[MO-9/O-092/M-4/C-23, 19:51AMC (Interstellar Travel Standard Time), Terrax Mining World, Alpha Sector, Kyklos]

The fiery-red glows of explosions contrasted against the pitch-blackness in the sky. The dark brown rocky surface of the Mining World of Terrax was riddled with scorch marks and craters from the ceaseless battle between the militias of the Kyklos United Worlds Alliance and the New Era Powers, both fighting fiercely for control over the planet, with the latter slowly closing in on the exhausted former’s position in their mountain base.

The KUWA's ground forces were being utterly obliterated by the immense numbers of NEP armor on the frontlines. Their artillery, though powerful, was utterly useless against the enemy’s state-of-the-art frontline buster tanks. KUWA casualties were increasing by the hundreds with every passing minute.

In the skies above, hundreds of starfighters battled for air superiority, with the NEP having a major advantage with their newest starfighters that ran circles around their enemy. Dozens of KUWA fighters dropped out of the sky like flies and onto the cold stone surface of the planet, with some even crashing onto their fellow soldiers.

Accompanying the enemy starfighters and leading the overall siege was a sleek Voyager-class warship with a black and orange livery, with the name OLS Windwaker printed on the side in white bold text. A man could be seen commanding the battle from the Windwaker's bridge. He had average height, a muscular physique, a pale complexion, black hair in a military cut, an eyepatch on his left eye, and a black coat with dark orange accents. The Grand Admiral of the Orion League Military, Ferren Densworth.

A soldier in black and dark orange-trimmed praetorian-esque armor approached Ferren and gave a status report.

"Grand Admiral Densworth," started the Legionnaire. "The east and west KUWA outposts have been overrun and occupied as of 18:41AMC. Our forces from those sectors are now moving in to attack the eastern flanks. The combined forces will overwhelm their defenses and allow us to overrun their HQ in no less than twenty blinks from now."

"Excellent… How goes my First Mate’s assault in the north?" asked Densworth.

"The north outpost has been overrun, sir. Their artillery proved to be a challenge at first, but he was able to wear it down with attrition and a flank maneuver. He’s moving in on the enemy's mountain base from the east right now, sir."

"Excellent. Order the frontline busters to maintain their current position and focus fire on the Icarian HQ. We’re moving on to phase two of the siege." The Grand Admiral turned his head back to the battle.

"Maximize enemy casualties."

The Legionnaire saluted and walked out of the bridge.

Back on the ground, the NEP forces from the east and west flanks arrived and began finishing off the weakened KUWA defenses, destroying any of their remaining artillery and sending the last of their beaten soldiers on the run back to HQ. Hastily retreating alongside these soldiers was a hover jeep, swerving around the rugged terrain in an attempt to not get blasted.

Inside the hover jeep were four Icarian military personnel. A Lieutenant-Mechanic in the driver’s seat, a gunner in the passenger’s seat remote-controlling the roof-mounted turret, a commander in the rear seat currently bleeding out from his side, and a general tending to the bleeding commander’s wounds.

“Argh, f-fuck!” the commander exclaimed as the general patched him up as best as he could. To try and distract himself from the pain, he chuckled weakly and cracked a joke, “E-Ehe… I-I guess we really made a big mistake coming to Terrax! D-Didn’t we, Maxston?!”

“That… is an understatement,” replied Maxston. He took out a syringe and jabbed Perkins’ side with it, making him flinch in pain as the meds worked their magic to heal his wounds. “There we go. Just let that work its magic.” The general turned his attention over to the driver. “Lieutenant-Mechanic Danvers! How much longer till we’re back at headquarters?!”

“A little hard to see with all of this dodging enemy fire and not trying to run over the remains of my comrades, general! If only Dustin here could actually aim a turret to save his life!” Danvers exclaimed, referring to the gunner in the passenger’s seat.

“To be fair, you won’t stop swerving long enough for me to actually aim properly!” shouted Dustin as he fiddled with the joystick and bashed the buttons of the turret's controller, only for a stray tank round to shoot it off of the roof. "…Well, that's the end of that."

"Ugh, that's going to be a bitch to repair." Danvers' grip on the wheel tightened.

Perkins chuckled weakly at the pair's bickering.

“Well, ain’t you two just a lovely married couple?” he joked, causing the both of them to flush red.

“We are not married!” exclaimed Dustin and Danvers in unison.

“Well, yet at least. Still need to find the time to pop the question!” Dustin uttered nonchalantly, to which Danvers became even more red and embarrassed.

“Wha— As if I would marry a punk like you!”

"Oh, please! I know you've got a thing for me!

"Well, if you don’t focus on the road, you’re going to find us buried with this jeep before you find the time you need to propose! Now step on it!” General Maxston ordered, with Danvers stepping on the gas and speeding towards the mountain base hangar. As they retreated however, an NEP tank took aim and fired on their position, sending the hover jeep spinning through the air as it entered the hangar.

“Woah, shit!” Danvers exclaimed as she held onto her chair for dear life.

“Oooh, not like this!” Dustin cried out, his words elongating as they tumbled through the air.

“Everyone, hold on!” shouted Maxston as they spun around in the hangar, eventually crashing into another car, somehow not exploding in the process. The quartet pried the doors open and stumbled out of the wrecked hover jeep, with medics coming in to tend to the others.

“Get them medical treatment, stat,” ordered General Maxston. “And get me a cart to the control room. I need to make an annoucemen—” he stumbled a bit as he winced in pain from his headache. “Ugh, Odin save me…”

“Sir, we need to get you to the medbay as well,” a lycanfolk doctor in overalls informed the general. “We need to get you checked for—”

“I said get me to the bridge, Doctor Mediclaw!” the general exclaimed with irritation before calming down. “I… Sorry, j-just get me to the control room. I’ve got to make an order. Please.”

Doctor Mediclaw sighed and called in a cart to help him navigate through the mountain base.

Inside the HQ, it was utter chaos. Officers and soldiers were scrambling as they began evacuating the crumbling base while taking as many vital documents with them as they could, medics evacuating and tending to wounded soldiers, and maintenance teams were trying to keep the fires and piles of rubbles from growing any larger.

Maxston parked his cart next to the control room entrance, walking in and being greeted with the panicking of officers as they tried to keep the situation under control.

One of the officers approached General Maxston and gave him a status report.

“Officer Halenfield, reporting for duty, General Maxston!” she started as she saluted him. “It’s not looking good, sir. All of our positions have been overrun by enemy forces, seventy percent of our fighters have been grounded, and Densworth’s First Mate and his Tsunami Vanguard are already breaching into the base from the southwest division of the base! If we stay here any longer, we’re all going to die!”

“I’ve seen the situation with my own eyes, Halenfield. Now give me the intercom. I need to make an announcement.”

“Of course, sir.” Halenfield stood aside as the general walked to the intercom and made his announcement.

"This is General Maxston to all KUWA units,” he started. “This battle is lost. Evacuate the base immediately. We will regroup with General Kenn at our secret outpost in the Hadis Asteroid Belt to prepare a counterattack. I repeat, we will regroup with General Kenn at the Hadis Asteroid Belt and prepare for a counterattack. May your faiths guide your way. Now hurry! Time is of the essence!" General Maxston wished the best for his troops as he got off the intercom. He then turned to everyone else in the control room. “Everyone, pack your things! We’re leaving!”

"Sir, you must reconsider!” another officer protested the general’s decision. “If we lose Terrax, then the League will be able to penetrate our defensive borders and reach Icaria Prime! Surely we can win this battle! We just need to formulate a new strategy and—"

"Officer Olin, you saw the carnage out there with your own eyes! Our air units are all obliterated, their infantry is nigh-uncountable, and their cavalry is impervious to our artillery! We've been on the ropes ever since we arrived on this damn planet two suborbits ago!" the general informed Olin of their many misfortunes. "I want to stay and fight, but we don't have the strength to hold our position! As much as I hate to admit it, the NEP has won this battle. But they've still yet to win this war. Now hurry! Get to the Doragon!" Wasting no time, General Maxston and the others began evacuating the control room to make it to their ship on their hover carts.

As they drove through the dismantled base to the Doragon’s hangar, the lights flickered on and off for a few seconds before turning off completely, prompting the emergency lights to activate, bathing the halls in a dim red light. The halls quaked, prompting General Maxston to halt their advance. He raised his fist, signaling the other carts behind him to stop.

“Why have we sto—” Officer Halenfield asked before being shushed by the general.

“Shush! Listen…” General Maxston urged his troops to be silent and listen. They stood still, trying to hear what he was hearing. A stomping noise could be heard echoing through the halls with each time the ground quaked.

“Does anyone hear that?” whispered Officer Olin.

“Y-Yeah…” replied Officer Halenfield. “B-But… where’s it coming from—”

As the stomping got louder and louder, the troops turned pale as they realized that the sound was coming from—

“Right behind you, fucksticks!”

A gruff and energetic voice yelled from behind the troops. Before most of them could turn around to see who was speaking, high-velocity jets of water erupted from the shadows in the blink of an eye, taking chunks out of the soldiers they managed to hit and ending their lives.

“It’s the First Mate! Pedal to the medal!” yelled General Maxston as he and the troops started driving as fast as they could, with some shooting as they retreated.

“Ohoho, you can’t run for-fuckin'-ever! Now c’mere so I can taste test your craniums!” the mysterious assailant taunted as they chased the KUWA soldiers down, shooting more water jets and taking down more soldiers.

“You vile monster!” said Halenfield as she fired at the mystery pursuer from the cargo bed of Olin's cart. “Go back to the sea and fuck a fish, you—”

“Halenfield, please don’t encourage the hydrokinetic killer whale with legs!” interjected Officer Olin. "You’re just painting a target on your—”

Before Olin could finish his sentence, Halenfield's leg was hit with a water jet. She and fell off of the cart and scream in pain as her leg was blasted off. But in spite of her pain, she continued firing her rifle at their pursuer.

“Halenfield! No! I'm coming!” Olin stopped the cart in his tracks and tried to reverse in order to pick up Halenfield, but she gestured him to halt.

“Leave me!” she yelled. She flashed one last smile at the junior officer. “Do me a favor and win the war, will yo—” She was interrupted as a tendril made of water grabbed her leg and dragged her into the shadows. The last Olin saw of Halenfield was her frantically screaming and firing her rifle as she was dragged across the floor and into the clutches of their pursuer. Her screams stopped abruptly as a disgusting bone-crunching and flesh-tearing noise reverbed through the halls.

“Halenfield!” screamed Olin. He tried to run after her, only to be scooped up by Mediclaw, who began dashing the rest of the way to the hangar.

“Officer Olin, I’m sorry, but it’s too late for her!” said Mediclaw. “The best way we can honor her now is to not die and win this war!”

“B-But Halenfield! And the others—”

“No more buts! I’m sorry, but there's no saving them! We have to leave now!” The wolfman doctor dashed on all fours to the doorway where the others were waiting.

“Mediclaw! Olin! Hurry up!” General Maxston beckoned them to hurry from the door. As the pair finally made it into the Doragon's hangar, the general swiftly shut the doors. Just as the doors closed, the mystery pursuer crashed along the thick metal doors, creating a small dent on the KUWA's side, causing them to stagger a little.

“Hey now, I ain’t going to hurt y’all folks! I just want a tasty sample of your heads! Just let me in and we can talk it out over some monkey brains!” shouted the pursuer as they pounded at the door.

“The door won't hold for long! Let's move!” General Maxston and the others ran to the HMS Doragon, entering it through the hangar.

Hundreds of injured soldiers were being tended to in the hangar, unable to accommodate everyone in the overcrowded medical bay. The hangar floors were nearly painted red with the blood of injured and dead soldiers. What little remained of their vehicles were docked and undergoing repairs.

Mediclaw immediately got to work on helping the wounded as best as he could.

“I’ll handle the wounded!" said Mediclaw as he bandaged up a wounded soldier's leg. "You guys get to the bridge and prepare for launch!”

General Maxston nodded as he took a cart to the ship bridge. On the bridge, the Doragon’s bridge personnel were scrambling to get the vessel ready to launch and get off of the planet before their position was overrun by NEP forces.

"Get the reactor up and running!" General Maxston commanded as he sat down in the central overseer chair. "Divert sixty percent of our power to shields and main thrusters and twenty to our remaining weapons!" He turned to a hologram of a girl with fair skin, light gray braided hair, and pink eyes, wearing a black and gray bodysuit. "Saruné, get ready to enter warp space once we're out of the atmosphere!"

"Affirmative, capitaine! Preparing warpdrive!" replied the Doragon's AI, preparing the warpdrive for when they made it out of the atmosphere.

"We've only got one chance to escape, people! Don't waste it!" The bridge crew performed their assigned tasks to get HMS Doragon out of Terrax and away from the fast-approaching enemies. The hangar doors opened and the Doragon's thrusters ignited, lifting it off the ground as the onboard weapons firing at any incoming NEP starfighters. It seemed like they just might make it…

But unbeknownst to the Doragon’s crew, this had all been part of the plan.

From the bridge of the OLS Windwaker, Ferren watched a live feed of the Doragon taking off from its hangar, now exposing itself. The pieces of Ferren’s plan had finally fallen into place. He couldn’t help but grin with pride as he witnessed the foolishness of his enemies.

"Hm. A futile and foolish escape. Just as planned." He turned around and walked out of the bridge, but not before giving out one last order. “They’ve exposed themselves…”

“Finish it.”

By the Grand Admiral's command, several bombers flew in on the Doragon’s position from orbit and fired their bombs through electromagnetic launchers. The vessel's shields blocked the damage as best as they could, but alas, they were eventually overwhelmed by the sheer number of bombs fired upon them. The Doragon's hull was breached by the bombs, a couple of them reaching the reactor and destroying it, sending the ship on collision course with the ground.

The crew of the Doragon could do nothing but panic in despair as their once mighty ship fell from the sky. Many of them prayed to their deities for entry into the afterlife. Others prayed for a way out, unable to accept the idea of dying here and leaving their families and nations behind. Couples aboard the ship gave their last kisses goodbye and embraced each other as they were engulfed in flames and buried under debris.

General Maxston could do nothing but take off his cap and place it on his chest as his ship and her crew were reduced to mere rubble. One of the Kingdom of Icaria’s top generals, brought down with one fell swoop. To many, falling in such a manner would be a stain on their pride. But to Maxston, there was only one thing going through his mind before the flames engulfed him.

“Be strong, my people… Be strong in my place…” He closed his eyes and gave one last salute as the bridge was crushed by rocky debris as the once mighty war vessel collided with the ground. The Doragon exploded in a gargantuan and fiery mushroom cloud that could be seen from the ground for miles.

The HMS Doragon has fallen…

The NEP forces cheered in unison as their enemies burnt to a crisp. After five grueling months of combat, victory was theirs and Terrax was now their territory.

“Well done, men,” said Ferren on the intercom. “But our work is not over yet. We've still got work to do with securing Terrax. Begin setting up a perimeter around the planet and make sure any survivors are captured for interrogation. Over.”

Half of the soldiers walked back to their ships to rest while the other half started setting up their perimeter.

Silence fell over Terrax for the night…

[MO-9/O-092/M-4/C-23, 25:43AMC (I.T.S.T.), Terrax Mining World, Alpha Sector, Kyklos]

Night had fallen over the planet of Terrax. Or, at least the thirty-hour Interstellar Travel Standard Time clock had told them night had fallen, given that no one could ever really tell with how the Mining World’s skies were always pitch black.

The NEP forces had set up a perimeter on the planet, with hundreds of patrols surveying the surface, and dozens of warships patrolling the skies. Some of these patrol squads were surveying the wreckage of the Doragon for scrap, salvageable loot, and survivors, though the latter was basically impossible to find…

That is if they bothered to look a little harder.

Unbeknownst to them, a single starfighter that had flown out of the Doragon's starfighter hangar before its destruction was discreetly flying with anti-radar cloak on to avoid detection.

“C’mon, girl…” the pilot whispered reassurance to herself as she painstakingly flew through the canyons of Terrax, hiding behind rock formations to avoid detection from passing fighter squadrons. “You can do this. Remember your training. Anti-radar cloak won't do all the work for you…”

She flew through the canyons of Terrax, occasionally stopping to hide behind rocks to avoid any passing starfighter squadrons and turn off her engine. After what felt like a dozen hours of flying through cliffs, hiding behind rocks at turtle-like speeds, she finally found an area of the airspace that the NEP had yet to cover. Wasting no time, she took the chance and flew out of Terrax’s atmosphere and into the vacuum of space.

Once the pilot was finally in the clear, she removed her helmet and slouched in her chair, her black hair tousled by the stress of what had taken place before. She had just witnessed the destruction of her fellow peers, all in the span of a few seconds. Was this really the true power of the New Era Powers? If so, then how could they possibly even dream of winning a war that seemed so hopeless in the face of such a mighty foe?

After taking a moment to recollect her thoughts, she attempted to start up her fighter again to fly to the Hadis Asteroid Belt and regroup with her allies, only to be greeted by flickering lights and sounds as the last of her fuel was guzzled up.

“No, no, no, no… Come on!” she attempted to start up her fighter again, but to no avail. “Damnit! Don’t run out of fuel on me now! Come on, come on, come on!” she pleaded her fighter to boot back up, banging on the control panel in an attempt to troubleshoot it. After five minutes of failure to jumpstart the fighter, she leaned back into her seat, more frustrated than ever.

“No… Come on, Bridgette. Just… calm down. Relax.” Bridgette steadied her breathing. “Just… call for help. Y-Yeah. Call for help. That’s it!” She grabbed her comm device from her belt and attempted to make radio contact with any nearby KUWA forces. She cleared her throat, calmed her mind, and spoke.

"This is Alfa-531 of Doragon Aerial Squadron 3, Requesting a pickup. Over," she radioed, hoping to make contact with someone, anyone. But she was met with nothing but the dreaded sound of static. No one was answering.

"This is Alfa-531 of Doragon Aerial Squadron 3. Requesting a pickup. My tank's empty. Over," she shakily repeated as tears began to slowly trickle down her cheeks.

Nothing but static…

“No, no, no… C-Come on. P-Please! Someone answer! Anyone?!”

Nothing but static…

“H-Hello?! Th-This is Alfa-531! If any KUWA forces are out there, please! I need help! O-Over!”

Bridgette continued for about five more minutes, but to no avail. Every attempt she made to establish radio contact was met with nothing but white noise.

After numerous attempts to call for help, she gave up, dropping her comm device before breaking into a crying fit. She screamed in sorrow and frustration till her throat was sore and thrashed around in her seat. This went on for about fifteen minutes before she became completely drained of energy, sitting limp in her seat as tears just dripped down her face.

"Pl-Please… Anyone… Anything…" Bridgette beckoned, struggling to talk through her sore throat. "Please… Say something…" Her pleas going unanswered once more, she curled up in a fetal position in her seat.

As Bridgette sat their hopelessly, she thought of why she had been spared from death, only to be treated to a fate she considered worse. Was it a punishment by Odin for something she did wrong? A cruel joke by fate? Just bad luck taking its place? That, she did not know. All she knew in that moment was that she had nothing. No fuel, no comrades, and no signal. Just nothing but her, a run down starfighter, and the cold expanse…

But as she broke down in the cockpit of her starfighter, as if Odin had sent a valkyrie to guide her through her darkest hour…

Her calls were answered.

"…This is…ral Kenn of the…Knightmare," a voice suddenly sprung up through Bridgette's comm device, interrupted and cut off by static. Invigorated by the sound of a human voice, Bridgette quickly took her device and readjusted the frequency to get a clearer signal. "I repeat. This is General Kenn of the HMS Knightmare. We've pinpointed your location, Alfa-531. Over."

"General Kenn! Thank the Allfather, I-I…" she choked on her tears as she struggled to form her sentence.

"Easy, 531. Collect yourself. We're sending over a shuttle to pick you up. Your fuel's gone dry. Just relax in the meantime. Over."

"A… Affirmative. O-Over," Bridgette replied. She sighed in relief and wiped the tears and sweat off of her face.

"By the way, I must ask something of you, if you don't mind. Over," requested Kenn.

"Yeah… W-What is it? Over."

"What's the status report on General Maxston and his crew? Where are they? We agreed to meet at the Hadis asteroid belt, but all we've seen of the Doragon's crew is, well, you. Over." The general anxiously waited for a response. After a brief moment of silence, Bridgette responded.

"Sir, no offense, sir. But look at me… Eight thousand soldiers, and only one speaking to you… Over…" she whispered through bated breaths. General Kenn just stood there, his eyes widening and sweat dripping down his face. He looked over to all the other bridge personnel, many of whom were left wide-eyed, jaw agape, and utterly speechless at what they heard. Some even began to break into tears.

Containing his urge to weep, General Kenn wiped the tears forming in his face and responded.

"U-Understood…" started General Kenn. "W-We are very sorry for your loss, 531. Just s-sit tight and we'll pick you up. Over…" He hung up the call before turning back to the bridge personnel.

"…I-I…" General Kenn tried to think of something to say to console the demoralized crew. "…I-I shall schedule therapy sessions for everyone who requests. T-To any personnel here who had family members on the Doragon, we shall make sure that they are given full military honors. Until then, we must keep working hard. This is a great tragedy, but we mustn't let it drag us down. I-If we do, th-then the sacrifices of the Doragon's crew will have been in vain. S-So…" he sniffled and wiped the tears falling down his cheeks, "let us keep working, ladies and gentlemen. I shall go to the briefing room to report now. May your faiths guide your way."

General Kenn saluted everyone on the bridge, who all returned it with heavy hearts and minds before resuming their work. He exited the bridge and requested a cart to take to the briefing room.

As the general waited for his cart, he slumped on a nearby bench, attempting to steady his breathing. He took his hat off with trembling hands and wiped the sweat off his brow. Was this to be their destiny? Total annihilation? If so, why even bother fighting the war if there was no victory to be found? There were little to no words that General Kenn could say, other than…

"...We're done for..."