Chapter 11:

Federation One emerged from subspace over the Earth and quickly flew in closer to the planet hoping to achieve a geostationary orbit over Washington D.C. The captain looked out the observational view port and scanned the view of the Earth. Off in the distance, he could see the sheen of several defense turrets as well as the dark glint of a Heavy Defense Platform. He shuddered at the sight of the platform. It was the strongest class of unmanned defense station in the Federation, and Earth had three hundred such platforms stationed over the entire planet, along with countless turrets and other defenses for cover against enemy starfighters and transports. The captain then activated his chair's comm unit and said, "Chairman Elric, sir, we have just arrived over Earth."

"Thank you, Captain. I'll be right there," came Elric's response.

The captain then deactivated the comm unit and scanned the bridge. He could see several officers and men staring out at the window in front of them. Most of the bridge crew was not human, so many of them had never seen Earth before. To them, it was a beautiful, but normal planet, until they noticed the defenses that were stationed around the world. So far, though, the captain had found no starships orbiting the planet. He looked over from his chair to the sensor officer and bellowed, "Scan Earth and its surrounding orbit immediately."

"Yes, sir," the officer responded a little hesitantly. Unlike Elric and the captain, most of the crew of Federation One was not in on Elric's plans, and as such, they had no idea that there was a chance for a battle upon their emergence from warp. The officer did as he was told and began the scan of the blue and green jewel outside the bridge window. After a few seconds, the officer turned back to the captain and reported, "Sir, I am reading conflict in several sectors on the planet. In the city known as Washington D.C. in the North American continent, there is fighting between Elric's Watchmen and Earth and…Federation Marine forces," the officer finished with a puzzled look. "Sir, why would the Watchmen be fighting in Washington?"

"Washington is the capital of the planet," the captain responded. "It is also the location where the controls to Earth's Planetary Defense Grid is located."

"But why would the Watchmen be attacking at all? What has happened? Is there something we should know?"

"Yes, there is," Elric's voice projected as he walked onto the bridge. He immediately stood at the side of the captain and bellowed, "What is the situation, Captain?"

"We have reports of fighting in Washington D.C.," the captain responded. He gazed at the sensor officer, who took that to mean that he was to perform a deeper scan. The communications and tactical officers soon went to work at their own stations and the communications officer, a brutish-looking green-skinned humanoid soon reported in a bark, "Sir, I am receiving numerous requests for reinforcements from the Watchmen in Washington D.C."

The tactical officer, a cyborg Star Elf, chimed in, "The Watchmen have lost all of their air and armor support. They are getting, no, have been, annihilated," the officer corrected.

"Damn," Elric swore. "What is the status of the defenses in Washington?"

After a few moments, the tactical officer replied, "Reports indicate that the defenders have suffered light casualties. No fatalities for the defenders has been reported as of yet."

The Chairman gritted his teeth and swore at that statement. "Damn!" he swore. "Are my Watchmen so freaking useless that they can't even kill one guy in an assault?" he muttered to himself. Elric soon regained his composure and began to concentrate on how to turn the situation to his advantage. After a few moments of thought, he came up with nothing. Still, Earth's Defense Grid had not blown him out of the stars, yet. There may have been a way for him to salvage the situation. Before he could begin to make any plans, though, the face of President Jonathan Richardson appeared on the bridge window.

"President Richardson," Elric seethed, barely able to hide his frustration at the failed attack and managing to make it sound more like he was annoyed than angry. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this communiqué?"

"Elric, Washington D.C. was just attacked by a force of Watchmen," Richardson declared harshly. "Sixteen Earth and Federation Marines were wounded in the battle, four of them critically."

"I'm sorry for the Marines. We will do everything we can for their quick recovery," Elric responded, trying to fill his voice with as much sympathy as possible. It was the standard response when military personnel had been injured in battle. Richardson was not buying it, though.

"The Watchmen are your own special police and military force," the President said, pointing his finger towards Elric. "They don't do things like launch attacks on the capital a sovereign world and permanent member of the Galactic Federation Council without authorization. Now, I'm asking you: did you authorize the Watchmen's attack on Washington?"

"No," Elric responded quickly, a little too quickly for Richardson's, and a few of the bridge crew's, liking. Richardson merely smirked at the response.

"That was quick," he noted, his glare focusing in on the Chairman. "I don't believe you. As I said before, the Watchmen would not do something like attack a heavily defended city without your authorization."

"Cyrus could have ordered it," Elric offered. He tried to make his voice sound like he was trying to be helpful, but Richardson saw right through his efforts.

"Cyrus has his own henchmen," the President retorted. "We know that he has recreated Team Galactic and is relying on his own people for important projects. Besides, what reason would he have to hijack Earth's Planetary Defense Grid? He's already on the planet."

That question stumped Elric. After thinking about the question, he came up with the best answer that he could, "Possibly to prevent anyone who was not from Earth from investigating what he was doing." He knew that the answer would not satisfy Richardson.

Richardson glared back at Elric. "What do you want, Elric? Why have you told your Watchmen to attack us?"

Elric knew that there was little that he could say now. He looked around at the bridge crew and saw that a few officers had shocked expressions on their faces. They could hardly believe that the Chairman of the Galactic Federation would authorize Federation personnel to attack a sovereign member of the Federation without any real provocation. While Earth had been belligerent in its unwillingness to allow refugees from Daiban to settle on the planet after the Watchmen Scandal was exposed, Earth was well within its rights to close off its borders, especially after they had been proven right. Others, however, did not seem to care about what Elric had done. Yet others seemed to be spoiling for a fight with Earth. Earth had made quite a few enemies with its unwillingness to allow survivors of Daiban on world after the scandal. Even with its increased exportation of foodstuffs and medical supplies to the survivors, Elric had done a very good job in cultivating the seeds of mistrust and resentment towards Earth and its vast resources. Now, it was growing, for some, into outright hatred. President Richardson, who was still on the screen, soon issued one final statement, "Leave now, Elric. If you continue to advance on the Earth, we will see this as a hostile action and will take defensive measures."

With that, the screen went dark and the image of Earth reappeared in the window. The captain glanced over at the tactical officer and asked, "Is the planet's Defense Grid active?"

The tactical officer glanced down at his monitor and replied, "Partially. The turrets are coming online now, but the Heavy Defense Platforms have yet to activate. However, we are reading a dozen starships coming towards our location. One of the starships is an Archangel-class battlecruiser."

Elric swore again. Just then, the tactical officer reported once more, "Sir, the Heavy Defense Platforms have come online. They've charged their shields and weapons but have not locked onto us yet."

"What about Earth's planetary shield?" the captain cried.

"It's charging," the tactical officer responded. "It'll be fully deployed in about five minutes. It won't be nearly enough time for us to deploy any real strike force. The only way to stop it would be to fire on the surface of the planet."

Neither Elric, nor the captain, liked the tactical officer's assessment, especially since Federation One did not have any weapons. He went over to the captain and whispered, "Captain, is there any way for us to get past the Defense Grid without getting blown to pieces or colliding with the shield?"

"I don't know," the ship's captain whispered back. "But if we launch a cyber attack on the Planetary Shield Generators and projectors in the area of Washington, we could…"

"Forget Washington," Elric interrupted. "New York is our primary target right now. We have to take control of the Radio Tower. Control of Earth's Defense Grid was merely a means to that end."

"So, what do we do? The longer we talk, the less time we have to deploy an assault force."

"We won't be able to reach the Radio Tower. Not without help, anyway."

The cyborg Star Elf tactical officer, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, then blurted out, "Sir, I've got good news on our comms. We've got help!"

Immediately, outside of Federation One, ship after ship emerged from subspace in orbit over Earth, around Federation One. Green lights lit up on the tactical officer's console as each ship appeared. The officer soon put the display up on the window screen as more and more green dots appeared in their sector of Earth space. In around a minute, over one hundred starships had arrived to assist Elric.

Elric's face twisted into a grin. "Put President Richardson back on the screen."

"Yes sir," the communications officer answered.

Richardson's face soon appeared on the screen, looking as determined as ever. Elric was the first to speak. "Mr. President, I never told you why I wanted to take control of Earth's Defense Grid." He gave a pause before continuing, "It was because I was hoping to avoid bloodshed. However, since we now have a fleet orbiting your world, I'll tell you my demand. You are to deactivate the Radio Tower in New York City. In addition, you are to turn away any Striker-class gunships and any ships associated with said failed class of gunship. In addition, you are to surrender the Earth to Galactic Federation occupation forces immediately, or face reprisal."

President Richardson was not intimidated. Instead, he merely gave a laugh. "What has you so worried, Mr. Chairman?" the President asked. "What information does Samus have on you that could make you look any worse? You're on the verge of attacking a sovereign member of the Galactic Federation; you still haven't been cleared of the charges with regards to having commissioned the bioweapons developed on the Bottle Ship and Research Facility Seven-Seven-Seven. Not only that, but there's the issue of whether or not you were involved with the death of former Chairman Keaton. The only thing worse would be…oh my. It can't be." He then gave a pause. He was about to accuse the Chairman of something, likely planning the attack on Daiban, but he decided against it. However, what he left unsaid was more damning of Elric than what he had said.

Elric gritted his teeth and clenched his fists once more as he made a throat-cutting gesture, telling the comm officer to cut the transmission. Soon, the tactical officer's voice rang out once more, "Sir, Earth's planetary shield is beginning to close. If you wish to disable it, you'll have to authorize our hackers to poke holes into it now!"

Elric did not like the fact that he was the one who was going to be launching the attack, since it would give his opponents ammunition for their desires to see him either step down or scale back his current policies, but he knew that he had no choice. "Send down the viruses and disable the Earth's planetary shields in the sector over Washington D.C." There were advantages, for him, to keep certain shields operational. For one thing, it would provide cover for any fighters or transports once they entered the atmosphere through the hole in the shields.

"Cyber attacks and viruses have been sent," the tactical officer announced. "Grids One and Two are destabilizing. The others are stable, though. If you're going to send down any ships, you need to do so soon, sir. Earth's techies are quite good and are already beginning to ward off our viruses. Our fighters might also appreciate some capital ship support, too."

Elric did not like having to have a capital ship the size of Federation One enter a planet's atmosphere since Federation One was massive and lacked the power to lift off from the ground should the ship have to land on the planet. Still, he knew what he had to do. He ordered, "Prepare to take us into Earth's atmosphere now. Once inside, we'll deploy security forces to take and hold the Radio Tower."

The ship began to move towards the planet when an alarm klaxon went off. "Sire, the Defense Grid and one of the starships is locking onto us!"

Elric smiled. "Perfect," he replied quietly. He felt as if Earth would now be viewed as the aggressor in this incident, despite the fact that it was his forces that had launched the cyber attack on the planetary shield grid.

What Elric did not want to see, however, was one of his warships, a Gehenna-class dreadnaught, move towards Federation One and one of the enemy ships and power its weapons. Despite locking on, the Earth starships had held their fire and had only charged their energy weapons, making no signs of opening their missile ports or arming their matter-antimatter missiles. The massive ships began to target one of the Heavy Defense Platforms and the Earth starship closest to Federation One and opened its gunports and missile ports. Elric's eyes went wide as he noticed the ships guns glowing, about to fire. "No!" he cried as he tried to wave off the ship, knowing that it was futile since he had no channel open to the ship. Blue lances and pulses of energy immediately erupted from the dreadnaught and streaked towards the platform and enemy starship, an Asgard-class heavy cruiser. The shields of the Defense Platform and the Asgard heavy cruiser strained under the weight of the fire, but they managed to hold firm against the assault and both the ship and platform suffered only minimal damage. Both the Asgard heavy cruiser and the Heavy Defense Platform then immediately locked onto the Gehenna-class dreadnaught and returned fire.

Scarlet lances emerged from both the heavy cruiser and the Heavy Defense Platform. Despite the strong shielding of the Gehenna-class dreadnaught, alone, it was no match for the massive firepower of the platform, much less the firepower of both the platform and the heavy cruiser. However, the ship would not be alone for long, for the rest of Elric's fleet soon opened fire on both the platforms in the area, as well as the approaching Earth ships. The Earth ships immediately weathered the storm and fired back at Elric's fleet. The Gehenna-class dreadnaught was the first casualty of the fight as the Heavy Defense Platform reduced the ship to metallic Swiss cheese before the ship exploded. Elric could only watch on in horror as he knew that his fleet, while formidable, would be no match for the defenses of Earth. Much worse, since Earth's planetary shields were beginning to rise in the affected grids, which would make entering the atmosphere with anything large a risky proposition at best. And with the over-exuberance of the Perdition, any action that he took against Earth now would be seen as an act of war, if the initial attack by the Perdition were not already perceived as such.

Elric was about to order a retreat of the fleet so he could try a more diplomatic approach, loathing the fact that Earth would be in the position of strength, when he heard two voices inside his mind. Come to the ready room, at once, they said.

Elric knew that the voices belonged to Aglara and Aramon. He went over to the captain and said, "Captain Ka'Rva, please handle the situation in my absence."

"Certainly, sir," Ka'Rva replied. Cyrus then departed the bridge while Ka'Rva tried to salvage the situation, knowing that it would be highly difficult, if not impossible to do.

Elric entered the captain's ready room and, sure enough, he saw both Aglara and Aramon standing in the room, dressed in their Magic Lord armor, carrying their ornate swords. After entering, Elric simply stood there and genuflected before them, saying nothing. After a few moments of silence, Aglara was the first to speak. "Dress yourself accordingly, Elric. We are going to assist you in getting down to Earth, assuming you do something for us."

"How?" Elric asked, almost in disbelief. "Earth's shield is up with only two grids still fluctuating due to our cyber attack. There's no way for us to go through it."

"Leave that to us. Just know that our services for you are not free."

"I know that you want my allegiance and you already have it."

"Our price is more for the here and now," Aglara stated.

"What do you want me to do?"

"We want you to lead the assault on the Radio Tower," Aramon answered. "You are the one who is in danger should Samus reveal your part in the attack on Galactic Federation Headquarters on Daiban. As such, you should be the one leading the attack. Besides, chances are that there will be Chosen Heroes down there. We want you to kill them. We cannot rely on your servants. After all, two of them have already betrayed you."

Elric's eyes widened with surprise. "What? Who?" he blurted.

"Commanders Kreatz and Mauk," Aglara responded. "And Mauk was never loyal to you to begin with."

Elric gritted his teeth again. He had always suspected that those two did not have the stomach for doing the dirty deeds that needed to be done in order to secure his power. Still, he did not think that they would actually betray him, especially Kreatz with him being a Star Elf and all. He then told the two Magic Lords, "I can't risk going down to Earth! I'm needed up here to coordinate the attacks. What if Samus comes and the rest of the fleet does not shoot her down?"

"That is your problem, not ours," Aglara retorted haughtily. "We are doing more for you than anyone else from our kind would. Remember Elric; you are our servant. You do what we tell you to, when we tell you, how we tell you. You will only gain your true freedom once you do as we ask; or die. We trust the captain of this starship to assist you in your goals. We do not trust the Watchmen on the surface to kill the Chosen Heroes."

"Then why do you not kill them yourselves?"

Aglara and Aramon considered Elric's question. They did not want to reveal their crippling weakness to psychics, of which at least one of the known Chosen Heroes was. However, Elric did ask a pertinent question. They then began to think that this might be as good a time as any to test the waters, so to speak. With Cyrus seeking to unleash a horrible evil upon the planet, chances were that Mewtwo would be drawn to Cyrus and Team Galactic, allowing them to deal with Samus and the other weaker and/or less versatile Chosen Heroes on Earth. Eventually, Aglara answered, "Because we need you to cover our involvement until we are ready and have found the most dangerous of the Chosen Heroes. Once Mewtwo is found, we shall act. Until then, our presence must remain hidden. To that end, before you deploy your forces, fire at a single point on the planetary shield grid that is still fluctuating. We will then collapse the shield while making it seem as if your fire got through due to the weakness of the shield due to the cyber attacks. Also, make it look like you're using special weapons in your assault as well. Your dealings with the N'Kren will be a good excuse for having such weapons. That should conceal our involvement, but move quickly. The shields will regenerate quickly."

"But what about the defense platforms or the turrets?" Elric cried.

"Again, that's your problem," the Magic Lords retorted. "We are doing more for you than you can conceive. Now act quickly, before Earth's planetary defenses destroy more of your fleet and ships start deserting. Oh, and one more thing," they added. "Once the shield is down, I know that you will be tempted to destroy the Radio Tower to prevent the dark secrets that Samus has acquired from getting out. Don't. We have a use for the Radio Tower."

Elric looked puzzled. "What possible use could you have for the Radio Tower?"

"Don't forget your place!" Aglara snapped. "That is for us to know and for you to find out. We need your help in accessing it. Once that is finished, you will have the Federation all to yourself."

Elric then grinned and replied, "I will do as you ask. I must go to the bridge to relay the information to the captain."

"Then go," the two teenaged Magic Lords commanded, pointing towards the exit to the ready room.

Elric exited the ready room and made his way out onto the bridge. He approached Captain Ka'Rva and told him, "Captain, contact the rest of the fleet. I think we have a way to penetrate Earth's shield."

Ka'Rva nodded and told the comm officer, " Lieutenant Namdo, open a channel to the rest of the fleet."

"Channel Open, sir," Namdo replied.

Ka'Rva then told Elric, "It's your show."

Elric then stepped forward and said, "All ships, this is Chairman Elric of the Galactic Federation. I may have a way to breach Earth's planetary shield. Target Shield Grid One over Washington D.C. and open fire. Since it's still fluctuating, a concentrated assault might be able to breach the shield."

Namdo waited for a few seconds before stating, "Sirs, the ships have responded and they are confirming your orders."

"Good," Elric cooed. He then turned to the tactical officer and said, "Lieutenant Commander Rohas, once the fleet is ready, and awaiting your command."

"Then by all means, tell them to fire," Elric stated calmly.

With that, the rest of Elric's fleet began to open fire on the fluctuating portion of the planetary shield. Blue energy pulses and large matter-antimatter missiles pummeled the severely weakened sector of the shield relentlessly. Still, despite its fluctuating power, the shield was not breached. Elric could only watch and hope that his benefactors would do their part soon, for if they did not, then there would be questions as to how his fleet managed to break through a heavy shield like Earth's. However, his worries were alleviated when the shield started to fluctuate even more than before. To the outside observer, it seemed as if the weapons fire was having an effect, but Elric knew better. It was the Magic Lords working their magic. Soon, he witnessed the shield flash once more and then disappear.

"I want a reading on that shield now!" Elric demanded. "Is it down? Can we start landing people on Earth?"

Checking his readings, Rohas answered, "Confirmed, Grid One of the planetary shield has fallen. The fleet is shifting its position in order to plug the hole." He then turned to the Chairman and the captain and asked, "What are your orders, sirs?"

"Tell the Watchmen on the ships and my Elite Army forces to ready themselves for battle," the Chairman responded. "We don't know how long that shield will stay down, and we won't get another chance at taking control of the Earth's defense grid and the Radio Tower. Until then, hold here and take no further hostile actions unless the Earth ships fire first."

"Yes, sir," the tactical officer responded.

The Chairman smiled at his good fortune. This was his chance. Still, he knew that he had an opportunity and that he would not get another one. If he could take every precaution to stop Samus, he had to try. And his best chance would be if he managed to take over the Radio Tower. If she managed to get to the Tower and transmit the data she had obtained, all of his plans would come crashing down all around him. He then pushed a button on the control panel on the captain's chair and ordered, "All troops and Watchmen to the transports!We're going to the surface!" He then turned to the captain and said, "Captain, I'm leaving you in command of Federation One and the fleet. Hold steady and cover our landing. Hopefully we can end this without too much more bloodshed." With that, the Chairman left the bridge so he could lead his troops down to Earth.

Meanwhile, down on Earth, President Richardson looked over at the technicians and engineers as they hurried to try to figure out what went wrong with the planetary shield generators in Grid One. "Anything?" he asked the lead technician.

The technician shook his head. "No sir. We've got nothing. At first, it seemed as if the shields were breached due to the weapons fire since they were fluctuating so wildly, but upon further inspection, we found that despite the fluctuations, the weapons fire was insufficient to penetrate the shields."

"That leaves only two options, then," Richardson stated. "Either it was a magical or a psychic power that breached the shield."

"Elric could have gotten a hold of N'Kren weapons that were designed to penetrate shields," the technician offered. "It would explain why such a small volume of fire was able to collapse the shield."

"Perhaps, but I doubt it," the President responded. "Our spies indicated that the N'Kren had not given Elric any weapons at all." He then paused before continuing, "Anyway, it doesn't really matter now. All that matters is getting that shield grid back online."

"Yes, sir," the technician said, nodding. "We should have it back up in about fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, that should be more than enough time for Elric to launch a wave of fighters and/or transports into the atmosphere."

"Thank you, technician," Richardson told him. He then left the technicians to their work while he went back to his office so he could inform the rest of the Earth's military of what was happening and have them launch a few fighters so they could intercept Elric's assault force.

Back onboard Federation One, Elric, who was now dressed in power armor made his way down to the transports. He had told Captain Ka'Rva to inform him of any changes. He soon heard the captain inform him, "Sir, a hole has opened up in the planetary shield. One of the projectors has been destroyed. You must hurry before they plug up the hole."

"I hear you, Captain." Elric responded. He then turned to the troops and Watchmen and said, "Okay men, here are your orders. You are to take control of the Radio Tower in New York City, no matter the cost. You may encounter Federation Army soldiers and Marines, as well as Earth forces. Do not hesitate to fire on them. It is vital that we take control of the Radio Tower and not let Samus Aran have access to it."

"Understood sir," the Watchmen all responded in unison. After the small briefing, the troops all filed onto the ships.

Once onboard the transports, the troopers all took their seats, with Elric close to the front of the ship. Soon, Captain Ka'Rva's voice sounded once more, "Sir, we've detected a ship emerging from warp approximately three hundred thousand kilometers away from here. It is a Striker-class gunship." There was then a pause before the voice blared over the radio again, this time more frantically, "It's Samus Aran! She's here!"

Elric's heart skipped a beat at the report. "Damn," he muttered. She had come sooner than he had anticipated. He knew that he had to do something now. "Pilot," he called to the pilot of the transport, "take the transport squadron down to the Earth and secure Radio Tower. Tell the rest of the ships to launch all starfighters and to send as many as they can spare towards Samus's gunship. She reverted back to realspace three hundred thousand kilometers away, pretty close to the moon."

That gave him and the others some time. Samus's gunship, while fast, was not as fast as her Hunter-class gunship. Not only that, but the Striker-class gunship was a class of ship that had been discontinued. In fact, it had been the Hunter-class gunship that had replaced the Striker-class ship in deployment. The transports then proceeded towards the atmosphere of Earth.

Meanwhile, the starfighters split off into two forces. The vast majority of the starfighters proceeded to cover the transports in their travel to Earth. They formed what looked to be a shell over the main force of transports in order to cover the transports as the defense platforms, capital ships, and Earth starfighters as they made their way towards the Radio Tower. A great many of the fighters were destroyed as the transports made their way down to Earth, but those that survived would assist in allowing the transports access to the Radio Tower. However, a second force of fighters broke off from the main force and turned back towards the moon. Their target was much more important, Samus Aran. If they were successful in destroying her ship, and her, then all of the actions of Elric and the others would be unnecessary.