A/N: So bad news and good, Warchief was really busy… As always… Please blame Garion Faldor ;) :P :P. Sorry had to do that. Seriously though we managed to get this done. With luck 28 may be done tomorrow.

Chapter 27: The Coalition rises

In Draconia, Xapferey was busy preparing for the announcement to the Empire. He was busy writing a speech to galvanize his realm into action. A speech that would bring fear and hope as motivations for their actions in the galaxy at large and with their allies; hopefully they would bring forth victory.

Gathering his thoughts, the Dragon walked to where the announcement was to take place. Meeting him there was the Draconian royals, Admiral Allaris, and their new allies.

"My dear people of Draconia, I bring news both good and bad. For the last 36 years I had been preparing our realm to leave and grow beyond the skies of Forceria. Using our first heavy frigate, we began expanding around the orbit of the world. We built shipyards and powerful ships to proclaim our might to the galaxy at large, and thanks to our scouts we found resources we needed. These resources came from a long abandoned repository belonging to a group called the Terran Confederacy. Needless to say, we expanded our fleets, and we found both allies and enemies among the stars. Enemies who serve Kardis, the feared Goddess of Destruction. Enemies who would see the galaxy burn to fit their image and destroy all in their path. But as you can see we have allies among the stars; the mighty Protoss and our cunning Terran allies. We are not alone in this fight. Some may wonder why we interfere, but when Allania first came did we concede? When Raster tried to exploit us, did we roll over and let him? No! We are unbent, we are unbroken, and we shall show these dogs who worship Kardis why Draconia is to be feared. FOR DRACONIA!" Xapferey proclaimed as MIRN broadcasted everything to his people watching the announcement. "As of this moment, all military leave is hereby cancelled until further notice, report to your muster stations within 24 hours. Now I will let our allies introduce themselves and what they know of the situation in the stars."

Jason stepped forward, in his formal uniform from Mar Sara, though the Confederacy insignia had been removed. "People of Draconia, my name is Commander Jason Davis and I lead a Terran force that is dedicated to a single purpose at this time. My home, the Korpulu Sector, is in the midst of a war that may see it burnt to the ground. I intend to stop it. Our opponents are powerful and mighty, and they will not stop until they have destroyed everything in their path. But they are not invincible. Alone, the odds are against us, but together, united, we can force them to realise the simple fact that we are not the easy prey they take us for. We can stand, we can fight and we can prevail against them. Draconia, we stand together, side by side, shoulder to shoulder. For the foes that choose to attack us, I have nothing but pity. Pity that they have chosen to attack us in a battle where they will not fight our strength wanting. We will not retreat against their attacks and we will not give up. We will ensure that our nations survive and prosper for years to come."

"En Taro Adun Draconia. I am Executor Tassadar of the Protoss, my forces stand with yours, already we have inflicted several defeats on the slaves of our enemies. Take heart people of Draconia, you are not alone. Together we shall sweep the galaxy clean of this blight infesting it; together we shall make the slaves of Kardis cower as we demonstrate our resolve to counter their atrocities and make them pay for every sin."

"Our allies are diverse and powerful my people. Take heart and fight for your homes as you always have; we will endure," Deedlit encouraged before they ended the announcement.

"Well now, we have a lot of work to do. We need to decide what technologies we are going to implement and share. At the same time, my spies will be going through everything and everyone possible to find traitors. Executor, are there any technologies you can share with us?" Xapferey asked.

Tassadar appeared to mull things over for a moment. "The most obvious technology that we would be in a position to share is our warp deployment capability. Being able to warp in units from a considerable distance would be very useful to us all, I suspect. Other than that, we have our personal shields that could be useful as well."

"Yes, your warping technology would be of great usage expanding our own teleportation abilities. Your shields from what I know are the opposite of ours; that is to say yours are high durability with poor regeneration. Our durability leaves things to be desired, but our personal shields can regenerate in several moments, together we may be able to hybridize them without the shortcomings of either. Now what I can offer is powerful point defense weapons, ablative generators, anti-matter and zero-point energy weapons, as well as powerful particle weapons. Speaking of which Commander, we will need to discuss upgrade options for your ships, Executor, we should consider possible upgrades to your photon cannons," Xapferey suggested.

"One thing I want to make sure of is increasing the speed and maneuverability of our ships. While it's useful to have lots of firepower, we need to be able to deliver that firepower effectively and evade as much damage as possible. It's less of an issue against Terran fleets, but against the Zerg, that edge is going to be vital. Improved point defence systems is another big thing to look at. We're going to need that in order to effectively combat those Scourge fliers, especially in big numbers. I've seen more than a few ships fall because of them." Jason added

"Agreed, Commander. As far as our own improvements go, a boost to the firing speed of the Photon Cannons would be much appreciated and that would also improve our Dragoons and Arbiters, given they use the same weapons technology. Additional firepower on the carriers would not go amiss, either. Many of our enemies have got smart enough to ignore the interceptors and concentrate fire directly on the carriers themselves and they are unable to persuade them that it is a bad idea," Tassadar said.

"Yes, speaking from the perspective of the game, I noticed that myself. I can also provide point defense systems, they're good enough to disrupt yamato cannon blasts. So, we'll be adding more maneuvering thrusters, an inertial dampening system, replacing your power generators. We'll also be replacing your weapon systems for ours. The thought I want to pose is, do you want phaser arrays and phaser cannons. Or the new phaser turrets we have developed. The turrets are untried and untested in direct battle, but all bench and simulated combats on our holodecks show them to be viable. We are also experimenting with torpedo turrets," Xapferey said.

"Personally, I'd prefer the turrets, they're more along the lines of what we're used to and I do like their ability to focus fire. They also fit better with the current lines of our ships and they'll be easier to convert new or captured ships to those systems. However, everyone also recognises them straight away as well and aim at them. Have to ponder that one. We'll also need to look at the armour as well, make it stronger but with less weight, if that's possible at all," Jason wondered.

"We can do the armour, though that'll require runecrafting. We are using tritanium armor plating, plus with the ablative generators armour is less of a problem. The turrets are protected by localized shield emitters, I got the idea for that from Protoss photon cannons originally."

"What about resources?" Tassadar asked. "Using all these new systems and technologies are useless if we cannot maintain them in the field. If the only place where we can collect the raw materials for these systems from is here, then we have an issue. I personally have never heard of tritanium or the dilithium that you have mentioned before."

"They are quite common, tritanium is an alloy made from titanium, and dilithium is actually surprisingly common in this… galaxy, those minerals you mine, we can convert them to dilithium, to assist and if either of you don't mind, I'll be sending members of my people to help your ships and aid in the technology I'll be sharing. Jason, because of our alliance and because I trust you highly, the Liberator, and only the Liberator will be given the ability to fire transphasic torpedoes and I'll give it a stock of them as well."

"I appreciate that, Xapferey, and I might be able to give you both something in return. Did Malkira tell you how we took out the leviathans before?"

"Yes she did, and in truth I was proud of her. Facing down and beating the Overmind in psionic combat is something to be applauded."

"Definitely. It bought us the time to finish them off without question, and that's what I want to discuss. The system we used against the leviathans is called a Lynx, I devised it to take advantage of the Stingray's heavy and focused firepower. With precise timing and a very good AI, it's possible to greatly increase the damage output of the weapons to far more than what could be considered conventional. It actually improves the firepower to far more than the sum of its individual parts. We might have done it with lasers, but it occurs to me that you may well be able to achieve the same with your own phaser weaponry. Best thing is, it also dramatically improves the range of them as well. It's not quite infinite, but not too far from it."

"Yes," Xapferey pulled out a padd and turned it to Jason, on it were the designs for a new prototype weapon, the class XXI phaser projector, the weapon designed as a ship-based sniper cannon. "We were actually thinking the same thing, we'll be putting them on select ship classes. We will also be refitting the fleet to dispense with the phaser arrays and cannons, replacing them with our new phaser and heavy phaser turrets."

Nova suddenly interrupted the discussion. "Guys, you better see this."

Jason stood, frowning. "What is it?"

Nova handed him a viewer, screen already activated. Jason reviewed it, raising an eyebrow at the contents. "Well, I didn't expect that." He handed the device to Xapferey.

"Well this forces us to accelerate our timetable… The Terran Dominion has declared war on my empire. Which means we need to hit Dylar today. Tomorrow we activate the field and begin the muster," Xapferey decided. "Agreed?" He turned to the Alliance Council.

Jason nodded grimly. "I'm stunned that Mengsk would try something like this, though. He had to see how outclassed he was at Tarsonis. Why would he go out like this? Never mind outing to the entire sector the fact that…." A thought suddenly crossed Jason's mind. "Son of a bitch. He hasn't lost his touch."

"Propaganda you think?" Xapferey wondered. "Lord knows he tried raking Jim's name through the mud in canon for quite some time."

"Partly, but I think it's more than that. How much do any of you want to bet that the Zerg and Protoss have means of gathering information like that from public Dominion sources?"

"Crap… from what I know of Heart of the Swarm, the Zerg cannot directly hack computers, but they can receive transmissions. The Protoss on the other hand, well if the Dark Templar know where we are… though then again the main Protoss sect never found the Dark Templar homeworld right under their noses. The Protoss Conclave are arrogant to a fault, I don't think they would much care about this."

"Maybe, but it's the Zerg we have to worry about, and Mengsk just wound them up and pointed them at us. Fits his MO to a tee."

"There may be an opportunity to slow the Zerg down. We need to build our forces up then secure Tarsonis and take the hidden Psi Disrupter there. It was able to severely hamper the Cerebrates and the Queen of Blades. So it could buy us the time we need. Louise would be able to find it, as she's been there," Xapferey said.

"We'd better make this a full War Council, if we're planning things like this. Tarsonis isn't going to be a cakewalk, not with the Zerg still crawling all over the place."

"I may have an answer for that… a temporary one. See I got my ships and designs from another fictional universe and I can draw ideas and technology from there. Bit of context, there's a species called the Borg and they are basically a cybernetic version of the Zerg. I can use some of that tech for a short time to either disrupt the Zerg's psionic connection or kill them before they adapt," Xapferey suggested.

"Given the propensity for the Zerg to be able to add anything biological to their own arsenal, how sure are you that you can stop that from happening?" Jim asked.

"It's not biological, but technological, here," Xapferey showed his plan. "The nanoprobes emit a signature similar to the Zerg immune system, from there they'll attack the nervous system, disrupting their psionic connection or killing the Zerg organisms outright. Now since we are not Borg, the nanoprobes are only short lived, but can be dispersed through phaser or torpedo strikes though sooner or later the Zerg will adapt."

"It's that sooner or later that worries me."

"On the bright side, the Borg's adaptation technology will make our shields and defenses immune to Protoss weaponry after a few hits. It won't work on Zerg or Terran weapons though aside from maybe Yamato Cannons. Though we are still experimenting with that technology and won't have it till we release the IDS Forceria."

"Why Protoss and not Terran?" Nova asked.

"The technology can adapt to particle and plasma energies, not kinetic, nor biological," Xapferey explained. "All sources I've read on the matter come to that consensus."

"And the Zerg can't make use of this tech? Or the Dominion or anyone else?" Jason asked.

"Jason we barely understand this technology, and we are about on par with the Protoss in technology terms; I doubt Mengsk will have the time to research or build this technology before we finish him," Xapferey assured.

"What about Amon or Duran?"

"In time yes, but they would need to understand Borg technology and even to those exposed to it on a regular basis have trouble with it."

"Can that technology be used against us?"

"In theory yes, in practice, no. Our weapons can be remodulated pretty easily and maintain full effect, plus we have technology to counter it as well."

Jason frowned. "That's with our level of skill. How far beyond us is Amon, or the other power you mentioned?"

"Amon… I don't rightly know, as he was able to uplift the Zerg and Protoss species. As for the other race… the Cilarista as they are called. They are advanced enough to safely use vacuum energy from subspace in the constant universe, not from artificial universe in bottles. The Cilarista won't help or hinder us. They don't care… they have more important matters to attend to."

"And you can bet Amon's master is more advanced again."

"She isn't, just powerful. Kardis is one of the originator gods of Lodoss, hell she had a hand in forming our island continent… She's just mystically powerful enough to subsume Amon or command him."

"Subsume Amon?" Jason asked. "This day just gets better and better. Regardless, we have more immediate concerns. The Dominion wouldn't have declared war without having something up their sleeve."

"Agreed, but so do we, we are going to have a sudden explosion of troops, population and ships. Who's going to expect us building hundreds of ships in 3 days?"

Jason smiled grimly. "No one and with good reason. But I'd like to know what Mengsk thinks he has up his sleeve. He wouldn't rely solely on the Zerg, he's got to have something else."

"Well it can't be Kardis, she can only be awoken by two VERY separate specific rituals, with very specific components, at a place that was at the centre of a nuclear explosion and at specific times… Can't be the Hybrids… I got nothing."

"We're missing something." Nova commented. "Mengsk didn't declare war on the Raiders or the Protoss, but on Draconia."

"Hmm… From what I know about Mengsk, he either vilified Jim as terrorists… but we are a legitimate government, and are relatively unknown on the galactic board so he could say what he wanted about us. The Protoss and their capabilities are well known and terrify people. He's trying to scapegoat us and legitimize himself with a rallying cry against an unknown enemy."

"You're missing the point." Nova replied.

"No I think I got the point, he has a possible ace, I was theorizing his rationality for it. It's either an early Gorgon-class battlecruiser. Or… enhanced ghosts… Spectres."

"No, Emperor, you're really missing the point. How can he declare a formal war on you if he doesn't know where to find you?"

Jason blinked. "He can't. There's no point declaring a war to fight solely on Dominion territory, he'd been always reacting, always on the defensive and you can't win wars like that."

"Then likely he's fishing, hoping we'll reply and trace the signal then and hit us at home, aside from that I dunno."

"Unless he doesn't need to." Jason said quietly. "Unless he already knows where to look."

"Duran… or Narud. Or the transmitter, right it's time to stop playing around and hit them and hit them hard in 36 hours my ships will have completed a quick refit to replace their phaser arrays and cannons with the new turrets meaning we're going to have a lot more firepower on hand than before, they will complete full refits after the field is up."

"And these refits can't be put on our ships yet due to the power requirements?" Jason wondered.

"Unfortunately so," the Dragon said apologetically. "So, actually," the Dragon paused to consider something on his MIRN HUD. "Better make it 48 hours, we'll be able to install torpedo turrets on the Sovereign, though we'll lose 33% of photon torpedo capacity per volley, and only half of quantum, so only 3 each, and one transphasic per tube loaded. But we'll have 40 torpedo turrets on the Sovereign. Let's get to work," The Coalition began their work while the Draconians pulled out phaser arrays and torpedo tubes alike, while refitting and replacing systems with a speed and grace that the Protoss admired.

During the refit Xapferey came to Jason with an idea.

"You want me to what?" Jason asked in wonder.

"Record a surrender message to the Dominion forces. I'll broadcast it from the Sovereign, think about it, the Dominion probably have forces nearby and ready to warp in at the slightest reason. Would you rather they warp in by the Liberator or the Sovereign?"

"As I'm sure you're aware, the firepower of your ship would wreck anything in its path."

"Yes, I know Jason. Duke would probably be there as well. Which means probably the Hyperion. If the Norad is in dry dock, he'd likely be using that particular ship, it's only logical based on my knowledge. Anyways, I know what I'm doing Jason, I was thinking in terms of durability. We can soak up enough fire to isolate the Hyperion if it comes to a battle."

"If you're sure."

"Duke's a major pain in the ass I know; but we need him, I'm not going to kill him."

"Ok, what's this plan of yours?"

"Magic, I can have Duke swear an oath to never share what knowledge I'll give him without permission. If he does though it'll be wiped from his mind before he can finish the first word."

"Well you know more about magic than I do, so I'll trust you on this."

"Thanks Jason, I know this situation probably makes you uncomfortable."

"I think this situation is enough to make anyone uncomfortable. One favour though. If Duke's in the Hyperion, leave him to me."

"As you wish, though you'll get no arguments from me on the whole situation my young friend," Xapferey agreed. Jason recorded the message not long afterwards.

24 hours later

The partial refit of Draconian ships had been completed a day early due to the many mages had used haste spells and potions liberally on the workers. Now ready for the assault on Dylar, the fleet formed up and jumped into warp for the second proper battle with the Terran Dominion's armadas.

The journey was uneventful; the warp passage to Dylar was quiet as the Draconian forces and her allies prepared for battle. Warping in at the inner system, it was clear that the Dominion forces were not expecting so brazen an attack so soon after New Fulsom. As such there were only three battlecruisers in range alongside a couple of defence platforms. The most of the garrison were in their berths and the rest were patrolling the system.

Once in the system, Xapferey opened a channel on general frequencies and broadcasted the message he had recorded.

"Dominion forces, this is Commander Jason Davis. We do not wish to fight you; none who take arms against us shall be harmed. We have no love for Arcturus Mengsk, we hold no quarrel with you."

"You seriously think the words of a traitor will sway us?"

"I would hope they did, otherwise I'll take off the kid gloves," Xapferey said on another channel.

"Bah! Bullshit, the rest of the fleet will be here in hours, even with your Draconian and Protoss buddies, all you'll achieve here is death."

"As you wish, target those ships with our new weapons, fire at will," Xapferey ordered. As always, the Dragon had thought ahead, taking technological ideas from his knowledge of other worlds, namely the Breen energy dampening weapons from Deep Space Nine. As such, each of the Dominion ships were disabled with a single pulse.

"Leave them for now, if Duke holds true to form he'll be here any second," Xapferey ordered. His ships shifted into battle formation, launching fighters along with Jason's forces and those of the Protoss. Right on cue, a swarm of Dominion ships came out of warp with the Hyperion and escorts leading them. But the Hyperion and her five escorting battlecruisers had jumped in near the broadcasting ship, though it wasn't the Liberator Duke found himself faced with, but the powerful terrifying Draconian battleship, IDS Sovereign.

It wouldn't matter what distance an observer was from Duke, they still would have seen the sudden waver in his approach. Any sudden thoughts he'd had to smashing the Liberator suddenly vanished. Xapferey smirked at seeing the Hyperion waver slightly before holding on his initial order to fire.

"Hello General Duke, I obviously don't need to introduce myself. Now I promised Jason that if you showed up on the Hyperion to leave you to him."

"Duke, I have a deal to offer you, fight me one-on-one, the Liberator against the Hyperion, loser surrenders to the winner." Jason said.

"And why would I even entertain such an option when I can blast you out of the sky with little effort?" Duke snarled.

Jason's grin was apparent in his voice. "Perhaps you'd prefer to face off against the Sovereign instead."

"Why make such a suggestion at all? What do you get out of it?"

"Simple. I get the opportunity to prove to you that we were right all along. Don't forget, you owe me Duke. You'd be Zerg chow if not for us."

"Mengsk gave you the orders for that!"

"Yep, but it wasn't ever him putting his neck out for you, was it? Mengsk cares about one person; himself. We both know that."

Duke was silent for a moment. "There's more to this than just I told you so. What do you want?"

Jason grinned. "You'll have to fight to find out, Duke. I'm not handing out freebies, not anymore." The Liberator moved up in front of the Hyperion, readying for a fight. "Make your choice, Duke."

There was silence for a time. Then Duke's voice came over all channels. "Dominion forces pull back and do not engage. We will handle this." The Hyperion slid forward smoothly, weapons trained on the Liberator. "Alright, Davis. I'll match your wager. Where and how?"

Davis's grin was massive. "There's a small asteroid field on the edge of the system. Meet us there. First to be disabled loses."

"Oh, we'll be there. Be ready to have your ego blown."

Xapferey opened a private channel to Jason. "You sure about this? He does have a lot of advantages. That ship isn't one to take lightly."

"Yeah, I know. Nothing's certain. But he thinks he knows what we're capable of. That is going to prove the difference. Everything else is just gravy."

"All right Jason, but I must remind you of one advantage… I won't interfere aside from this… Ini arcaniss, si desta wux shio, si xurwk wux versvesh, temep, othokent vur naoilt," with magic, Xapferey fed power into the Liberator's crew, making them for a short time, faster, stronger, smarter and wiser.

Jason chuckled. "I think I can take a guess at exactly what you've done. I appreciate it, but this is going to be fairly straightforward, I think." With a blur of pseudo motion, the Liberator streaked into warp, the Hyperion right behind it.

Within seconds, the two ships dropped out into realspace near the discussed asteroid field. Jason spun the Liberator around, bringing her to a dead stop in front of the Hyperion. "Game on, Duke."

As far as the Hyperion was concerned, shots didn't get any better than this. Every gun battery, from the Yamato Gun downwards, opened fire, sending immense amounts of destructive energy racing toward the Liberator. The massive blasts smashed straight into the ship, momentarily obstructing all view of it. As the blaze of light and energy faded, everyone, from the Hyperion and Dominion ships, to Jason's and Tassadar's fleets, even Jason himself, was surprised to see the Liberator utterly undamaged. Only one person wasn't surprised by the result of the salvo and his lips turned up in a grin.

"Oh Duke, if only I could see the look on your face," Xapferey outright smirked. No battlecruiser he knew would have survived that completely undamaged without his spell or the upgrades he'd argued for.

Jason's surprise faded quickly. "Is it our turn now, Duke?" The Liberator suddenly kicked into motion, her own batteries pouring fire into the Hyperion's shields, hammering them. With a speed and agility that was atypical of a ship its side, the Hyperion took off, driving at the Liberator.

"Damn… really wish I had cast an enchantment spell on the Liberator's weapons," Xapferey mused to himself.

It didn't much matter. Despite his knowledge and ability, what Xapferey hadn't considered was that Jason knew the capabilities of both his ship and Duke's. He wasn't aiming for a rapid battle.

He wanted to toy with Edmund Duke first.

The Liberator danced nimbly out of the way, pulling for the asteroid field as her stern batteries belched fire at the massive battle-cruiser. Despite the vast difference in size, the Liberator clearly outgunned the Hyperion and only Duke's determination was keeping the two vessels locked in combat. Unusually, the Liberator wasn't aiming for critical systems or indeed anything of particular value on her opponent. But as strange a strategy as it was, it was paying off. It kept Duke's rage focussed and the massive ship continued to chase.

Straight into Jason's trap.

Using the asteroids as cover, the Liberator swung under the larger ship, tearing holes in its shields. They hadn't punched through yet, but Jason wasn't pouring the full firepower of his ship into their enemy either. If he had, they'd be picking up pieces of the Hyperion for weeks. The Hyperion returned fire as best they could, but the Liberator's improved agility and speed, combined with the multiple asteroids for cover meant they could never quite connect. Agily spinning from one asteroid to the next, the gunship taunted the hulking beast chasing it, teasing it with the promise of victory, only to snatch it away in the next instant. But finally, Jason saw what he was looking for. With a feral grin, he threw full power to the drives, ducking around a particularly large asteroid. The Hyperion shot past the massive asteroid, only to find the Liberator had completely disappeared with only a small cloud of debris giving any evidence as to its fate. Duke slowed, expecting a trap but his confusion mounted when none was sprung. As minutes ticked by and the Liberator didn't reappear, Duke began to wonder if Jason had simply bitten off more than he could chew. Finally, Duke accepted the reality of the matter.

"The Liberator has been destroyed!" He proclaimed to everyone.

Xapferey blinked. How could such an inferior ship have destroyed the Liberator?

"Ops? What happened to the Liberator? There's no way it could have been destroyed like that so easily."

"One moment, ah… Wait a moment My Lord, it should be quite a show," the officer reported with a grin.

Xapferey's patience was swiftly rewarded, as the Liberator simply blasted out of a crater on another asteroid, firing furiously at the asteroids around the Hyperion, overloading the shields with debris and sensors with data. With pinpoint accuracy, her guns switched to target the Hyperion's vulnerable systems, effectively disabling the ship entirely within a matter of seconds before Duke had a chance to respond. The Hyperion rattled as the Stingray shot past them. Jason's voice came over the comm, with no small amount of smugness.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you never believe anyone is dead until you see a body."

"Nicely done Jason, nicely done," Xapferey said over a comm channel.

"Why, thank you, Emperor. Nice to be able to prove we can still tangle with the toughest."

"So, now that that's taken care of… why don't you bring Duke over here? We have some… things to show him and discuss," Xapferey suggested.

"Tractor's already locked on to the Hyperion. One pompous General, coming right up."

"Good, everything we need is set up to show him what… needs to be said. I for one want to see the look on his face when he sees what we have to show him."

"Remind me to set up a camera. I want it recorded for….posterity's sake."

"You can be a cruel cruel man Jason Davis," Xapferey joked. As such he waited till Jason had brought Duke onboard his flagship. Once brought to the bridge, he turned to the man.

"Ah, General Edmund Duke, it is a pleasure to finally meet you… in person," the disguised Dragon shared a knowing grin with Jason.

Despite the humiliation that he'd just suffered, Duke still managed to hold himself with his usual arrogance. "Let's get this over with, Emperor." He sneered the title.

"Oh trust me General, there is far more things happening than you know. First things first as you have lost I want you to listen but first you must swear an oath with conditions based on what we tell you. So General Duke do you swear to keep everything I tell you secret unless I release you from this vow?"

"And why would I agree to this nonsense?"

Xapferey smirked and took several steps back into the large pit behind him and transformed back into his true form too fast for any technological trickery to be taking place. "This for one youngling," he rumbled in his true voice.

Duke stepped back, clear shock on his face and utterly speechless.

"Do you understand now General? I am not human… any longer. We have much to share as like it or not, we do need your help."

"Why? How could I possibly make a difference compared to what you have already?"

"That computer there has everything we need to share. It may feel foolish to you, but it will… provide everything you need to know," Xapferey explained as he pointed to that computer. "Use it, learn everything we have on why we need you, go." the computer was ready with all the Starcrafts loaded for Duke to use.

"But you have to swear that oath first." Jason put in. "Duke, I know we haven't got along pretty well ever and I'm about as thrilled about showing you this as I am on shaking hands with Mengsk. But, believe me, you need to see this."

"Take his hand Jason, I cannot serve as both the questioner and bonder… rules… even if they do not make sense."

Jason's eyes flickered between the two before he nodded, suiting actions to words.

"General Duke, do you swear to keep the information we provide here secret until I release you from this vow?" Xapferey asked.

Duke looked uncertain but elected not to question further. "I swear." A ribbon of fire surrounded his and Jason's hand in response.

"Do you swear to not use this information against us?"

Duke twitched but he didn't pull back. "I swear." A second ribbon of fire twisted around their hands.

"Finally, do you understand that if you attempt to share this knowledge without permission… the consequences will make the knowledge vanish from your mind?"

There was no hesitation this time. "I do." The third and final ribbon twisted around their hands and flared before vanishing.

"It is done, you can let go now," The Dragon said. "Now General, go to the computer and see the truth of why we need you."

Duke nodded quietly before sitting down and activating the screen. He raised an eyebrow at the loading screen in front of him. "What is this?"

"You could say… the boundary between dreams and reality," the Dragon replied trying not to die laughing as his daughter was doing under various hiding spells in the corner.

"Speak plainly or not at all." As usual, Duke's confusion was manifesting as anger.

"Just play the game, you'll understand; trust me General. Do you really think we would waste so much time and effort on a joke?" Xapferey rumbled. "Trust me, your patience will be well rewarded."

Duke snorted. "We'll see." Turning back to the screen, he paid no further attention to Xapferey or Jason.

"We're coming up on where things get… interesting," Xapferey muttered to Jason. "Oh I hated this level back in the day."

"You think it was bad playing it? How about actually fighting it?" Jason shot back.

"I can imagine. But it would have been much much worse if I hadn't been there or you getting… the warning."

Jason grimaced. "Don't remind me. I have enough nightmares about that as it is."

"Ah here we go, he's ending the level… now. So, General what do you think so far?" Xapferey asked.

A rage was spreading across Duke's face. "What is the purpose of this nonsense? What do you think you'll achieve?"

"Play the Zerg levels now, the next level is superfluous in the Terran campaign for what we want to show you. It is simply Jim forming the Raiders and escaping Tarsonis. You will know what I mean in the Zerg campaign." With that said, Xapferey let Duke play until the Queen of Blades took to the galactic scene.

Duke stood so fast that he kicked his chair back against the wall behind him. He stared at the screen, eyes wide. "What is this?" He breathed.

"I think we should introduce him to Louise now don't you?" Xapferey whispered to Jason.

Jason grinned. "Oh yes. This should be good."

"Louise can you come to the bridge? I have someone you need to meet… again." Not long after that, Louise came to the bridge without her disguise, showing off everything that had been done to her as she looked at Duke. Duke froze.

"What trickery is this?" He demanded.

"None, Edmund." Louise replied, walking forward. "Xapferey is not the only one to have experience with these events. The difference is that I lived them."

"So you see General. For me these events were fictional, past, present and future was known to me. However some things I did not expect, though in hindsight it makes sense. Jason is the Magistrate of the Terran levels. The game Starcraft II is where things get even worse for the galaxy. If we did not interfere, Sarah would become this and in several months you would be dead alongside countless others."

Duke collapsed against the wall. "How bad was it?"

"It was called the End War in canon for a reason. Tassadar, Zeratul, Jason, Arcturus, the Overmind, you... all dead. Aiur a wasteland, the Protoss world Shakuras destroyed completely. Zerg and Protoss hybrids running rampant all over the galaxy. Billions dead of all races, it was bad. In an alternate alternate future, there would only be the Hybrid… all three races destroyed."

"I know another version of that future, Duke." Louise said softly. "Jim eventually managed to find and use a way to reverse what the Zerg did to me."

"Last mission of Wings of Liberty and the events of Heart of the Swarm," Xapferey said. "But since she's here it's obvious things did not play out as they do in Legacy of the Void… not that my presence alone wouldn't have mucked things up."

"No. Due to events that you'll see later, I was forced to choose to be re-infested. We finally killed Mengsk, but after that, things went downhill fast."

"Your Emperor is part of the problem, he has helped set up Hybrid factories in the next four years… Damn… 6 months more then some of our problems would be eased," Xapferey grumbled.

Louise smiled sadly. "I didn't have that luxury. When the final war came, it was swift. We never had a chance. I saw countless people die, always somehow evading it myself. Holding Jim as he died was…" She couldn't continue.

"It won't happen again Louise, you have my word… in six months even Amon will crap his metaphorical pants at what's coming from Blackwater Station," Xapferey gave a grin of such dark glee it even made Louise shiver.

"As long as Amon is all we have to worry about." Jason said quietly. "With you showing up Xapferey, I can't help but feel there's more coming at us than we're ready for, even as we are."

"Come with me Jason, you and Jim, I want to show you something in private and give you both a gift that should help you get ready for the coming storm."

"Knowing you, this is going to be scary as hell, absolutely mind-blowing or, most likely, both." Jim snarked.

"Well in truth Jim, it'll end up helping your mind from being blown," Xapferey said transforming back into his human form. Once in the office, he took a seat on one side of the desk and offered the chairs opposite for the two to sit in. "In truth I want to offer you these," Xapferey drew two vials filled with glowing gold and purple liquid. "If you drink these, you will have the same opportunities as I did when I first came to Lodoss. These will give you the ability to cast magic as I do."

Jason collapsed into the seat in shock. "If that's a joke, Xapferey, it's not funny."

"Jason I would never joke about this. We're friends now I like to think. I wouldn't prank you like this… either of you. Granted I can't give you all my knowledge or power, which would not end well. But you have the opportunity to learn it and cast spells with these."

Jim didn't look any better off than Jason. "This is incredible. I can't even begin to guess what you're offering."

"Besides if things go as planned… think of it this way would you want to deal with a hormonal psionic without defenses of your own?" Xapferey said with a teasing grin.

Jason looked unsure. "I understand what you're doing, Xapferey, and I do appreciate it."

"Just remember a magical core is like a muscle. You can exercise it, but exhausting it can be very bad."

Jason shook his head. "I can't accept this, my friend."

"Why not Jason? Look with Amon's forces out there, especially Duran… wouldn't you want to have the ability to match him shot for shot? Deedlit did and she's a shaman, not a sorcerer."

"I know, and you don't know how tempting it is." Jason sighed. "But that much power is terrifying. It's more than should be in anyone's hands. I don't trust myself with that, I simply can't."

"And that makes you an amazing person. Trust me Jason, that power scared me. But I used that power to make things better. Let me put it another way Jason… in game terms for easier comparison this would make you a level 1 sorcerer. I'm not making you godly, there's no way you'd survive. Your body is not used to magic period. You'd have to learn and grow as you go, and we of Draconia can help guide you and show you how to handle it."

"That's another reason that makes me hesitant. Even with your ability to speed up time, it will take me away from the battlefield and at this point, I can't afford that. I can respect your use of this and admire your power and control. But I know my limits, and wielding such powers myself is beyond them. For better or worse I'm only one man and whether I live or die won't make that much impact on the grand scale. I'd rather risk dying than risk becoming something that I despise. It was for that reason that we went after Sarah. Much has changed since then, but that hasn't. Call it arrogance or whatever you will, but that is a path I dare not follow."

"I call it being a good man. A man many would follow against the hordes of hell itself. I admire your conviction Jason, I really do. But I will tout one last benefit even if you choose not to take it in the end. Magic can be used outside and inside the body as sorcerers. Even if you don't cast overt spells, you can use your magic to reinforce and enhance your body passively, which also works your core and helps it grow. A technique that even works in anti-magic fields. The reason for that before you ask is the magic simulates chemical and bio-electrical energies."

"I never denied the benefits, Xapferey. I'm sure you could list them from now until Doomsday. But it also provides another means of ambush for an opponent. I can adjust how to deal with enemy sorcerers without drastically changing my skill set. But with too many skills, I spread myself too thin. Jack of all trades. There are too many risks for me. I'm sorry."

"Ok Jason I'll save it for if you decide to change your mind. Jim, your thoughts on the matter?" Xapferey turned to the silent companion.

Jim glanced between the pair. "This isn't a decision I can make lightly or quickly. I need to think it over, talk to Sarah. It's just too big a step for me to have an immediate answer. Part of me agrees with you that's it's a valuable ability and means to assist in a fight. But Jason's words ring true as well."

"And Jason's right as well. To make a reliable usable combat caster focusing purely on offensive spells and shields would take… 6 months at minimum and that's rushing it. Ok fair enough, just let me know if you change your minds. Finally I want your opinion on this ship here, actually give me a second I need to call Tassadar and Zeratul as well." 'Tassadar, Zeratul would you mind joining us in my office? I want your opinions on something,' Xapferey sent telepathically.

"On our way, Emperor." Zeratul swiftly replied. "Tassadar is with me."

Xapferey sent the telepathic equivalent of a nod as he waited for the two to join them.

"So my friends, I have good news and I have bad news relating to my newest ship. For your reference my Protoss friends, it's my answer to the Spear of Adun and her sister ships."

Projecting an image on the holo display in front of them Xapferey showed the IDS Forceria and her full weapon and system complements.

Weapons:

10k phaser turrets, 2k heavy phaser turrets. 400 torpedo turrets, 40 phaser projector turrets. 400,000 microphaser point defense turrets

Protections:

4000 shield generators, 1000 overlapping ablative generators. 1 km carbon neutronium armor plating.

Power systems:

100 matter/anti-matter reactors, 4 prototype subspace reactors.

Carrying capacity:

24 Defiant class heavy frigates

2500 light fighters

1250 heavy fighters

300,000 ground forces plus armor and artillery (at full capacity)

Secondary systems:

Prototype warp interdictor field projector (250,000 kilometer radius)

Warp dampening emitters (Ship can dampen its warp signature to look like a light fighter or any other Draconian vessel at warp).

Prototype battle cloak: Ship can use shields and fire while cloaked.

Mobile heavy shipyard (can produce up to and including Sovereign class).

Size: 35 km.

Once it was done extolling its virtues, Xapferey waited for their opinions.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, Jason managed to pick his jaw back up off the floor. "Gentlemen, I think we have been absolutely blown away in terms of ambition."

"You're not wrong." Jim replied. "If that doesn't make Mengsk run away screaming, then nothing will."

"Jim, this thing is only one third the size of the Spear of Adun and her sister ships," Xapferey protested jokingly.

Zeratul and Tassadar were slower to react. "As an answer, to the Ark ships, this does an astounding job. Though they are designed as transports above warships, they are heavily armed, but not nearly as heavily as this." Tassadar finally replied.

"Dimensional magic my friends, we do have the power to make things larger inside than out. We could evacuate all of Draconia's lands with room to spare if we had to evacuate. Besides I'd rather build it big and come up with excess than a lack… after playing Legacy of the Void and seeing Shakuras go kaboom I'd want something I could get my people away in. We may not meet the Protoss technology exactly but magic helps bridge the gap."

Jason finally managed to shake off his shock. "You said there was good news and bad news."

"Yes, the good news is we could launch it right now. Bad news is we'd only have a third of ground forces available to carry on it. The troop bays and facilities are only a third complete but that can be done in the black."

"Hauling ground forces around isn't a particularly big problem for us." Jason shrugged. "Pretty sure we can work around that issue."

"Then I will order it launched right away. Secondly I want to ask you Zeratul, would Raszagal be open to an alliance with us?"

"I do not see a reason she would refuse. She understands the threat we face, I think, and she would welcome a chance to reunite with our brethren."

"Yes if I remember my lore correctly, she was there during the… exile. I will send a delegation to Shakuras after we speak with her, I did deploy a stealthed relay probe in that direction just in case. I can open communications now if you want?"

"Perhaps it might be better if I have the chance to brief her on the situation first." Zeratul considered.

"That would be excellent as I do hope to gain the aid of the Nathrezim and everything we can get. I know it's early but something to consider… The Purifiers."

Jim frowned. "The Purifers?"

Tassadar's expression darkened. "Weapons of war we created that rebelled against us. Sentient weapons capable of unleashing untold amounts of damage."

"In Legacy of the Void, they were reclaimed and rejoined the Protoss society. I'm not sure if you heard his name, but Artanis became the Hierarch of the Protoss race. He helped reclaim and befriend them. His argument was put simply; if they were based on Templars of old… treat them like the Templars they were based on and let them choose. One final problem or warning I need to address and give before we can begin the time dilation spell is the Khala, Amon was able to take the Golden Armada over and the majority of the Protoss race over in Legacy through the Khala, there was only one was to stay safe and that was to emulate the Dark Templar and… well you can guess Tassadar."

Tassadar grimaced. "Indeed. But far better that than to be forced into destroying your own people."

"Agreed, and better a warning now then being taken by surprise right? Well, here's the plan, Zeratul if you wouldn't mind heading back to Shakuras and speaking with Raszagal about contacting me? Jason, Jim let's collect our psionic ladies and head to the main shipyard. Tassadar if you wouldn't mind adding your psionic energy to the mix? every little bit helps."

"Of course." Zeratul replied.

"Alright, then let's do it. One second," Xapferey triggered something on his desk. "That was a launch and summon signal for the Forceria. After you gentlemen."

The four stood and followed Xapferey, with Sarah and Nova quickly arriving.

Leaving the office, the group split up to their various tasks. Zeratul bid farewell to the group to return to Shakuras. Xapferey gathered all their spellcasters and allies to assist in the spell.

1 hour later.

Jason and Jim stepped back as the many mages stretched out their hands towards the shipyards. Sarah, Nova, Tassadar and Louise were in the circle joining Draconia's mystical elements to help provide energy to the time dilation field. Each caster chanted in Draconic as they added their power and skill to shape the magic.

"Ini arcaniss yth rihlilg tairais. origato tairais gethrisj temepilt persvek wer goawy yth tuor. vers wer tirnlg, tairais tyrtrol. arcaniss meageic, arcaniss meageic shio. birk tairais zahae udoka. tairais ui svabol yth rigluin, tairais zklaen tyrtrol," the spellcasters chanted. What with so many casters, and many powerful ones included, the combined energy demands was negligible for each caster and the field snapped into being.

Xapferey looked at the field while muttering to himself as he thought over his calculations before he came to a realization.

"Oops."

"Oops? What do you mean oops?" Jason demanded.

"We overcharged the field… time is passing there beyond an expected rate. We were expecting a couple decades to go by and… well… we got more… lots more."

In the distance, a Sovereign class was completed and launched and another well underway as he spoke.

"Define 'more' for us." Jason said quietly.

"300 years maybe 310 in that area of space is passing in 3 days."

"And exactly what is that going to do to the people inside there?"

"Everyone there is an Elf or Half-Elf, they don't suffer the rigors of mortality. They are immortal."

"Probably just as well, given this. As useful as this is, it's evidently not completely foolproof, but then that's why we're relying on a combined arms approach, isn't it?"

As they watched, it looked like a movie on fast-forwards. Jason watched as the Liberator was changed, its old systems ripped out and replaced. Though they were extensively briefed on everything that had been changed and added on, Louise however couldn't stop a shiver of glee as she watched the hell that Arcturus would have to deal with soon. There was a hundred Sovereign class alone, couple hundred Galaxy class battlecruisers. 750 Nova class light frigates, 450 Defiant class heavy frigates, 300 Miranda class light destroyers, 200 Intrepid class heavy destroyers, 250 Nebula class light cruisers and 250 Ambassador class heavy cruisers. All were completed within the field while the allies and Draconians watched with awe and glee.

Once the field was done, all 10 of Draconia's fleets were arranged in battle order.

"Here we go, you're going to regret this war Arcturus," Xapferey said with a gleeful growl. "Third fleet you have a go for attacking Braxis."