Whenever one reads the history of the coalition and the UEC. One always must start well before the coalition was formed long before the COG, a time before the Lankys’ siege, a time before discovery of the alcubierre nodes.

Before all those things was the uplift. It began when earth started to finally die for what looked like the last time. Billions of people under dozens of nation states on our small blue world slaughtered each other wholesale. They hurled nuclear missiles and hundreds of thousands of troops at one another in a fight for what was left. Backs were stabbed, alliances were made and broken. Fathers slaughtered sons for scraps while our world died and entire continents were blasted into radioactive waists. When it was all over only four nations remained.

The Sino Russian Alliance an alliance formed out of the remains of China, Russia, Korea, Finland, sweden, and India. Brutish and conniving they were the like a hammer unyielding and powerful.

Nordic Empire the smallest of the superpowers rose from the ashes of the European Union. Being made up of what remained of the U.K, France, Poland, the Ukrainian, Iceland, Norway, and Portugal. However despite being surrounded by the the radioactive wastelands and rad storms that used to be the battlefields of world war 3 they were the most advanced of the four.

Then from the blazing savanas came the United African Federation. Being made up of almost every country on the continent the Africans, while not as technologically powerful as the NAC or NE they made up for it with sheer brutality and guile.

And finally the North American Commonwealth an amalgamation of the former United states, Canada, Cuba, Australia and Mexico rose on its side of the world. A stark contrast to the SRA the NAC was a middle ground between the utilitarian SinoRussians and relatively peaceful Nordics.

For years the four nations fought or bargained with one another all the while yearning to reach out to the stars. Before the invention of the Wayland drive changed the game. Now it only took months to reach earth's nearest neighbor, a time that would shrink to days or weeks as time went by.

Soon earth's moon Luna was colonized and soon after Mars became earth's first colony. As decades passed more and more colonies were founded. In the belt, on the moons of Jupiter and saturn until one day a Wayland scouting crew found a wormhole and quickly one on the other end of the sol system.

With the discovery of the first Alcubierre node humanity expanded. Of the four nations only the SRA and NAC had the resources and ware with all to colonize other planets. Using the terraformers designed and distributed by the corporation Dunois Horizons dozens of planets and moons were colonized.

But over time as humans do we began to fight, to slaughter one another over resources we knew there were plenty of. But even as we fought we expanded seeking new planets and our place in the galaxy. There was something ancient and something powerful and malevolent that we had yet to meet as we colonized and explored.

Until one day far out at the edge of humanity's small empire almost ninety-eight light years from earth the first colony went dark. And soon another and another, until after three months ten colonies had gone black. First contact with an alien race had been something scholars and other learned people had behaved would be peaceful and would change the world. But the reality was much darker as this had marked the beginning of what history would call The Siege.

Over the course of several years the beings we call Lankys a race of sixty to eighty foot tall aliens and their massive one-two mile seed ships would batter humanity into the dust. In space our greatest weapons did nothing to their Seed ships, swarms of multi megaton missiles and volleys of railgun fire simply seared the hulla of the black teardrop shaped ships. Fleets of NAC and SRA ships were dashed aside like toys as the Lankys came over planets and ruined their atmospheres as they gassed our cities and fe terraformed to fit their own needs.

If one were not killed by the nerve gas the aliens dropped from orbit. They would choke to death as the lanky atmosphere exchangers changed their air from oxygen rich to Co2 soaked. Then once the majority of humans were scraped off of the surface they would send down their seed pods.

When the lanky's emerged from their pods to face the humans defence we fought. Entire battalions of marines would throw everything they had at the lankys in those early days and they might kill one or three. But they were eventually, inevitably, and literally crushed. Entire squads of infantry would be slapped aside with a single swipe of the massive aliens bone colored four clawed hand. The route would continue as eyeless aliens with their shovel shaped heads would smash the human terraformers and set up shop claiming the planet as their own.

As time drew short humanity withdrew ships and other from its own colonies sacrificing them to the Lankys in the hope that more may live creating a group of people known as the stranded. For six years humanity fought a losing battle against an unbeatable foe. Until only two systems remained, Epsilon Eridani home of the fortress world Sandalphon on the NAC end of the sol node where we had fought the lankys off only once before and were we had planned to make our stand. And Sol the cradle of humanity itself.

Until March 25th, 2085 the Lankys flooded the sol system through the SRA node on the opposite end of the system from . They swept through the system l destroying everything in their path ignoring many of the outer planets and the belt as they landed on Mars. The first fight for earth's first colony was short but bloody. In minutes the twenty seed ships destroyed almost every one of earth's largest ships over the planet.

On the surface the lanky seed pods lit the sky. Falling like flaming rain upon the planet. In response we mustered every person able to carry a weapon. And then they were there, smashing through our lines like they weren't even there. In retaliation we sent them our greeting enough ordnance to level a city state. But it was useless and in an hour they had killed more people than had ever died on Mars.

We fell back to our home earth was all we had left. Sixty-nine billion scared people crammed together. When they came we fought like the savage animals we are. To this point humanity had only ever destroyed one of their ships. And that day another was destroyed as the Indianapolis an NAC stealth ship slingshot itself around the sun and slammed into the seed ship at fractional speed.

It did not destroy the ship out right but tore massive chunk away from the hull allowing the rest of the four nations ships a window to attack the ships interior. The Seed ship was destroyed but not before the unthinkable happened.

In what must have been an act of desperation it sprayed almost a quarter of its cargo of terraformers and seed pods across the planet as it broke up. The world watched in horror as almost two hundred seed pods and several atmosphere exchangers slammed into our home.

Fear turned to rage as humanity rose up to fight. Armed with almost unilaterally untested equipment we set out to fight our enemy. And over the next coming months the land ran both red and black with the blood of humans and Lankys alike.

Billions died as the radioactive wastes that had once been the battlefields of World war three came a live once more to the sounds of combat. Like specters legions of humans rose from the ashes of a long dead civilization and threw themselves against the aliens. And by September 2nd, 2086 the last Lanky would fall in the ruins of PRC New-york 21.

Years would pass before the lankys would come again and when they did we were better prepared. We destroyed them with our newly designed Orion missiles, nuclear tipped missiles weighing thousands of tones made from sawdust and ice that would be propelled using nuclear shaped charges to bring it to fractional speeds. The second attack came and then the third.

But with the forth came humanity's salvation in the formed of three ships. Dubbed Siege Breakers the Archangel, Celestine, and Leathy destroyed the alien ships, stopping them cold. Each ship being essentially a gigantic seven hundred meter gauss cannon they were able to accelerate their six hundred ton tungsten darts at measurable percentages of the speed of light.

The following year on December 25th 2090 humanity struck back. Leaving the Celestine to defend earth the NAC and SRA with the support of the NE and UAF sent the SRA: Archangel SB:002 and NAC: Leathy SB:003 lead ragtag fleet of battered or un-mothballed cruisers, destroyers and frigates to mars with one mission to rescue the civilians they had left behind.

Thousands died that day as the Lanky seed ships what had been growing over the years the shovelheads had held the plant red planet rose join their black counterparts and meet the humans. Of the fifty ships sent to the Mars only fifteen returned. And even then only after the lankys destroyed the Archangel and the Leathy cleared the sky destroying the final seed ship in retaliation, saving the day as its battered hull spewed atmospheres and bodus into space.

But as the final civilians left the planets dead surface we knew we had managed to fight back. And as a precaution the Celestine and a large fleet of ships was stationed in permanent orbit to keep watch over the world.

Then two years later we went back intent on taking our first colony back from our enemy. But we had grown over confident, forgetting that any race capable of building starships and terraformers were not just a bunch of animals. We had numbers, weapons, ships and the will, and when we made landfall it was going well.

It was supposed to be quick but as we fought our enemy learned, adapted and counter planed. Until our win turned into twenty years of hell. The planets once red surface and sry orange skies turned black and radioactive as we dropped nukes and railgun rounds onto its surface. The perpetual thunderstorm rain storms made by the Lankys Atmosphere exchangers darkened sky, while our orbital strikes turned the surface black and scared.

Sixteen million people died in the third battle for Mars, but we took it back, it's hell around and on Mars but it's ours again. And from the ashes of our almost forty year war rose the Coalition of Governments.

Each nation agreed that in times of need the COG would be formed. And together as lanky atmosphere exchangers churned uselessly on Earth and as Mars smoldered for the first time in our history a unified humanity set out to take back our homes. As time passed the people of earth developed into a warrior like but humble people having been brought so low by their mortal enemy.

Now over one hundred years have passed since the war with with lankys had started. And we still fight them today, on and off. With lanky attacks becoming less and less frequent humanity has begun seeking new planets to colonize as well as recovering lost planets, stranded or cut off as Lankys advanced.

-

It was on one such world where humanity's newest chapter began. On a world at the very edge of humanities space the NAC world of Camelot came into contact with another much older empire that had achieved space flight when humanity was still building pyramids the United Equestrian Conclave.

Built on the backs of slaves the UECs’ exploratory fleet arrived over the weakend human world. The people having recently endured start of a Lanky evasion before the lasive aliens pulled out were left almost defenseless when the Equestrians arrived.

The people of equestria were long lived living for thousands of standard human years. Recorded to have set out into the stars after a fugitive by the name of Chrysalis and an equine insectoid race know known as old breed changelings fled their star system insearch for a new home.

In response the various races making up the majority of sentient species on Equis joined together to hunt her down and bring her to justice. And together under the watchful eye of one twilight sparkle developed their first star ships. They set out become explorer's while hunting down the fugitive queen and those loyal to her, and so hundreds of ships were constructed.

Over the centuries as their search continued to come up empty, the UEC had started to become bitter and disillusioned with the idea of justice and equality towards their common enemy. And as they found another star system something changed in them when they discovered another sentient race other than the changelings.The Myrialos.

The Myrialos were a humanoid race of marine crustaceans, that the UEC had quickly soon discovered lived much shorter lives than their own. Their people were an easy conquest for the UEC, and soon their advanced medical and scientific knowledge was put to use by the Equestrians. Their cities of coral were taken or destroyed and their people enslaved.

The Kleese were the next to be found, an advanced warrior race of arachnids resembling a mixture of a tarantula with a vaguely humanoid upper torso, and a bad attitude. But as the Kleese wared upon themselves, the UEC in utter contempt view this race and by extension the Myrialos as nothing more than barbaric savages despite the two races advanced sciences and cultures as nothing but insects that were small, and beneath them.

However the UECs first attempt at pacification was stopped by the more advanced kleese. As the Kleese warrior cast; the Zaltule met them at every turn. The UEC’s weapons at the time were not as advanced as they were now in the present. However, they made up for it with magic. In space, the Kleese ships were much more advanced than the UEC’s using energy weapons to slice the UEC ships to scrap. However, the Kleese were unable to leave their star system and eventually were driven back one planet at a time. Until finally they were trapped on their homeworld.

The battle for the kleese home was relentless but the war changed with the discover made by one Pinkamena Diane Pie. A pool that duplication pool, and with this magical substance mixed with the medical technology gained by the Myrialos the UEC had their magic bullet. A way to return dead troops to life, fully sentient, and fully cognitive.

With troops who could die and be brought back to life hours later the UEC pushed their offensive driving the zaltule back and finally destroyed their worlds power stations. Flooding the planet with radiation killing millions as ensuing fallout covered the world. A line had been crossed by the UEC and as they set out once more to find new colonies all the while searching for their enemy. A movement arose inside the UEC itself a rebellion bent on the destruction of their tyrannical and depraved government.

Finally the last race to be fully enslaved by the Equestrians were the Tymerians. A reptilian race that the Dragon kingdoms found quite appealing. The war on Tymer prime was vicious lasting several years on the planet’s many forests, jungles, and swamps. It is said that the less exotic infantry weapons used by the UEC today are of Tymerian origin. And as thus the battles was relatively even until the dragons took the field. This continued until finally Princess Luna who had taken command of the pacification had had enough.

When a tymerian male met with the dragons general on the field of battle the battle was fierce. But the following morning the male and his war party had turned on their very own people. The war raged on with the male leading the UECs conscript courses until a tymerian female rose to meet him in battle. But before she could deliver the final blow the the Lunar princess killed her and with her the hopes of her people.

The resistance grew and grew until ten years later the changelings returned waging a low yield gorilla war with the bloated UEC. Until finally almost one hundred years ago the UEC found a planet at the edge of its reach named Camelot, a race of hairless apes called humans that resided there.

To the shock of the other species that made up the UEC, the Humans of the storm blasted world of Camelot almost immediately began rebelling. And soon after the resistance groups that had stagnated and been whittled down for centuries had begun to win battles. Under the careful instruction of the human “Marines” they were finally beginning to be victorious, finally gaining hope that they might be able to at least wound the UEC.

This continued for years until finally one day in the Camelot system the UEC was shaken to its core as another star faring empire made contact.

-

This NAC as they were called at the time demanded the return of its colonists. Stating they would not sit idle while the UEC raped and enslaved humans. When the Equestrians seventh exploited fleet arrived Under the command of Supreme commander Rarity Belle the equestrians were greeted to the sight of one of its key colonies on the terraformed planet blasted to a smoking crater.

The reports coming from the colony and its poultry defence fleet were staggering to say the least. Huge ugly ships measuring hundreds of meters in length the largest of which measured out at nearly six hundred, but still dwarfing the even largest capital ships used by the UEC had arrived over the planet.

During the time it had taken for the UEC to arrive the NAC scout fleet received word from its headquarters on Sandalphon. There would be no negotiation, no quarter given to the UEC as humanity had already lost so much to the hands of aliens once in the past. They were to rescue any slaves they could and return to the nearest staging ground for regroup.

In response to the orders given the away team sent aboard one of the UECs exploitory combat ships they called a Destroyer began the shooting war. Catching the comparatively peaceful UEC off guard not only with the shere one sidedness of their initial attack but with the revelation that Camelot had indeed not been Humanity's homeworld but a colony of an empire like their own.

Slaves were rescued from the ship the NAC delegation had docked with. And the prisoners taken during a commando raid on the colony's capital building were executed. But as they retreated another race made itself known in the system, intent on finishing what it had started.

The Lankys arrived swatting a side the UEC vessels that failed to get out of its way and forcing the NAC into an odd situation. The Lankys who had been the mortal enemies of humanity completely ignored them instead focusing solely on the UEC and their forces. And in return when the NAC landed troops on the planet to retrieve any slaves they could they left the colony to the Lankys. Returning to their own corner of space to lick their wounds and prepare for the next stage in the war. Several months would pass during which the NAC would perform a preemptive strike on the UEC world of Bagmare in an attempt to gain much needed intel.

Two years have passed since then the COG has been reformed and like the Kleese before them Humanity fights. On every planet they go to they fight to free slaves and by more time for humanity. But With Lanky incursions holding up most of Earth's fleet we are being slowly pushed back by the UEC.

With the COGs newest and most advanced ship being only one of two Siege Destroyer class ships missing after disappearing in the. With its fleet of siege breakers dwindling humanity prepares to make a stand.

“What... the fuck... just happened?” General Tyler Barron son of the late ‘hero or mars’ Rance Barron asked after throwing up his lunch onto the deck.

“I have no Goddamn idea.” Ryoko the ships AI responded. Her avatars face showing just as much confusion as everyone else on the bridge. Smoke filled the air as a console burst into a shower of sparks before catching on fire.

“... Private, Status report.” Barron's voice was hoarse as he unhooked himself from his command chair. ‘What the hell?’ A wet splash splattered his cheek as he began floating upward in the almost zero G environment. “Stand by sir, I'm compiling the data now.”

“Damn it.” Looking to his side he discovered that the source of the floating puddle was the mangled corpse of his executive officer, the rather aptly named major Adama. ‘Why COG command decided to name this ship after that old fucking show battlestar I will never know.’

The corpse of his... former EXO was crushed in his crash couch, the man's upper body smashed beneath a support pillar that must have been knocked loose from the ceiling during the battle. His thoughts were cut off when the systems tech spoke up.

“The ship appears to be operating at sixty percent power. Reactor three is offline and reactor two is at thirty while reactor one is red lining…. decks twenty seven B and thirty eight C are venting atmosphere. Fires have been reported in decks sixteen, thirteen, twelve, nine, six, four and hanger bay eight-J...” The young woman continued to spout off a truly staggering list of damages before he cut her off.

“Ok we need to get this situation under control. Ryoko scramble damage control teams and fire suppression bots out there. I want artificial grav back online we have to have wounded, followed by status report from each of my department heads and docked ships… someone put that fire out and… clean up the major.”

As Barron drifted back around to his console he mused to himself that his ship even vaguely looked like the ship of its namesake perhaps more the pegasus the other ship from that old pre NAC show. Or perhaps one of the ships from that other show from before the advent of real space travel. What was it called… stargate that's the one. ‘The Daedalus if I remember correctly, my grandfather had always said he had enjoyed those two shows.’

“Signal the Defiant and Valiant. I want them deployed and stealthed. If anything comes close I want to know about it immediately.”

‘Huuuugh!’

“Private take your helmet off before you throw up in it, Opah!… Come on Miiora let it all out.” Around me dozens of mech drivers were staggering around throwing up. While beside me a female tymerian by the name of Mii’ora buried her head into a garbage shoot. Miiora was a slave for her entire life up until about two and a half years ago. Her people had been conquered by the United Equestrian Conclave almost a hundred years before The Siege ended.

“Why are you not... discharging My love!?” Her usual raspy voice comes out as more of a croak between dry heaves. But as she began to move her snout in my direction I pushed it back down just in time for another mixture of venom and bile to spew out into the shoot. “I don't know maybe it's the drugs my armors pumping into me or mabey…”

She didn't even let me finish the thought as she gave me a look out of one eye. Before bringing her tail around and smacking me in the side of my bucket. Getting the message I dialed my suit computer and snaked a thin tube form my breast plate to hers. After about a second a sicley green liquid passed through the tube as her les advanced suit of battle armor injected her with a stabilizing agent.

According to the records we have received since the start of the war with the UEC Tymerians are superbly sensitive to EM radiation. On their homeworld of Tymer prime they evolved from some kind of horned snakes that would use EM pulses to hunt. But earth snakes who reportedly never evolved much past a certain point and thus possessed a set of vestigial legs under their scales. Tymerians however evolved to be bipedal posing a humanoid build but apparently somewhere along the way riding their evolution their race developed to be literally triple jointed. As well as the ability to shift those joints at will. Giving them the ability to perform feats of flexibility that would leave even the most flexible humans either dead or in the hospital.

The males being stronger and bulkier their female counterparts resemble rather pissed off crocodiles lacked the horns of the females instead possessing a less flexible frame and thicker scales. The females of the species however were slender and almost unilaterally more pleasant to look at then the males. With each of them possessing a set of horns on their heads and slightly thinner scales than the males. But as a whole despite their two non venomous and venomous subspecies they never lost their reliance on their weird sonar like ability.

Even now I could see Miiora twitch her tail once sending out a sensory ping as I helped her up and retracted the stabilizer. “Thank you. Now she believes the rest of your lance needs your aid more than I do.”

“Alright Mia if you need another dose go see Levoy i'm sure the android has something he can give you.” With that she touched her forehead to my buckets visor before flicking her tail to the deck shooting her towards her machine in the zero-G.

I watched her shapely rear end drift away for several seconds before shaking it off and switching back to the matter at hand. Looking around I could see that no one had really taken charge there were crates and other devices floating around. And just by a quick blink scan I could see that most of those in the bay with me were privates and lower ranked corporals and specialists. All having been scattered and separated from their squads when we all scrambled back inside the ship.

No one besides myself and two others in the bay held the the rank of veteran. A rank that was only given for valor in combat. Veterans are higher on the chart than any NCO even if the two are the same regular rank and typically one step below officer ranks. For example if two stock standard sergeants were to approach another and one held the rank of veteran the veteran was in command.

And furthermore one can not advance past corporal typically without becoming a veteran. But officers didn't have to earn the rank to advance and this typically lead to some animosity between the higher ranked NCOs and lower ranked officers.

“God damn it Miles! Someone get him down. You three what the fuck do think you're doing? Secure those creates before someone gets crushed. You, mech find a creche and stay in it.” My voice carried over the din of the deployment bay and like I had flipped a switch the other two veterans both sargents began barking orders to the others.

To my left a fellow member of MOTH team-1 stood beside a vantablack armored onyx. His heavy voice carried through his buckets’ speakers as he barked at a pair of corporals. Tolan Harris or Big Dog had been my corporal instructor in boot camp years ago when I had first joined the NAC defense corps. And more recently we had both escaped a UEC holding facility with the aid of a mutant unicorn named Gutsy.

A set of thunderous clangs drew my attention and I turned to see my mech “Armor” come to a stop beside me. The ATLAS-3 turned pointing to a pair of older ATLAS-Bs no doubt issuing orders as immediately the two machines stopped what they were doing and before going off to aid another damaged mech.

“Bridge, this is deployment bay six, requesting trauma team immediately. Break. We have multiple casualties in need of urgent medical care. Out….” The Onyx guard beside Harris a man I had recently learned was named Douglas called out for what seemed like the hundredth time. Finally he threw his hands up before pointing a gauntlet at me.

“Fallon, I can't raise the CIC. Take three basics…” Pod head short hand for non-special forces troopers. “... and a bot, see if you can get a trauma team down here from the med-bay. If we don't get some of these guys in tanks they won't make it. Then go get your new charge and check on hangerbay… hang on let me check…. three-J there's apparently some trouble down there and they want some support.”

“Got it. Armor remote a bot and come with me.” The eighteen foot mech bombed the sensor dome in its chest. “Affirmative.” The red lights in his cameras flicker before seconds later as I send a message to Durge, Forbes, and Miiora to meet me at the bay entrance with my PDP one of the hulking thk-reaper units lumbers to my side.

By the time I finally was able to cross the crowded bay the lithe form of Miiora had slid into step beside me. The three of us a former slave, a Moth, and a homicidal robot exited the bay and I was almost immediately ran into by a rushing technician.

The attractive woman slammed into my armor sending her crashing to the deck and her tools spiraling into the bulkhead. From her spot sprawled on the deck eyes closed the myrialos tentatively touched an oranged three fingered claw to a spot on her head. Being the sensitive soul she is Miiora instantly went to her side as I fetched the spinning bag of tools.

When she finally opened her big pupiless purple eyes she shrunk back when she saw me in my legonare and the tactical hunter killer. “All is well miloje, they will not harm you.” Miiora said calmly raising her helmets visor before talking with the crustacean in a calming tone.

The display of kindness from my liaison brought a very unwanted recent memory to the front of my mind. Miiora helped the Myrialos who apparently was named Rakka to her feet and I gave Armor his next set of orders.“Armor, stay on alert, the Gally was already infiltrated once. I don't want to be killed on the way to the med bay that would just be embarrassing.”

“As you command master, though I can tell from my sensors that there are no lifeforms for me to kill. Other than the you the tymerian, and myrialos. This seems to be a rather fruitless assignment. Though, I am always open to surprise attacks by hordes of combatants who are willing to die badly for some cause they desperately believe in. I have always found that quite amusing. I doubt I will get that opportunity today, still... one can hope.”

I can tell that Armors use of the word master when addressing me bothered the two former slaves beside me. The machine hefted its heavy automatic blaster and stomped off down the passageway ready to turn any hostile it saw into a fine mist.

The thing turned suddenly toward her and Miiora flinched back slightly under its gaze. The machine had red glowing eyes. Those malevolent eyes were both familiar and terrible.

From my research into human history the humans rarely made THKs anymore. The machines were banned classified as machines capable of war crimes. In a time reportedly just before the war with the UEC and reformation of the cog when humanity after its long war had begun to fight one another again. They were to good at what they did, the massacre at the SRA colony of Kimshala being a good example. Where five of the machines had slaughtered a slaughtered dozens of Chinese soldiers after they had surrendered to the NAC forces there.

What's more they had been never entirely trustworthy, even according to the NAC who designed them. “You are alive.” It said with a macob fanfare in its sinister synthesized baritone voice.

“I am… thank you fo…” Hmm, perhaps these machines are not as bad as she had once thought. Despite what her beloved suiter Avery fallon had said to her defending the machine.

“When my pilot dismissed you I had assumed you were dead. Or dying slowly. And since I possess no lifesaving programming or nor desire to perform such pointless tasks as that would be inconsistent with my primary purpose of taking life. I opted for a wait and see outcome. I am… glad that you did not expire for it would negatively affect my pilots synchronization rating.”

“I think he like you.” Forbes said from my left. Unlike the specialized MOTH armor used by Avery Fallon this man's armor is of similar make and coloring of own minus the added flexibility marking us as regular troopers.

The hulking machine did not respond at all but absently readied its large rifle as UEC defector walked past. A strange scent hung to the mare as she clopped past absentmindedly trailing a hand over the grey wall. But Mii’ora ignored it as we passed opting to gaze at a screen embedded into the wall that showed a starfield and a lone purple star shining in the distance.

Human vessels unlike their UEC counterparts do not possess windows a point I had bradley asked about years ago but never got a proper response.

“She co… I never could understand why humans do not place windows on your celes… starships. Surely you would wish to gaze upon the stars with your own eyes at some point. This teksho makes the world seem too... artificial.”

“Because love, if we put a window on a spaceship it would cost more than just having a flat slab of metal with a camera on it.” Fallon says as we ascend to the medical deck.

To this Durge finally decided to join the conversation. “Furthermore, no matter the material used to create the window. It will always be weaker than the surrounding metal.” The zaltule says making a box with two of his lower hands and using the two upper arms to form a solid wall.

“Yeah plus the ponys might have magic and shit to make their windows stronger. But that doesn't mean we cant shoot through that shit, hell it's one of the first things the fighter pilots target on a ship.” Forbes chimed in adding his two sense as we found the main med bay.

When we entered we saw medtechs both human and former frantically yelling and rushing from one injured patent to another. With an oddly disgusting sloshing noise resonating from somewhere in the rear of the room. Dozens of voices all called out over one another as Doctors, orderlies, corpsman and even several territorial army medics labored over their patients. All while pairents cried out suffering from everything from burns and shrapnel wounds, to full amputations and sucking chest wounds.

“His blood pressures dropping get me two C tetroholl…” A blue shelled Myrialos said from the side of a wounded marine.

“We are going to have to amputate the leg, Hey i need morpha and a monosaw over here!” A homeworld defence medic yelled holding down an injured Helleiver whos crimson armor shone and glistened with her blood.

“Aaaaagh god it hurts doc! Give me something!” A voice screamed from our left as another marine whose entire body was charged and covered in burns cried out as he groped weakley at the medic who was working on him.

“What do you want? Your not injured…” An orange scaled pink eyed Myrialos in a doctors uniform questioned frantically coming up to us.

“Deployment bay needs a trauma team immediately. We cant raise the cic and the ships AI isn't responding.” My suiter says resting his arms on the stock of the strange energy rifle clipped to his breastplate.

“We are having the same problems. Miklow cho’lomek, she will send a team down right away. Before you go the medical AI says go to the table in the back pick a disk and throw it in the bin. Thank you for coming gunnery sergeant now if you will excuse her.” With that the female tapped a citanus finger against her PDP before jogging to another patient.

As we turned to leave I caught sight of a technician sitting beside a desk covered in stacks of glowing coin sized red disks. With a shrug we went to the desk and each took a disk save for Armor who stood aside and Forbes who was refused one. The disks pulsed as we touched them before pinging once and falling unert. Fallons however seemed to pulse twice before first white as myself and Durge’s had before pulsing red until finally falling inert.

“I do not understand master why your kind feels the need to attempt to preserve your dying compatriots. Surely it would be easier and much more efficient to simply let the injured die and replace them with new troops. Or perhaps resurrect them as the UEC does.” Armor says as leave the med bay and begin heading towards the starboard hangar pylon.

Along the way avery must have sent a message to my brother as he met us half way. Bra'tac a name that got a chuckle out of Forbes and my suiters moth team mate AMP. Like many others he defected from the UEC but only when he discovered that he had been lied to by Supreme commander Rarity. For years he had been part of the UECs most elite fighting force the Prime guards, and charged as her personal bodyguard.

Then for almost two months he had been present when the unicorn tortured Avery Fallon and Tolan Harris as well as an SAS commando almost to death. The former two broke out with the aid of another unicorn but not in time to save the latter. Then hours later as Bra'tac and Fallon prepared to kill one another the rescue team arrived revealing the lie that I was alive and causing him to switch sides.

When we finally reached the flight deck we saw immediately saw the commotion outside of the door. Two full fireteams of marines stood poised to storm the bay with heavy LHO weapons designed to kill Lankys. As well as half of a team of MOTHs in full suits of power armor their forearm gatlings and back arm cherub mounted weapons ready to spew or slice anything they saw as a threat. And finally one of Manitoba's helldiver teams rounded off the group with a familiar face leading the improvised strike team.

“X, snafu, it's good to see you made it.” Avery Fallon called out greeting the lead helldiver who turned and slapped a gauntlet against fallon's forearm in greeting.

“Please you think bunch of hotdog pony pilots in in lest years fighters can keep me down what have you been smoking?” Xavier “X” Rodriguez called out using his faceless visors cameras to display his face over the bug like faceplate.

“Probably been hanging around his pokteksol, aey coyo? Singpula?” The second man “Snafu” Shelton gaunt man from who grew up in sols asteroid belt called in return in his thick belter accent.

“What the fucks going on anyway, what's with the muscle?” Fallon asked nodding to the MOTHs one of whom possessed rust orange accents to his armor marking him as a martian descendent.

“I have no…” The door slid open before X could respond and a blond human female walked out dressed in the form fitting black and orange flight suit of the Nordic Empire.

She paused for a second upon seeing my sister and myself before composing herself. “Merci d'être venu quand vous pourriez. Please this way.”

“So what have you got?” My best friend asked from my side. I have to admit the new legionnaire armor looks impressive, properly intimidating how very NAC.

“Merde Avery I have no idea. It's better if you see for yourself.” Rather than answering the question I lead the small group of NAC troopers around around small crowd of orange suited techs working on a downed shrike fighter.

“Fally when was the last time you sleeped you look terrible.” He gave me the side eye and despite his helmets slitted black visor I could feel the stare until he sagged a bit in his armor. “I don't know, a few days? A week at most.”

“Oh mon dieu gros idiot you have to take better care of yourself. You'll do no one any good if you fall over from exhaustion. Promise me you'll get some sleep when you can.”

“... fine when this is over ill get some rack time.” He sounded dejected but a touch from Miioras tail shut him up before he could reply further.

‘Good’ I thought to myself. If anyone would make sure he got the rest he needed it was Miiora. That girl was coiled so tightly around Fally i'm surprised he can even breathe.

[Its the dream's again.] A private message from Miiora flashed across my pimplant as my eyes flickered purple. [Damn it. I knew he wasn't over it yet. Why the hell won't he jet tell me these thing?]

[Because he doesn't want to worry anyone.]

Our conversation turned back to business before we rounded another fighter my own Gungnir. Who was currently in infantry mode aiming its wrist mounted 20mm rotary cannons at a group of around forty utterly alien flayed fighters. These were apparently the newest breed of Lanky craft. Bleeding edge tech that made our most advanced technology look like blocks of uninspired mud.

About a year ago we came into contact with a massive new class of lanky ship we now call claw ships on account of their six hundred meter four spikes that resembled clawes. And with it came these nasty things that must have been inspired by our own Gungnir fighters. The fighters on the deck are sleek, sharp and almost organic in design. A dagger like nose swept back until it sweeping back up into two forward facing “wings” that hung above the fuel salauge.

The things were downright scary they were completely black. Dark enough as to reflect almost no light at all. And along their hulls the fighters pulsed an evil red glow that culminated where the wings met the hull. The deceiving part of these are several of these fighters carried inside of them “marines” of a sort.

Two holes eyeressed open on the side of one of the fighters. And as we watched four of these “marines” or wendigo as they have come to be called seemed to fold themselves out to crawl out into the open.

They resemble their full sized counterparts no eyes and a head that is roughly shovel shaped being primarily a kind of beak and crest that could be used a kind of shield. Their skin was the color of egg shells and their body structure doesn't seem physically possible given the lanky build and strange joint position. Long three toed feet let at a narrow waist and a pair of four fingered claws reached down a little past its knees connected to a pair of arms whose shoulders were slightly behind their slender backs.

But unlike the full sized eighty foot variants, the wendigos have two maw protrusions jutting from their arms above the wrist. These protrusions were some kind of weapon being able to fire bone white spikes able to pierce through armor and shred flesh like tissue paper.

A piercing whale caused everyone not wearing a ligonarre or power armor helmet or in the bay to cover their ears. The one of the wendigo let out another screech before falling silent as it and its kin looked around. Immediately the strike team surged past me weapons at the ready.

But the lankys didn't fire their weapons instead seemed to tilt their heads in an unnerving manor. The largest of the four a fifteen foot tall alien turned and slapped at the flayed who shifted into its own variant of the gungnirs’ infantry mode.

The resemblance to the Nordic Empires premiere fighter is disturbing. Utterly off putting to know that something your nation built was being used, bastardized by the Lankys.

The thing turned to face us flexing a clawed hand gracefully before every device with a tactical link up spoke out at once. “This construct is impressive, humans. Especially compared to those the greater patterns used by the precious two patterns encountered by the whole or the one.”

The things voice was angelic, distinctly female. But oddly familiar no wait I know that voice. With a flicker of my implant I crossed the things voice with another I had heard before.

[Match 95.5%]
[Nordic Empire Pilot: Mary “Love” Dorson.]
[Attached to NES- Queen Marie]
[Status:KIA 2168/105AC]

Turning on a heal I pointed to my wingman. “Doll get the admiral now.”

“What do you mean they disappeared?!” Princess Celestia yelled to the group of holograms standing before the council and assembled supreme commanders. The primary speaker of the group being a large armor clad kleese. This was Supreme commander Allikil Krykss. “Simply that when we were able to engage the human dreadnought it vanished in a flash of light.” The arachnid responded calmly.

The tenth fleets supreme commander’s hologram flinches glad not to be in the crossfire this time but regains his composure. “It sounds familiar to me, i think one of my lesser captains saw something similar before.” he rubs his chin thinking and pulling up past reports. “Here’s the report, look at this” he quickly shares it with everyone present.

“Yes very good find, the ships data log shows the… clawed lanky vessel arrived in a slightly similar fashion.” Princess Twilight sparkle says before opening the file fully and diving into it.

“Princesses, council, and fellow supreme commanders, when a detachment of 10th fleet lost to a small fleet of these..’lankys’ a single small ship survived by plain dumb luck and saw that VERY flash..” the 10th fleet’s supreme commander states as a fact. “And the black box confirms it”

“A cloaking field perhaps?” King thorax suggested. Rubbing a citanus hand under his chin.

“I do not believe so your highness, commander allikil may be coming to the same conclusion as i am..and it is a grim one” the 10th fleets commander says with a frown.

“Indeed, if this were a mere cloak the ship would have still exploded when our fleet attacked it… No the radioactive particles given off by the flash seeme to match those produced by the warp bubbles.” The kleese said folding two arms behind his back and another two in front.

“What worrys me even more.. Is that if it followed the nodes, one of the reserve fleets should have encountered it, yet it just, vanished” the 10th fleet commander paces back and forth.

“Well if you had engaged The human Dreadnought when I ordered you to that ship would not have gotten away.” The prim voice of Supreme commander Rarity Belle counters to the large zaltule standing beside her.

“I was ordered to come in from behind if possible by allikil on his order and even then..” the earth pony tryed to contiue only to stop himself mumbling “wait a moment..”

“Yes supreme commander? Please speak your mind.” The shimmering image of Princess Luna said.

“Princess twilight..” the earth pony starts to ask “may i ask you to compare the exact readings of when the dreadnaught disappear to when one of those ‘lankys’ disappear?” he looks at the princess his hand trembling weakly “this bad feeling in my gut is growing… do you feel the same commander allikil?..”

“Indeed…” several minutes pass as the princess of magic does her computations. During which the Lunar princess shot angry glares toward Twilights appointed supreme commander. “Your orders were unjust rarity and unwarranted. Had Krykss disengaged his ships it still would not have changed the outcome of the battle as the backbone of his battlefleet are slower than the super destroyers we deploy.”

“With all do respect princess, but the ships he uses are not compliant with the UEC standard. They are ponderous, ugly, brutish, but most importantly slow. They don't comply with the way our people wage war, they are closer to the savage humans than our graceful elegant designs.”

“The reason I allow my supreme commander to employ the ships of his ancestors is simple. They have proven effective against the COGs ships able to stand hoof to hoof with some of their mightiest vessels.” The lunar princess responded in a clipped chastising tone.

“It's a match.” Twilights voice was a cold bloodless whisper.

“Then, it is as i feared..” the earth pony looks at allikil with a grim look “you see what this means too commander? Shall you tell them, or should i?..”

The kleese's abdomen bobbed slightly and his large fangs clicked together before he spoke. He had always been one to allow others to piece together a situation perhaps in hopes that they could learn. “What do you believe happened supreme commander?”

The earth pony’s hologram walks to the center of the room and takes a deep breath. “This, may seem hard to believe yet the evidence is clear as day..” his voice trembling “the COG..they.. They now have the capacity..no.. the ability, to bypass the nodes..completely..just like these ‘lankys’ can..”

“Very good. Now keeping this information in mind as well as the fact that we do not have the ships to spare searching every celestial system. What would you do to respond?”

“We go on the defencive I think..they can even hit the homeworld if they want to now..” the 10th fleet commander’s voice shakes a bit. “Other than that, what do you suggest allikil?”

“An interesting tactic. But if we truly go on the defensive then the COG will consolidate their forces and begin another offensive on another front. No…” Arachnid takes a scuttling step forward waving open several images of human vessels, and passages of human text.

“Earther history is littered with examples of great counter offensives. Their most notable being when they were able to push the lankys out of their home system. A feet I might add that we ourselves have been unable to do whenever their black ships arrive over one of our colonies. We can not allow the humans to fortify any further than they already have. Nor can we allow them to counter attack.”

The earth pony’s eyes slightly go wide in realisason. “Y-your right, i was in a panic commander Allikil..” he shakes his head “and you are right, they seem to be masters of counter-strikes..”

“Do not apologize commander. I commend your want to defend your home. Approve of it in fact, but logic would dictate that if the humans of earth were indeed able to travel this way normally they would have already appeared over the capital. Commander Fang why do you believe the humans have not done this with their dreadnought?” Kryskss voice was calm like a teacher giving a lesson. Several of the gathered supreme commanders and sub commanders hung on his words while the councils and princesses wanted to know where this line of reasoning was going.

Fang rubs her chin thinking “is it the same problem we are having in finding their homeworld?..” she looks at kryskss her eyes slowly widening “they don’t know where OUR homeworld is eather..”

“Yea that would make sense!” A gryphon supreme commander spoke up. His wings doing a series of excited flaps as he spoke.

“While that might indeed be the the case. It is my belief that the humans do not know how to use this new device. At least not properly, for now It is my recommendation that we continue our attack, but pull back non essential ships. Because as we continue our campaign against the earthers the Movement gains more momentum, and grows more bold. I propose that we deploy the reserve fleets to the frontlines, and pull back our withered assets to engage the movement with experienced troops. If the humans are indeed in our space they will undoubtedly seek to aid their allies as they make their way home.”

“An excellent plan supreme Commander, I move to employ.” The Dragon king said. Around the council chamber others began mirroring the sentiment until Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight finally made theirs decision.

“Very well. Supreme commander Krykss as your fleet suffered the least your fleet will be the first to be recalled. Followed by the most damaged being the third. This council is adjourned.” Celestia declared.

“So let me get this straight. You… the Lankys who have been at war with us for over a hundred years want our help? Why?”

“Because small patterns your kin have potential. The whole has existed and expanced since before your planet formed. There is an iron in your kind the whole has not been seen in quite some time. And the enemy is a danger not just your ilk, but if left unchecked will become a danger to the whole.”

“Blunt, isn't it sir?” Fallon asked standing beside the general with his weapon at low ready.

Barron glanced to one of the unknowingly modified soldiers. During the rescue several weeks ago an incident occurred with him and two others. A veteran Harris and the sole onyx guard aboard Douglas. Their Atlas-3s wombs seemed to change as their L-blades pulsed with the same red light that pulsed from the flayed now. Their bodys were injected with billions of organic nanites made from the wombs inner lining.

“Yes it is indeed gunny. But I don't see why it even needs to talk to us when their kind can just appear over the UEC homeworld.” Barron said folding his arms and leaning back to talk to the MOTH.

“Maybe they can't. Think about it sir if they could do that why didn't they just do it to earth a hundred years ago. Maybe they just got the technology or maybe their technology isn't compatible with it. Like remember that claw ship that appeared beside the gally? It just sat there for hours.”

“Yes and if they appear did the UEC would be able to use their energy rakes to slice the ir ships to pieces.” Ryoko said her avatar appearing on a PDP that floated in the zero-g.

Barron thought about that for a several seconds. It would make some kind of sense. Even now all of galacticas systems are coming back online. “That's actually a good point gunny you must have a soft spot for aliens. But I don't see how helping these lankys will help us.”

“I don't know about that sir. I hate the lankys just as much as the next guy. Sir pardon my bluntness but I don't know if you noticed. We lost a lot of good pilots a lot of good men out there on the hull while this bucket was idling. We can't afford to turn away the help were caught up in the churn. The rules of the game have changed.”

“What game?”

“The only game that matters, survival. When I left earth to live in the belt i had a boss that said that. Said it was when the jungle tares itself down and changes into something new. But maybe if we help them now, maybe they will help us later.”

“We gave you the devices to ensure your survival against the enemy. Your kind like so many others before was nothing to the whole. But you were able to fight back the arms, and notb just hold them back but push them out. One hundred billion times a second it reaches out and only recently have we received an answer. The one with Iron is correct, this game is about survival. Aid us and we will aid you.”

It does explain why those flayed seemingly delivered those devices to us a few months back. The ship shuddered as the lights flickered before going out. The only sources of light in the bay for several seconds were the red leds on the fighters and marines armor, as well as the pulsing red light from the flayed fighters.

Then all at once the lights came back on joined by the dull thrum of the ships engines and reactors. “The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy… But maybe we can deal. Welcome to Galactica.”

“All systems back online, running at one hundred percent. All ships report green across the board. General, Defiant just checked in. Two UEC cruisers and one destroyer are at the extreme edge of sensor range, coming out of the ecliptic. Don't worry the radiation and magnetic field of the gas giant are masking our presence for now. They appear to be responding to a distress signal from a space station on the opposite end of the system from Alcubierre node. A slave revolt apparently, good for them.” The AI said from her floating position.

“The slaves will not last against those UEC ships general. They will all be killed.” The large zaltule whose name tape read Durge said.

“Sir what are your orders. Do we make for the node or help the slaves?” Ryoko asked.

“... Oohpa.” Barron thought for several long agonized seconds before retrieving his PDP from its pouch on his leg. After keying in a command code every intercom onboard the galactica and its docked ships came to life.

“This is the general we are in unknown space. No doubt deep behind enemy lines. We're alone and with no support coming. But there is a station full of UEC slaves that needs our help. Now we can make a run for the node and leave them behind or we can help and get dragged into whatever the hell is going on out here. I known I am in command, but almost galactica is a new ship with a green crew. Only the docked ships have experienced crews onboard, so i'm calling on that experience now.
My grandfather my family grew up on mars and when the shovel heads came they took that from all of us. These people want to fight for their home so I asking all of you, will we fight with them so they don't lose theirs.”

A metallic thud clangs in the bay before another clangs again. Turning Miiora sees her suitor and several other marines had begun slamming their fists into their breastplates. Soon as the general continues speaking every human in the bay had begun making the same clang. Be it with their fists against armor, tools against the deck, or boot heels magnetically stomping down.

“The enemys we fight may believe are scarred but that is not fear. It is our power! Some of us we may be from different colonies others may be from Sol. But we are humans no fight in the black is foreign to us. The place we choose to fight is the place we belong, this is no different! No race has more right to its place in the universe. None are more prepared to defend their homes. The UEC and Lankys might take our planets and call them their own. But Humans forged them through sweat, through tears and through blood. We are the COG, we are strong, we are powerful, we are survivors and we will never run from a fight. This battle, this war belongs to us! For the COG! For humanity!”

“FOR Humanity!” Every human in the bay shouted their approval of the generals speech. Even several of the kleese around the hold nodded their approval, while the four wendigo let out a piercing ear splitting whale.

“All hands, this is the general… action stations.”