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RyuKoOh flies out of the Bellator-class Star Dreadnought’s hangar and speeds towards the enemy. Then it extends its arm, and flames come forth, incinerating several transports!
“Welcome back, you two- and to RyuKoOh too!” says Excellen over the comms.
“Good to be back, and with an old friend by our sides,” responds Bullet.
On the bridge of the Bellator-class Star Dreadnought, named Invincible, Thrawn admires the unleashed Mechanoid.
“There is a certain artistry to the design, is there not? The stripes on the armor plating and those wings for instance," he asks Captain Langely. The captain is tall and appears stern.
“I’ve never had your appreciation for art, Grand Admiral, but it certainly can destroy the enemy well,” the captain responds.
Thrawn nods, “One day perhaps you will learn to appreciate it as I do.”
“I just hope we never have to fight that thing.”
Don’t worry. Taking Earth by force is beyond our power, but there are alternatives to conquest. One day the RyuKoOh may fight for the Empire.”
With a sequence of odd hand movements, RyuKoOh summons a circle of talismans. These then fly over the battle to surround a group of transports. A web of electricity extends from the talismans and annihilates the transports!
The enemy Acclamator begins to break and run, but the Alteisen Riese and Rein Weissritter are on its tail.
“Excellen, time for our special attack!”
The two rush towards the enemy bridge, firing their autocannon and E mode Oxtounge Rifle. Then Excellen moves around the bridge, attracting fire from the guns of the vessel, but avoiding it. Then Kyosuke pierces the bridge with his Revolver Bunker.
Excellen then barrages the bridge with her Oxtounge Rifle B mode, after which Kyosuke makes another attack run with his Bunker. Excellen then fires another shot with E mode. Then Kyosuke unleashes his Avalanche Claymore before the two hit the bridge with a combined Bunker/E mode attack.
"This is our… Trump Card!” Kyosuke says as the bridge explodes. The vessel continues on its course, with no one left to change it.
With this, allied forces pick off the scattering transports. Their escorts hold on a little longer. A missile boat chases an X-Wing of Rogue Squadron until RyuKoOh blasts it with a blue beam from its eyes. RyoKoOh then encounters another of the Stormtrooper-piloted mobile suits, which fires a torpedo at the super robot. It has little effect on the mighty RyoKoOh, which then dispatches the enemy with a swing of its blade. Rogue Leader fires one of his own torpedoes, downing the last of the Missile Boats.
“Rogue Leader to Nautilian, we’ve taken out the transports, their mothership and the escorts. Orders?”
“Our next target is the enemy capital ships, starting with that Praetor!”
“Roger. Rogue Squadron, begin the attack on the Praetor-class!”
The Praetor II-class Star Battlecruiser was a large, wedge-shaped vessel with an unusual command center in a central ridge that extends a little more than halfway across the rear of the vessel. The massive vessel was still “only” a bit more than a third of the length of the Emperor’s Reach, but its bulk was considerable for a vessel of its length. However, compared to the leviathan it faced in the Nautilian, it was ill-matched.
The point defense weaponry on the Praetor-class opened up, destroying many of the allied starfighters. However, the Nautilian’s weapons are greater, with ion cannons and turbolasers burst through the space between the two vessels, as well as missiles and torpedoes launched by the smaller vessels. Then Grand Admiral Thrawn’s Invincible opens fire as well. This Bellator-class is more in a similar weight class to the Praetor, but newer and more oriented towards speed, but its speed was not what was relevant now.
“If Captain Aerik is still in command, he cannot defend against an attack from this vector while defending against the Nautilian. We are also not in danger from the Executor-class. I predict we'll achieve complete victory shortly.
Indeed, the Executor-class was maneuvering towards the smaller Super Star Destroyer, but the even more massive Nautilian kept in position to protect the other vessel. Elsewhere, the Galaxy X's principal weapon pierces the compromised shields of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, causing the ship to explode. Some of the Nautilian's guns, not firing on the Bellator, almost incidentally destroyed another vessel, one of the Victory IIs.
“Casualties are mounting! Intensify our forward firepower and take that thing down!” says Admiral Nantz.
By this point, the Nebula and Scythe-class vessels are focusing their firepower on the Praetor. While tiny compared to the Nautilian, they still add to the pressure on the enemy vessel. Finally, the shields drop and explosions rock the craft where turbolasers or warheads impact with the hull. The ship finally comes apart from the massive explosion.
“Finally! Now all vessels, focus fire on that Super Star Destroyer!”
The allied ships that are left then begin their attack on the enemy's primary ship. However, they are not out of moves yet.
“Evacuate all non-essential personnel, then aim our craft at the enemy dreadnought! We will at least deny the Rebels their flagship!” says the Imperial Admiral.
“Sir, is the situation really that desperate!?”
“I have given my orders. Now carry them out, or I will find someone who will!”
“Yes, sir,” responds the officer.
The allied forces destroy one of the Star Dreadnought’s escorts, then another. Then an officer on the Nautilian notices the exodus from the enemy warship.
The enemy is likely abandoning the Executor-class, sir. We’re winning!"
“Don’t be so sure. They are still firing on us. Still, order our forces to avoid firing on the fleeing vessels. Continue our pressure on the main enemy warship. Something is certainly wrong here.”
On the Hagane Operator Eita Nakamura says, “Is that big ship turning?”
“What? Confirm!” responds Commander Tetsuya Onodera .
“Confirmed!” responds Eita, “They appear to be turning toward the Nautilan!"
“Do we have a clear shot with the Tronium Buster Cannon? Specifically against their engines?” asks Captain Ginto Kitamui.
“No, sir. Allied forces are in the line of fire.
“Damn. Send in our mobile weapons teams. Take out the main engines of that behemoth! Also, let Admiral Nantz know what is going on.”
The ATX Team blasts off towards the imposing warship leading the enemy forces. However, they slow down as they are engaged by more and more of the enemy starfighters. RyuKoOh suddenly shifts its form, becoming the tiger-headed KoRyuOh and swats the fighter craft with its nunchaku, but many more appear.
“There are too many of them! They can’t do much to KoRyuOh, but the sheer number is pinning us down!” says Bullet.
“That‘s where we come in,” says Rogue Leader “Rogues have been shooting down TIEs in droves since the beginning of the Galactic Civil War!”
“Man, I bet you guys have stories to tell!” responds Bullet.
Indeed, according to what their leader said, Rogue Squadron can out-fly the TIE pilots and divert them from harassing the ATX Team. Still, a few breakthroughs, but not enough to slow them down significantly.
They see seven of the Imperial mobile suits they previously fought as they draw near the formidable vessel. However, they are fighting each other. Fortunately, the ATX Team’s IFF systems recognize the allied machines, which are outnumbered. KoRyuOh fires its fist at one of them, destroying it. Then Weissritter takes out the next one with a shell from its Oxtounge Rifle Type B and Alteisen Riese rushes forward and skewers one with its Revolver Bunker. With the Angelg and Flickerei Geist, Lamia Loveless and Ariel Org take out the final one. The Angelg launches several green projectiles into it and then the Flickerei Geist fires its machine cannon to finish it.
“Thanks for the assist, Earth pilots!”
“No problem!” says Bullet, as both teams blast off to their objectives.
As they reach the enormous Super Star Destroyer, they attract attention from its gunnery teams. Indeed, they observe an allied bomber's proton torpedo blast. A point defense cannon destroys it, and then Thrawn’s TIE interceptor explodes from a blast. Of course, there is also fire from the allied warships impacting the shielding in multiple places.
The team seizes a chance to get through a shield opening, heading for the hull to better dodge enemy attacks. KoRyuOh leads the way, with the Alteisen Riese close behind. The vulnerable Weissritter remains in the middle, and the Angelg and Flickerei Geist guard the rear,
The Executor-class is not the only one on the move. The Invincible is maneuvering around the larger vessel. Although it can't win a head-on battle, it's much safer when a Viscount-class vessel is present to assist.
“More power to our starboard shields and have our destroyers protect our port. We have to destroy those engines," Thrawn declares.
A swarm of TIEs and other fightercraft are thick in the space between the two dreadnoughts. Thrawn’s TIEs have an advantage in durability because of their shielding, but the really decisive factor is the tactics. Despite being outnumbered, they shoot down more enemy fighters than they lose.
The ATX Team tears its way through the cityscape on the enemy vessel. They destroy enemy weapon emplacements as much as they can. A flight of TIEs approaches, but a split missile barrage from Weissritter takes care of them. Then Alteisen Riese rams a laser cannon with his heat horn.
Soon they clear the cityscape and blast past the bridge tower to the rear of the vessel. Allied forces have taken shields in this section of the ship down. A squadron of K-Wings launches their proton torpedoes to take down one of the primary engines. Alteisen Riese then targets another with a barrage of attacks, culminating in a Claymore Avalanche strike that disables another engine. This continues until all the engines are disabled.
Grand Admiral Thrawn contacts the Emperor’s Reach and says, "We have disabled your engines and forestalled your suicidal strike. I offer you a chance to surrender to the Galactic Alliance. You and your men will be treated well, I assure you.”
“There will be no surrender! We will fight to the very end! For the true Emperor!”
“Your Emperor is dead. Marasiah Fel rules the Empire now.”
‘No, traitor, he lives. He will rule this galaxy and our own. Now die!” says the enemy captain as communications end. The remaining Imperial forces all target the Invincible. However, the KoRyOh reaches the bridge tower.
“Let’s finish this Kusuha!” says Bullet.
“Right, Bullet!” she responded.
“KoRyuOh’s ultimate technique, Tiger King’s Rampage!” Bullet yells as power surges through KoRyuOh. Then the super robot surges forward and strikes the bridge with an uppercut as Bullet says, “Heart and mind as one! My aim is clear!”
Then KoRyuOh causes its nunchaku to appear in its hands and Bullet strikes with it as he says “Random Spike!” Then he causes the nunchaku to disappear and the Sonic Javelin to appear and strikes with the spear-like implement repeatedly then finally the Sonic Javelin disappears and its fist becomes surrounded by a drill and with a cry of “Tyrant Over Break!” thrusts the first forward to finish the attack. The bridge is demolished.
With this remaining resistance crumbles. The remaining vessels surrendered and the Galactic Alliance took them into custody. The commanders of each force meet aboard the Nautilian.
“Well Thrawn, would you like to explain how forces under your command end up helping renegades from the Deep Core?” asked Admiral Nantz.
“Unfortunately, I do not have a complete explanation myself. We suspected treachery when the squadron of missile boats that fought in the battle were stolen from a deep space armory station. My task group was attempting to track the stolen fighters when we received word of the attack on the Federation space station. I suspected that the events were connected. The investigation into the defectors is ongoing,” responds Thrawn.
“We are supposed to take your word that these highly rare assets just happened to go missing before a major attack?"
“”Excuse me Admiral, but I am uncertain that these recriminations are getting us anywhere. Your own intelligence services could not give us any warning of this attack either.” says Commodore Jones.
“Thrawn once served the Emperor these renegades still claim to. He could secretly still be loyal to him or his memory.”
“I assure you I know nothing of any return of the Emperor. It is even said that he had a hand in the death of my alternate. For good or ill, I serve Empress Marisiah Fel and she supports the Galactic Alliance.”
“I, for one, do not suspect Thrawn in this. If he had wanted us to fail all he needed to do was hold back his forces. Instead he fought behind us. Londo Bell is grateful for that,” says Rear Admiral Bright.
“I suppose I have no choice but to withdraw my accusations. However, I know Thrawn. He was a terrible enemy of the Republic. I find it hard to believe he has changed. However, I’m not stubborn enough to fight a whole second battle over my suspicions.”
“If that is settled, then we can move on,” says Commodore Jones. The rest of the meeting is uneventful. Meanwhile, above a planet in a galaxy far, far away two large vessels rendezvous.
Aboard one vessel a figure in a cloak watches as the hologram of a similar figure appears holographicly
“Our forces in the Milky Way galaxy have fallen to the might of the Rebels and their allies,” says the hologram.
“This is not good. Our superiors will not be pleased that the Macross was not delivered.”
“Grand Admiral Thrawn intervened, and the Rebels responded quicker than we thought.”
“We will have to find another way to capture the Macross. For the Emperor!”
“For the Emperor!”