Colossus and the aerostats attempted to use anything at this point to fight the Empyrdom off, but that this point, they were getting overwhelmed. The frigates began to activate their rupture drives, as the Reapers began to provide covering fire. The Super Colossus began to overload its core, as it extended its chest to use its gravitational pull one last time. The last of the kamikaze drones were sent, 25 each rushing at each Archetype. The current forces of the Federations in this area knew they could not win here, so they needed to regroup. One of the Reapers launched one of its drop pods for whatever reason. No energy was being detected from it as it was launched.

They are almost there to Central Mocavé. The Armada kept attacking, as usual.

The Reapers might be easily destroyed from the inside because of Hexadon missiles entering their hatches. Again, all the units from the Armada use Rey-Graviton modules as a medium of mobility. They are unaffected by the induced gravitational pull. The last resort of the Super Colossus proved to be utterly futile.

The shields still covered that area, as they closed their hatches, aborting Warmech deployment. The frigates began to enter their ruptures, as the Reapers activated theirs. The Super Colossus' core was still overloading, almost halfway to self-destruction.

"Massive energy spike impending!" Reius notified the others.

The Armada star vehicles and starships were accelerating, as if they are about to warp-drive. However, it does not seem to be the case as their acceleration was too slow for a warp drive...

The nexus cluster units were "determined" to defend the rear flank of the Armada from the impending self-destruction. Therefore they stayed in their positions.

The frigates successfully left the area, with the Reapers entering their ruptures. The drop pod from earlier landed on the ground, relaying a set of coordinates to any open channels.

The Q-frame Emphaneiae were still doing their job—providing orbital strikes against the boxed-in Jkirkian units. One of them fired a single particle beam at one of the Reapers. However, as it entered its rupture, the attack missed as it struck the drop pod instead.

The drop pod was destroyed. However the set of coordinates would have still reached any open channel.. what could those coordinates mean?

The Reapers had escaped the Battle, but had taken damage to its shields. The Super Colossus was almost ready to self-destruct.

They are now half a mile from West Mocavé.

The nexus cluster units and the nexus arcs formed a wall that would somehow tank the explosion, enough to reduce its radius considerably. All of these units are caught within said explosion—almost all of them are eliminated. The remnants of those units were substantially far away from the explosion. They seemed to be drained out of their shields but they didn't get destroyed.

The Armada has successfully regrouped in West Mocavé proper.

They would only block part of the explosion that went in their direction, as the explosion would still go outwards all the way in the other directions.

Only the Sophion was there in the opposite direction. The nexus bounders would deflect the fire emitted but not the force. As a result, it was knocked back few meters.

Any Jkirkian unit in the area has either been eliminated or has retreated. The Empyrdom had won the battle.

### Act 2: Plan of Subjugation

**22:00, March 30th, 3248 ATS: Vestei, West Mocavé, Planet Vakom**

Reius sighed in relief. "We have come at last."

"Where's Lady Alice?" Seventeen asked.

The Meteorion would have a visual of the Sophion heading toward them, which landed on an Archetypal pod. The other Archetypes unloaded their pilots on respective Archetypal pods.

"Glad I'm free!" Hydrargus exclaimed. "Being trapped in a mech sure sounds lonely."

"It's not too bad, to be completely honest." Salem said in response.

In the background was the tall Citadel of Vestei, the capitol of Mocavé's capital city Vestei.

Salem took a minute to look at the citadel, before resuming his attention back on the others.

The Sophion unloaded Alice on the same Archetypal pod where the Round Order members are.

She flipped her long blonde hair and sighed in relief. "That was close."

"Lady Alice!" Salem's comrades greeted.

"Greetings once again."

Salem noticed Alice's arrival on the pod. "Ah, greetings, Miss Alice," he said.

Alice turned to see Salem. "Sir Salem, you are well."

"Mm-hm," Salem responded.

Distant howling could be heard overhead. It was from some flying creature... It descended, revealing Reius flying with his dragon wings. The Denamion was just at the nearest Archetypal pod.

Salem noticed Reius descending.

"Ah, the battle psyched me. Though I have to pay my respects to those who died for the Empyrdom's cause."

"Indeed. Their efforts in this battle were not in vain. We drove the Federations away this time."

"Yes," Alice affirmed. "That being said, their tactics changed slightly but their weaknesses didn't."

Salem nodded his head in response.

"Anyways... We must remain vigilant as we wait, everyone. We never know when they could make a snare in store for us."

"Yes, milady!" Salem and his comrades spoke in unison.

From the horizon of the east was a sleek Archetype approaching. Seventeen and Seventy heard the faint sound of its flight.

"Relaying intel to today's commander," one of the carapace crew said while he or she was managing the navigation.

Salem did hear it from a portable single-piece astral comm attached on his left ear. "..." He heard the transmitted coordinates that occurred during the final moments of the battle. "..Well, this is interesting."

"Hm?" Alice noticed. "What is?"

"The Federations openly transmitted coordinates during the battle.."

"Hmm." Alice mouthed. Being a tactician herself, she thought of it multiple times. "If they did it deliberately..." Alice began to speak. "Then we need to be careful. It must be a trap."

"Could be. But to know for sure, we must spring it.. carefully." Salem said.

On the top floor of the Citadel of Vestei was an Archetypal pod. The sleek Archetype perched there.

"The Emperor and the Empress have arrived," Alice notified the others from her portable astral comm.

A voice resounded in the whole city. It was from the Archetype atop the Citadel. "All Imperial nobility and seniority. Gather around the Citadel."

Salem heard the sound from the Archetype. "Well then, I guess we better get a move on," he said.

Inside the Citadel's Round Order council chamber...

"As of now, we shall begin sharing intel regarding today's battle," Aelianos spoke. Caitlineia was just quiet beside him.

Salem nodded his head in response.

"Our astral channels have sent particular intel to the Receptacle," Aelianos continued. "Good thing we deployed the Judgment Armada III to support the Mocavé's battalion."

"The Jkirkians are quite impressive, milord," Alice replied. "They even deployed two Warmechs and a larger one to support their fleet."

"We might have been on the brink of defeat, were it not for the Armada," Salem said.

"Their weaknesses, however, haven't changed one bit," Alice added.

"Mm-hm. But they might begin to realize this and attempt to find a way to rid of the weaknesses.. for now, we must take advantage of it while we can."

"Electromagnetic pulses are highly effective against them. We take advantage in using weapons like these because our units do not use electricity as a source of energy," Aelianos said. "Also, their tactics backfired, as shown in the footages we received from the Meteorion's astral sensor."

Alice typed on a keyboard-like device at the front, displaying said footages.

"Mm-hm. We ended up using their own tactics on them, and they were forced to retreat."

These footages show the emergence of ruptures in the area and how the Armada and Sophion boxed them in.

"Milord, they have also deployed explosives from their trump card," Megresiel said. "Fortunately, they were not able to penetrate the nexus cluster wall, much less our Themelion-Agaphion synergism."

"Sir Salem," Vegaea beckoned him. "How fares your Archetype?"

"Our Archetype is faring very well at the moment," he answered.

"I see. That's good to hear."

"Speaking of 'good to hear'..." Alice said. "We have discovered intel, milord."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Sir Salem here shall brief you of the details."

Salem nodded in response, "The Federations had openly relayed a set of coordinates at the climax of the battle. We think it might be a trap."

"Obviously," Aelianos replied outright. "We need to devise a strategy to explore said location. If they spring the trap with our most valuable units in tow, we will lose morale and firepower. It is best to send a covert division there."

"Yes. But then there is the off chance that it might not be a trap, although that seems highly unlikely."

"Yes. Yet I believe vigilance is most essential," Aelianos replied.

"Mm-hm.."

"Sir, do we need to augment our defensive capability in this colony?" advised Seventeen.

"It is always a good idea to boost your defenses, no matter how strong they are," he said to Seventeen in response.

"Yes, Sir. We will then relay orders to downloaders working on the defense."

"Milord," Alice beckoned. "We also discovered something about the Jkirkian's orbital attacks."

"*The J.O.S.S.'s true power...?*" Aelianos thought.

"They seem to have fired a wave-motion plasma blast from a satellite instead of a J.O.S.S., as per discovery of our Emphaneiae."

"I see... Then we need to secure our orbital dominance."

Altairius, who was seated next to Vegaea, began to ponder. "Their attacks were relentless... Even the Themelion wouldn't keep up alone."

"30 minutes before the next day, milord," Alice said.

"I will have to send more forces from Antiquus to here. Anyways, speaking of energy, we need to secure our energy matrices in this colony. Without them, we ourselves would consume Aetermana at a faster rate. Well, is there anything left to discuss?"

Salem had nothing else to discuss, therefore he remained silent.

"Council adjourned, then. Rest well tonight for tomorrow is a grand day for the Empyrdom. For Antiquus!"

"For Antiquus!" the others chanted in unison after he spoke.

**23:30, March 30, 3248 ATS: Fort Halix, unknown Gerado city, East Gerado, Planet Vakom**

The aerostats that participated in the battle, along with ones that were on standby, had regrouped at Fort Halix, as the damaged Aerostats were undergoing repairs. One of the Regiment G26 frigates, however, began to head towards the same coordinates relayed in yesterday's battle. What was it doing?

"Sir, we are heading towards the desired coordinates you requested," the captain of the frigate said.

"Good. Once we are there, I want you to head back to the fort," an individual answered the captain.

"... Um, pardon me for asking, Sir, but why do you want to go to an abandoned joint base, by yourself?" the captain asked.

"... While it is none of your business, I admire your curiosity, Captain," The individual said, turning to him. "I had a Reaper deploy a drop pod relaying the same coordinates we are going to during Yesterdays battle. Surely the Empyrdom would have picked it up."

"Yeah. But why?"

"... I have some business to settle with... let's just say he is an old friend of my father... before he died," the individual briefed, slightly lowering his head. "... Regardless, I intend to head there by myself. It's better to have more defenders at a more important location... and hopefully, that 'friend' shows up like I intend to. Though there's a chance that he won't show up, and instead an Imperial force."

"... Wait, are you saying this friend is in the Empyrdom?"

"Sorry, Captain, I've answered all the questions for today," the individual stopped there, crossing his arms.

**5:30, March 31, 3248 ATS: Citadel of Vestei, Vestei, West Mocavé, Planet Vakom**

Early in the morning, as he was supposed to, Aelianos was there on the citadel's Archetypal pod. It seemed he was meditating.

Alice went up to the pod from the lower floor's elevator. As she emerged, Aelianos opened his eyes.

"What is it, Alice?"

"The Round Order is ready to make their move, milord. As such, the city defenses will be augmented and Q-frame Emphaneiae are at standby in Vakom's orbit."

"Very well. Have everyone assemble to the chamber."

Inside the chamber, the Imperial staff in Vestei has assembled. Everyone had already gathered at this time.

"Greetings to all under the banner of the Empyrdom," Aelianos began to speak. "As per order yesterday, we are to initiate the necessary protocols."

"Milord, will the Judgment Armada make its move as well?" Megresiel asked.

"Prepare warpdrive sequence for them. If the situation goes too dire, we will send them in. The Archetypes will assist the city's defense."

Alice's portable astral comm on her left ear displayed a panel of the Emphaneiae before her. "Milord, the Emphaneiae are vigilant."

"In addition..." Aelianos said. "Sir Salem."

"Hm?" Salem looked at Aelianos.

"Lead the covert operation. I shall utilize the Armada at full potential, if necessary."

Salem nodded in response. "Understood."

Aelianos turned to Alice. "Are the 23rd and 24th vigilance platoons ready to be deployed?"

"Yes, milord. At your very will."

"Deploy."

"It shall be done," Alice obeyed. She then spoke through her portable astral comm. "23rd and 24th vigilance platoons, begin deployment."

Two peregrine chassis were deployed from Antiquus to Vakom. It would take them 2 minutes each to arrive through a warpdrive sequence.

"Any matters to be discussed in the midst of operation?" Aelianos asked.

The others were silent... They seem to know already what to do.

"Very well. Everyone, to your positions. This is a grand day for the Empyrdom!"

The others stood up and quietly exited the chamber. They headed to their respective Archetypes for astral comm uplinks.

**5:50, March 31, 3248 ATS: Austernis, Southern Ouroboros, Planet Vakom**

The Q-frame Emphaneiae were watching the surface of the base from Vakom's orbit. At any point of time, they would send signals to all Archetypes and Imperial aerostats at West Mocavé given that there might be hostile units waiting to ambush the vigilance platoons.

There seemed to only be one Regiment G26 frigate at the installation. And by the looks of it, it just got there. Having this in full view, one of the Emphaneiae sent a signal to the Archetypes and the Armada's aerostats.

Suddenly, the frigate activated its rupture drive and left the area. However, the Emphaneiae might detect one signature within the base. A panel manifested before all crew members of each Archetype. The Emphaneiae calibrated their astral lenses, allowing them to see what the single signature was.

"Their aerostat just dropped something," Reius said.

The signature was that of a lone individual, and he might look pretty familiar..

Aelianos was viewing the situation as well. His eyebrows arched. "*Is that...?*" He then relayed orders to the Emphaneiae to identify the individual. Results reported that it was the one whom he had trained long ago. None other than Joshua Sentrium Burns. What happened to him?

Indeed, that individual was him! He is the new faction leader before Adex had suddenly disappeared. He was on top of a rooftop, with his arms crossed.

"Milord, the vigilance platoons have begun mobilization," Alice said.

"Very well. Have them secure him. We never know what he is up to." Aelianos was pondering as to why Joshua, not Adex, appeared there.
Within a moment, he noticed that a specific appearance change was on Joshua. It looked like he was in his second Rage Form. But no, it was something more. More feared.

"*Those black sclerae... Is this a sign of corruption?*" Aelianos thought. For some reason, he remembered that Joshua is a Sentrium Mobian, and that their Rage Forms usually have black sclerae... But for it to last for so long might start raising some questions. "*That time on Makalov, he used to look like that. When did he retain it for a long time?*" Not only that, but Joshua's irises were red on Makalov.. but currently, they appear *green*.

The 80 silent lancers, while cloaked, crept in around the structure Joshua was on. They were more than ready to act upon immediate orders.

Joshua was unaware of the silent lancer's presence... He looks like he is waiting for something.

"... Seize him," Aelianos ordered.

40 of these silent lancers were standing on different structures that were slightly taller than the structure Joshua was on. They equipped their astral shackles. All of a sudden, 40 of these were flung towards Joshua at a short range. These devices look like whips. The other 40 were securing the surface of the foothold.

The whips would hit Joshua's Chaos Shield, which would somewhat startle him. The Chaos Shield did go off and release its shockwave. "..?!"

The lancers were blown away from the structures they were on but were safe from their shields upon landing on the ground.

To avoid any other hits, Joshua disappeared from view, only to reappear in the sky, possibly out of range of any other attack. He made a shielding of dark energy around himself, to protect himself from any other attack, as multiple spheres of DE were made around the shield.

*There he goes,*" Aelianos thought.

The spheres suddenly started to ram into any structure that was in his area, in an attempt of causing them to collapse.

The silent lancers attempted to regroup to an open space. They aimed their ethereal lances at Joshua, ready to retaliate.

The spheres kept ramming into structures, might even causing debris to fall down. Joshua on the other hand, kept ascending slowly.

"*What is he doing...?!*"

The lancers open-fired at any falling debris that would hamper their movement. Quickly noticing the areas that debris were suddenly getting destroyed, the DE spheres rushed over to their assumed location.

"Salem, are you there?" Aelianos said.

"I am here, yes," Salem answered.

"As I said before, take command. I must take care of himself—the silent lancers cannot apprehend him at this state."

"All right. Should I order them to fall back?"

"Not yet. Until I arrive there. Check the Emphaneiae's signal as you do so."

"Okay then."

The panel where Aelianos was began restarting. In a second, Caitlineia was there. It seemed that Aelianos unloaded himself from the Tachyon. He took off to the south at speeds reaching hypervelocity.

A moderately sized DE sphere was conjured near the shield, as the other spheres attempted to track down the Silent Lancers, so they may attempt to ram into them. Some still proceeded to ram into structures, causing even more debris to fall down.

All of a sudden, those spheres that were lunging at the lancers clashed with what seemed to be wind blades. Most of the spheres would have been intercepted, but some might have avoided the wind blades through quick reaction. The Spheres that were charging into buildings suddenly vanished, as the moderately-sized sphere fired a DE blast at the assumed location of the lancers. They stepped back, firing ethereal beams from their ethereal lances at the spheres.

Realizing that Aelianos had arrived, Salem ordered the silent lancers to fall back in which they did, as their peregrine chassis loaded them back upon their arrival and proceeded to take off.

Suddenly, that DE shield that was protecting Joshua began to descend towards a structure that wasn't damaged by the collisions just earlier. It landed on the structure's rooftop, as it stayed there.

The area was quite messy because of debris and all. However, where exactly is Aelianos?

"*So. He finally arrived...*" Joshua thought to himself, as he remained in his shield, until Aelianos revealed himself. Finally, he appeared in an open area. He was in some open training field, crossing his arms.

The shield suddenly vanished, revealing Joshua on the rooftop, his head lowered slightly. "..."

Aelianos' eyes were closed. However, he exuded a great air of confidence, not flinching at the presence of a livid Joshua.

Joshua then vanished from the rooftop he was firstly on, and then appeared onto another one that was closer to the training grounds. He kept teleporting to each rooftop, each time he got closer and closer, until he was at a rooftop of where he was staring directly down towards Aelianos.

Aelianos was still not moving. What's with him...?

Joshua then appeared on the other side of the training ground. Oddly, this might bring back some nostalgic memories.

Aelianos finally opened his eyes. His trademark Tachyon Eyes were revealed. As he opened his eyes, a powerful gust engulfed them. Joshua did not budge at the feeling of the gust, unfortunately. Was kind of cool though.

"My boy," Aelianos spoke. His Tachyon Eyes met Joshua's green eyes. "Have you expected me?"

"Possibly," He answered. "In truth, I thought you wouldn't arrive."

"Hmph. What do you need from an enemy?"

"It's not more of a need.. it's more of a want..."

"... Get to the point. Say it."

"... We both know on what is going to happen here in a few seconds."

"What? It cannot be helped." Aelianos sighed. "You attacked my forces without a second thought."

Joshua went silent after that. He had nothing to say, as deep down there was a tiny bit of regret. Unnoticeable on the surface of course, but it's still there. "..."

"Now, I presume you want something from me. You are to tell me now."

Joshua tilted his head, slightly confused. He had thought that Aelianos had already knew on what he wanted by arriving alone. "..I thought you already knew on what I wanted when I arrived here.. alone.. with no forces.. and then had to draw you out here in this abandoned installation since everywhere else is too hostile.."

Aelianos grinned. "I assumed you were here to make amends but I guess not. For old times' sake, then?" He reached for his left waist for his right hand. "This time, however, will be serious."

"That IS why I brought you here.." He says, as he reaches for his back holster, pulling out a metal stick that looks like it would fit a Warhammer.. but the hammer is missing.

"His weapon changed... It's not his dual swords anymore. That looks more like... a polearm. Given that it is only a handle. As observed from his former weapon, this time it would be similar. It would either be dark matter or antimatter."

"Have at you, then!" Aelianos chanted. He stayed in that stance as the winds grew stronger around them.

"Mhm.." He begins to spin the stick around rapidly. Suddenly however he stops, and upon stopping the stick was now spearheaded by a Anti Matter Hammer.

"A hammer, I see. Given the function that ot will not work well against swords, this will be a cinch," Aelianos thought.

He then disappeared from view, but then reappeared above Aelianos.. preparing the slam the Hammer into him. "Better watch your head!"

Aelianos' eyes glowed cyan. It seemed that his Tachyon Eyes are in full effect. He then proceeded to draw his zweihander Aetergeheim from a veil of wind. Upon unsheathing, a strong gust was released towards Joshua, just in time as they clashed weapons.

Joshua felt the strong gust of wind, but will hardly effected by it. Since the Hammer itself has no weight (or very little weight, I dunno), Aelianos would be fortunate to not have a chance of stumbling. He then held out his left hand, as a DE blast was fired.

Aelianos sidestepped to his left (use perspective boi) and forced his sword opposite from the direction he was heading to, using his right hand.

To counter this, Joshua teleported behind Aelianos, swinging his hammer to the left as a DE barrier formed at his right to avoid a counter attack on that side.

Of course, sensing Joshua's presence behind him, he spun counterclockwise and swung his sword across the hammer while ducking a bit. By accident, it seemed that he swung across the pole of the hammer, not the hammer itself.

Of course, sensing Joshua's presence behind him, he spun counterclockwise and swung his sword across the hammer while ducking a bit. By accident, it seemed that he swung across the pole of the hammer, not the hammer itself.

Joshua's pole did indeed get cut in half.. however that really only downgraded the Warhammer into a regular hammer.. Though that actually halved the speed required to make attacks with it, allowing him to make quicker melee attacks with the hammer. In quick response, Joshua teleported several feet backwards as he looked at the now halved hammer. "..Well that's unfortunate.." He thought to himself, as he threw the part of the hammer that didn't have the spearhead at Aelianos.

Aelianos charged at Joshua as the thrown pole would be intercepted by wind blades.

To try to counter his charge, Joshua formed a barrier of DE in front of Aelianos, determining the speed and velocity he was going to make sure there was a high chance of him colliding into it. In case it didn't work however, he formed a barrier around himself for more defense.

Aelianos jumped over the barrier, with the makeshift bullets hovering above him. Upon launching himself mid-air, his sword split into two perfect halves. When he let go of the handles, he situated himself in a flying side kick stance. He was about to pull of his signature attack!

Suddenly a DE barrier was formed in front of Aelianos that looked like it might trap him.. however that would most likely fail, as Aelianos is going at 3,000 meters a second (6,700 MPH?! WTF.).. so that is a little waste of stamina right there..

The DE spheres that formed around the barrier that tried to trap Aelianos fired DE blasts at Aelianos, attempting to hit him as Joshua's barrier had suddenly grown spikes.

Joshua tried to think of a counter to Aelianos' sudden dash-attack, but by the time he could, Aelianos would have already hit his DE defensive barrier.

"Tachyon Kick!" Aelianos chanted it just before colliding with the shield by striking it full-force with a tachyon-enhanced flying side kick.

The DE barrier was indeed broken by Aelianos' Tachyon Kick, however JSB was still protected by his Chaos Shield, which might prove a bit more difficult to break..

As an attempt to overwhelm Joshua, Aelianos began twirling. The centrifugal force would enhance the damage dealt to the barrier. Tachyon energy kept emanating from Aelianos in the form of electrical surges- some struck the ground. These created sparks and dust all around which were not able to pass by Aelianos due to the aura he emanates.

Assuming that Aelianos isn't still in Hypervelocity (6,400 mph though. Holy sh\*t, how is he not mushed into paste right now? o3o), Joshua might have the reaction time to teleport several feet away, and fire a DE blast at him.

Since Joshua just teleported away and Aelianos had decelerated from the impact, he would land on the ground safe with both feet as his focus was still at Joshua. "Whoa!" he exclaimed as he quickly sidestepped to the right to dodge it barely. As soon he did that, he grinned as he darted towards Joshua at speeds accelerating to Mach 2 in a zigzag trajectory as he held his swords in reverse. Each time he skidded from side to side, one bullet was fired towards Joshua.

Since Joshua had time from that sidestep, though not very much, he attempted to conjure a DE Barrier in front of him, as a defensive barrier from the Bullets and Aelianos' dash, though there's no telling if he succeeds or not.

The bullets bounced off the barrier upon impact as they kept battering the barrier until they are deformed beyond repair. However, the big question was where Aelianos is!

Attempting to protect his vulnerable areas, Joshua extended the barrier around him, and waited for Aelianos to get close to him.

Before Joshua could extend the barrier to his sides, he might be interrupted by Aelianos' twin swords lunging toward him from both sides at subsonic speeds.

The swords had hit their target, only that they were blocked by the Chaos Shield that was still functional, allowing Joshua to extend the barrier.. the swords might get caught in the barrier though, as they were extremely close to him, and they might get stuck..

All according to plan. Aelianos was just behind Joshua. The former formed two violet magic circles- one on the ground Joshua was standing on and the other at the sky. There were quite large! Aelianos then took the short time to clasp his hand together, creating a lightning surge. This would batter both of Joshua's shields (as the DE barrier was still incomplete) if he did not take the time to teleport. The surface circle created its own surge while synergizing with the upper circle.

Joshua would have a bit of had time to complete the barrier since Aelianos took a bit of time to commence the Lightning Surge.. however both Shields would have been damaged before the Barrier completely surrounded Joshua.

Aelianos jumped high and landed on a rooftop while the spell was still in effect. Strangely enough, he did not seem to break a sweat, much less get any sign of tiredness while casting it.

Because Joshua could only do as much as stand there, he continued to keep the DE barrier active, in order to have the damaged Chaos Shield replenished, while also to wait out the Surge. This might take a bit..

Aelianos clenched his right fist, causing the magic circle in the sky to descend upon Joshua and collide with the second magic circle.

As the spell continued, Joshua found himself struggling even more as the damage increased at the barrier..
Suddenly, the barrier shattered, which now just left Joshua heavily vulnerable to strikes from the surge.
"...!!!"

Joshua would subsequently experience temporary full-body paralysis. The magic circles then disappeared from sight. Aelianos rested his hands after that. "...."

Joshua did indeed just experience the paralysis, which just then disabled his equipment.. and caused him to fall face first onto the ground. "...Well. This is a thing now. F\*ck." He thought to himself.

Aelianos looked at a paralyzed Joshua. "... Oh."

He sighed. "I might have overdone that. That Empyrean Storm seems to be very effective..." he thought.

Aelianos jumped towards Joshua and flipped his body face-up using his wind magic. This would make him land on the ground safely. "Now do you realize the outcome?"

Joshua couldn't speak. Not that he wanted to anyway, but just that he couldn't speak even if he wanted to. "..."

"Hm." Aelianos started to walk away, not before turning to Joshua. "If you did realize, I hope you will come back to your normal state."

"The situation has been resolved. Muster defenses in Mocavé and keep watch over this installation," he spoke through his portable astral comm as he kept a long distance between himself and Joshua, before completely disappearing from sight...

"It will be done." Salem replied.

Since the day that the Federations' faction leader Joshua was personally defeated by the Archon Emperor Aelianos in one duel, the conflict between the two factions involved has mellowed down a lot. There have been little to no skirmishes occurring in the Ouroboros of Strife. This seemed to be a cold war now...

Few weeks later, the dreaded Anticythesis, a massive Primordial Archetype, was being constructed on the Receptacle. Once it is done, the Transcendent Archetypes were to return to the Receptacle. As for them, they were still taking respite in Vestei.

The abandoned joint base that was battled in weeks prior had been retaken by the Federations, repairing the Jkirkian Structures, while demolishing the Empyrdom structures and replacing them with Jkirkian structures, in an effort to expand their territory. They had to repair/demolish the ruins of more structures when they arrived though, as some had been damaged by something when they arrived.

This proved almost futile since the Empyrdom was expanding southern Mocavé. At the north of the installation was a defensive barricade that the Empyrdom built to impede the expansion of the Federations towards the north.

In order to respond to the Empyrdom's defenses at the the North of the Installation, the now controlled Jkirkian Installation would begin establishing defenses of their own to even the playing ground.

Yet another makeshift Ouroboros of Strife was established between them. Soon the Federations would see that there were Imperial defensive structures surrounding the installation as the Empyrdom was watching over it since the day that the Archon Emperor defeating the second Jkirkian Overlord.

The Federations would expand their defenses to prevent their installation from being surrounded, which in turn would create two massive defensive lines, one for each side.

It seemed that the installation was surrounded by three large Imperial defensive flanks. The artillery flanks in the northern region were ready to stop their expansion once and for all.

In response to the Artillery positions, and being surrounded despite their efforts, Greene-R41 Missile Launchers were build upon the northern side, while boosting the defenses of the installation. Drop Pod Zones were created in the installation as well, since they are surrounded by defenses that could possibly intercept Jkirkian Aerostats from arriving at the Installation (provided they don't enter through Ruptures of course) to deliver reinforcements.

Indeed, there were multiple structures that work together to impede various Jkirkian units. Right now, there was an Imperial battlefront in standby on the north.

Right now, a couple of Drop Pods just landed in one of the Outpost's Drop Pod Zones, as they deployed 2 vehicles (Seravix Assault Mechs) in total, to provide additional reinforcements.

The assault mechs would be intercepted by Q-frame Emphaneiae in orbit as they fired particle blasts at them in an attempt of harassing them while the battlefront provide main fire.

The Assault Mechs would've been damaged, had it not been for the Mako75 Generators that projected shields around the entire installation. They were multiple generators as well, some even in the same location, in an effort to make layers of Defensive Shielding. Even if it had been hit, the Seravix's personal shields would've prevented destruction, but they would have damage to their armor.

The area shields would be met by a barrage of various Imperial mortars (SCP and dark matter).

The area shields would be damaged, and the entire installation, already being on high alert, began to instruct Mobian Baxter/Militants to place Explosives in the underground complexes of the Installation (said complexes were to remain deactivated during the reconstruction of the Installation so said plan could work without high risks of detection) with Remote Plasma Explosives, which if detonated, would cause the most, if not the entire installation to go down. On the surface, more shield Generators would begin to be built to prevent the installation from getting bombarded, as every available unit began to establish a defensive perimeter.

They would be bombarded by mortar shells, still. The Empyrdom had no plan in introducing ground units towards the installation.

The installation began to retaliate with barrages of Missiles from the Greene Launchers towards the Mortar Launchers (unless if said launchers were in Orbit, then they would fire at any weak point in the Empyrdom's defenses), as the Shields were holding out. TU3D Medium Artillery were getting into position to fire their own barrages as well.

The artillery were barely holding out as they have average shields. Several Imperial star vehicles and starships were seen heading towards the installation in a pincer movement, bombarding the side defenses.

B980-2 AAA Turrets would begin to intercept at the Aircraft/Aerostats, firing SAMs at the Aircraft, and Anti/Dark Matter AAA Cannons at the Aerostats. The Missile Launchers on the Galix4 SWPs were firing at the incoming Aircraft as well, as the Mako75 Shields continued to hold out. The installation contacts a fleet of 12 Quartz-67 Corvettes, 6 Regiment G26 Frigates, and 1 Reaper X3Y Airship/Dreadnought to assist in the defense, as the TU3Ds began to fire at the Mortars, as well as the Greene Launchers. MX46 Mobile Anti Air would be called in to help assist the Turrets against the approaching Aircraft.

The Jkirkian flank would be outnumbered as there were copious amount of Imperial aircraft. It seemed that they were planning this ahead of time.

Despite being outnumbered, the mass amounts of Anti Air would still pose a major problem, especially if Anti-Aerostat weapons were in play now.

The Imperial aircraft were composed of mostly fast units like phantasmal marauders, azure eidolons, and cataclysmic wings. The anti-air defense would then be bombarded with antimatter bombs from the cataclysmic as they were supported by three empyrean dirigibles with 600 nexus cluster units deployed.

Unless they were dive-bombing, the Bombs would have been attempt-intercepted by Alverx Mobile Anti-Missile/Mobile Shields near the turrets. Despite any speed they have, coming close to Anti Air would increase the chances of them being shot down. Though they are able to outrun any SAM, now with the MX46s there, who now began to fire at them with High-Velocity Anti Matter Cannons when they approached.