Chapter 28: Ready, Aim, Fire - An Empire Falls in Just one Day

The Third Fleet of Draconia passed through the minefield around Forceria and jumped into warp, heading straight towards the Dominion world Braxis. A powerful armada consisting of 75 Nova class light frigates, 45 Defiant class heavy frigates, 30 Miranda class light destroyers, 20 Intrepid class heavy destroyers, 25 Nebula class light cruisers, 25 Ambassador class heavy cruisers, 20 Galaxy class battlecruisers and 10 Sovereign class battleships. Cruising gracefully through warp, they jumped out into the system to face the Dominion defenders.

Xapferey had to give the defenders this much, there was nothing wrong with their response. Despite being dramatically outnumbered and outgunned, the small fleet of battlecruisers and support ships slid smoothly through space, arranging themselves in a battle line to provide the best mixture of defense and offense against their attackers.

The Draconian ships launched a massive swarm of fighters to screen their advance. The brand new Nebula class sniper variants opened up with their phaser projector cannons, ripping into several Dominion vessels well beyond their weapons range. The Draconian forces slowed their advance while their sniper ships picked off vessels.

The Dominion commander, however, was no fool. Realizing that his fleet couldn't match the onslaught directly, he chose to fall back to within range of the planetary defenses, in the hope that the combination might be enough to slow down the attack. He didn't delude himself that he could win the fight, he had seen the reports of what a far smaller fleet had done to Mengsk over Tarsonis. But he might at least be able to hold out long enough to either receive reinforcements, though he doubted they would make the difference, or to force the opponent to offer honorable terms.

Admiral Starleaf sent his orders to his bigger ships. "Bring us to weapons range of the platforms, fire transphasic torpedoes on them, full spread."

10 Sovereign class and 20 Galaxy class firing meant that 840 transphasic torpedoes were launched at the defense platforms. The sheer speed and power of the torpedoes ensured that a few moments later, only atomized wreckage of the ODPs was left.

By now, the Dominion commander was approaching panic. He had one last desperate gamble to make, knowing full well it wouldn't change the outcome here. He couldn't protect the planet, but he might still be able to protect the Dominion. The remaining battle-cruisers, all six of them, warped forward, to point-blank range on one of the Sovereigns. Using their Yamato Cannons to weaken the shields, all of the battle-cruisers rammed the bow of the massive starship at incredible speed, sacrificing themselves to try to wreak some havoc on the Draconian fleet. The resulting explosion for the multiple reactors exploding finally overcame the Sovereign, detonating its own forward reactor, half shattering the ship and leaving it crippled, but more importantly, allowing the smaller ships of the fleet to escape into warp, taking news of the attack back to Korhol.

"Damnation to Kardis...send word to the other fleets to watch out for that tactic and all ships are to divert all auxiliary power to shields," Starleaf snarled. "Get the Stargazer back to Draconia or scuttle it if you have to. Send repair and medical teams immediately. And start beaming down ground forces to the planet."

Braxis fell 3 hours later under the Draconian armies.

Second fleet

The Second Fleet jumped into warp as they headed towards Dylar, receiving word from the third fleet, all ships were ready for the Dominion trying that tactic again. This time they weren't raiding the shipyard but stealing the whole thing.

Equal size as all the other fleets, they arrived and began a full direct assault on the Dominion defenders, blasting them with all their weapons.

Word as to the battle at Braxis, however, had not yet reached the Dominion defenders, but all of them remembered just how effortlessly they had been been less than two weeks ago. None of them had any desire to throw their lives away. Within minutes of the barrage beginning, all of the Dominion ships, and the shipyard itself, were powering down their weapons and cutting their engines, signaling desperately their surrender.

The Draconian ships ceased firing and Admiral Leafwind opened communications with the commanding officer of the Dominion.

"Your unconditional surrender is accepted," she said simply.

No one in the Dominion was inclined to argue the point when staring down the barrels of so much death and destruction. Marine teams were beamed onto the shipyard and ships around it. Securing the massive station and the protecting fleet. Finally the Sovereign and Galaxy class ships formed up around the Dylar shipyards and jumped into warp while projecting a structural integrity field to keep the shipyard intact while they headed home. While doing that Leafwind sent a message to Korhal.

"His Imperial Majesty Xapferey Manaweaver thanks you Emperor Mengsk for the acquiring of the Dylar shipyards. Don't worry we handled the moving ourselves."

Korhol

The news of the combined defeats at Dylar and Braxis hit Mengsk's office like an Apocalypse missile. In the space of a few hours, the Dominion had been handed one of the worst military defeats in human history. Mengsk couldn't believe his eyes as he saw the reports.

"How can this be possible?" He screamed in impotent anger. "How can two of our most heavily defended positions fall with barely a whimper?" His anger directed itself at his top general. "IS THIS THE BEST THAT CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THE MIGHTY DOMINION MILITARY?"

Warfield, speaking from his command ship over Torus, tried to explain the situation. "Emperor, we are facing an opponent with capabilities far beyond our own and, thanks to Jason, with extensive knowledge of how we operate and our tactics and capabilities. With the best will in the world, we have our own limits and this enemy can push us far beyond them."

"THAT IS IMMATERIAL! WE ARE THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE IN THIS SECTOR!"

"Apparently not, Emperor." Warfield said sadly. "It took sustained fire from the Eighth Fleet, and kamikaze runs at near warp speed from six battlecruisers to even come close to destroying one of those massive Sovereign class warships. We have nothing on that scale and no way to be able to combat them in time. Each fleet that has attacked us so far as been equal in size. Even if they only have the two, and I rather doubt that, then we could gather our entire fleet and still be outnumbered and outgunned."

Mengsk snarled before a thought occurred to him. "Then let us make it so that we are not." He straightened and grinned at Warfield and the others. "All your ships have psi-emitters aboard. Deploy them to the planets they defend and prepare them for activation if the enemy arrives."

Warfield swallowed. "Sir, there is no certainty that we could repel a Zerg assault of that magnitude either."

"But it will buy our forces time and slow their advance. Make it so, General Warfield."

At that moment the First Draconian fleet warped into the Torus system. Piping through the Sovereign's communications array, Xapferey opened coms while on board the Forceria sitting cloaked among the First Fleet.

"Ah General Warfield I don't suppose I could convince you to surrender?" He asked.

"Emperor Xapferey. You know I cannot in good conscience do that. You are threatening the people of the Dominion and my first loyalty must be to them..."

Jason chose that moment to interject. "Warfield, you know better than to throw your life away for Mengsk. I think you also know that the only way lives will be lost or threatened is if you continue to oppose us. Believe me, this isn't a fight you can win. Even Duke has realized the truth of that, General."

"I'll make a final excellent reason to surrender General, Lieutenant drop the cloak," With that the massive 35 kilometer flagship uncloaked to be seen by the Dominion fleet and their Emperor.

Both General and Emperor couldn't hide their shock at the massive warship that had so suddenly appeared within the enemy fleet. Warfield was visibly wavering, but it was Mengsk who reacted first.

"Do you honestly believe that that will be sufficient to be victorious?" His madness was utterly apparent in his voice and even Xapferey was taken aback at the sheer stupidity of his statement.

"Against the likes of you Mengsk? Yes, there's a saying you should know… Do not anger Dragons," he transformed into his true form. "For thou go squish when stepped on."

Strangely, Mengsk's resolve seemed to harden at the new revelation. "But even Dragons can be slain, Xapferey. And the hour of your death has drawn near indeed."

"I suppose you speak of hidden friends? Perhaps one named Samir Duran or Emil Narud making offers of powerful allies?" He asked.

Mengsk grinned. "Now why would I need that, when I have powerful weapons already?"

As if on cue, Jason's sensor display flared dramatically. "Incoming Zerg fleets, bearing 342, up 76. We got a lot of company."

Warfield looked at his own displays and his blood ran cold. "Commander, Emperor Xapferey, the Emperor has activated a group of psi-emitters on Torus's surface. Whatever issues we have with each other, we must force back the Zerg. I cannot locate the exact position of the psi-emitters, but their signal is unmistakable."

"Agreed General, but I prepared a little surprise for the Zerg just in case of such an emergency. All forces Grey Rain, dispersal pattern Sierra." Xapferey commanded. At his order all Draconian ships waited for the Zerg to appear, come within range and fired a massive barrage of grey torpedoes unlike the regular red, blue or yellow.

Each torpedo's warhead carried specialized nanoprobes designed to kill the Zerg while masking their signature by emulating Zerg bio-signs. Within a few minutes the entire swarm was killed by the massive nanoprobe burst.

"You were saying Arcturus?" Xapferey asked with a Draconic shit-eating grin.

Arcturus smiled. "That trick won't work twice, will it? You might manage to win here but I rather suspect that you won't have the same luck when we next face off. Warfield, I am initiating your retreat protocols. Until we meet again, Emperor." he snarled the last word before closing the comm channel. Before their eyes, the Dominion fleet fled into warp.

Torus surrendered upon the show of force made by Draconia. With that, the 9th fleet moved up to hold position while the combined First and Second fleets headed for Korhal while the Third and Fourth struck at Tyrador.

When the combined assault force arrived at Tyrandor, the system surrendered as they moved towards the inner system.

Finally it came, Draconia's first three fleets combined to strike at the heart of the Terran Dominion. Alongside Jason and Jim's fleets and Tassadar's forces, the combined force warped into the Korhal system to face the defenders.

Xapferey and Louise knew roughly what defenses had been in place at Korhal at the height of the Second Great War, Louise rather better than Xapferey. What was arrayed against them left them somewhat surprised.

"Is that all they can muster?" Louise snorted.

To face off against the might of an enemy that had so far demolished them with little effort, the Dominion's defenders could be, at best, described as a rag-tag bunch. Even the Raiders alone outnumbered them.

"He's planning something… a Zerg invasion to catch us from behind probably. Grey Rain is no good, we're out of those torpedoes," Xapferey said. "No matter, I have another three fleets ready to warp in to catch whatever comes at us from behind… It's time to see just how cunning Arcturus Mengsk is in real life."

"I doubt it's Zerg." Jason commented. "Even Mengsk wouldn't risk using them twice like that, not with his own capital at risk. But if it isn't Zerg, then he has something else and I don't like knowing what that is. Raiders, spread out, wide battle formation. I don't want us being too close together."

"Draconians, formation omicron, fighter screen is to pair with frigates for point defense augmentation," Xapferey ordered.

As was to be expected when confronted with a force of such size and power that was doing a very good impression of a snake rearing to strike, the Dominion fleet fled closer to the planet, retreating to practically within its atmosphere.

The Draconian fleet launched all their fighters and frigates in the case of the Forceria but the Dragon had a plan of sorts, as the Draconians seemed to have packed in their fighters without regard for pilots or ship spaces. With that and a trick Xapferey learned from Star Trek Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, half of his fighter forces jumped forwards towards the planet without regard for their safety. Jason raised an eyebrow at the assault, but remained silent, guessing that there was a reason behind it.

Heavy fire, from both the surface and orbiting defenses, lanced out at the oncoming ships. The fighters disappeared not long after from the barrage without having inflicted a single loss on the Dominion.

"Heh gotta love those emitters, we just had them waste their entire missile stocks on harmless holograms," Malkira chuckled. With that the Draconian forces began moving to phaser projector range of the defenders.

What no one had considered was the the fact that their course let them past Korhal's moon. Despite the extensive scans of its surface, there remained a small zone that couldn't be scanned by anything other than a high-intensity scan from directly overhead. The fleet's course did not take it into such a position and so, as the fleet began their assault, they were rudely surprised by a sudden assault from the moon, tearing into several carriers. Xapferey and Malkira were some of the few that realized exactly what technology was being used against them, though Jason too realized the basics.

"When did they get time to set up a laser drill?" Malkira asked.

"Hell if I know, get us in the path of the beam… auxiliary power to ventral shields," Xapferey ordered as the powerful engines of the IDS Forceria pushed it forwards into the path of the beam where the shields held on to it.

"Xapferey, you'd better watch out. That's not just one drill, there's way too much power for that." Jason's voice darkened. "The way that thing's firing, they've copied our Lynx tactics as well."

"That is kind of obvious in retrospect Jason. But I'll let you in on a secret, our shields normally tally slightly less than 23 billion terajoules of energy per second. We can take it especially with auxiliary power focused on that area. Remind me, is that moon inhabited?"

"Don't know, but it's not our only problem." As if to punctuate Jason's words, similar beams began to lance out from the planet and the defending battle stations and powerful defensive shields snapped into place over Korhal itself..

"Phaser projector turrets return fire… fine… if that's how they want to play it… The Cilarista have a saying I quite agree with… fight Hellfire, with Hellfire."

Within the void of space, sparked by the magic of the Dragon emperor, fire began burning where it could not, consuming all in its path before launching at the planet's defending stations, within the flames, shapes of animals could be seen.

Upon closer inspection, however, another problem revealed itself. While the orbital station's might be vulnerable to heavy attack and were indeed being devastated by the magical fire, the planet-based defenses were all placed in the middle of civilian centers, ostensively to provide a degree of stability and security to the population, but it also complicated matters for the assailants, as they would either have to conduct a very surgical strike under heavy fire, a challenging objective, or use immense brute force to either bring down the shields completely or cut through them, all of which would result in incredible civilian casualties. Mengsk was giving himself a second set of shields, a living one. To top it off, every moment delayed cost men and ships as the fleets began to show the cost of suffering the relentless assault.

"Binduras Fetharnark, BINDURAS," Xapferey roared in a tongue that hurt everyone's ears as the flames snuffed themselves out having completely devastated the weapons platforms in orbit and on the moon. "Ugh… I hate using that kind of magic… hate hate hate hate it. It leaves me feeling so filthy afterwards."

Pulling back just outside weapons range, the Draconian forces consolidated and planned for orbital penetration. Unfortunately, outside of weapons range left absolutely no one capable of engaging the enemy, even the Draconian fleet. The sheer power available to the plant defenses allowed them to outrange everything else on the battlefield.

"Well that's a problem… no Zerg to endlessly throw lives at a problem… hmm,"

Jason suddenly began to grin. "Perhaps I can steal a tactic off you for a change then."

"What do you have in mind my friend?" Xapferey asked.

"The Stargazer. We need to be able to hit hard and fast, before they can establish a lock, then get back out of range. This is a job better suited to us, I think. The dagger over the hammer again."

"Ok then, though I would call the Forceria a supernova not a hammer," Xapferey joked.

"That's close to the mark, without question. But sometimes, you need a little subtlety to get the job done. Sometimes one man can breach a fortress that could shrug off an army." Jason turned to his console, running the numbers. "It's all about finding the weak spots. And I know exactly where to find this one. Still, we'll need a dirty big distraction to pull this off, so you can still use your supernova to your heart's content."

"Ok Jason, I want Arcturus to fall and fall hard. So hard his entire world crumbles about him… Ugh I had to be a gold not a red Dragon," Xapferey grumbled.

"I'm sure that's a mistake you can live with. Can I borrow Malkira?"

"You can ask her yourself," the hybrid said with a mock glare at Jason.

"It's always polite to ask the father to take his daughter on a date before actually doing so, don't you agree?"

"And have Nova out for my blood, no thanks," Malkira muttered.

"I suppose, just bring her back in one piece Jason, keep in mind I have a Dark Lord that owes me a few favors," Xapferey warned half-joking.

"Xapferey, they won't even see our tail lights" As Malkira teleported across, Jason grinned as he closed the channel. "Princess, how would you like a chance to drop a nice big load on old Mengsk? Say, half a fleet?"

"I would enjoy that quite a bit, while I may lack my father's outright hate for the man, anything that causes him misery I'm happy to help with. What do you need?"

"We need to get inside that shield, which is easy for one ship, but holding a hole big enough to slip everyone through isn't possible, even for your ships. But if we can get inside, get too close for them to be able to target us easily, and with you with us….."

"Portkeys? I can only make them to places I have been or seen you know, transporting an army into a place portrayed by a game is… risky."

"Which is why we're going to get you a nice close look at Korhal, give you the personal tour, you might say. If we happen to take out a few of their ground defenses along the way, well that's what travel insurance is for." Nova grinned, following on from Jason. "And then you can send those portkeys back to your Dad, who can distribute them around the fleet."

"OK I'm in, get me what I need and I'll throw an entire army down on them… there is another way aside from portkeys, portal magic is more stable and constant and any mage can use them."

"But at least portkeys are one way and they won't be able to use them to escape or launch a counterattack." Jason pointed out.

"Same with portals if you key them right. Key them to Draconian armor and spells on the armor and we have a door that only we have the key to."

"Would you need a degree of stability to set up a portal like that, because we aren't going to be stopping, at all. Besides, think of the sheer shock value of having ships simply materialize in the sky above you."

"Ok, you've convinced me, let's do it."

Jason reactivated the channel. "Ok Emperor, reckon you guys could knock a hole in the shield about here?" Jason sent a series of coordinates across but it wasn't overly obvious exactly what Jason was planning.

"You do realize there's just air and space behind those points, don't you?"

"Of course. I've seen enough of your weapons to know I don't want that kind of firepower being simply dropped on Korhal without regard for what's behind it. All we need is a little bit of room."

"Ok, transphasics it is, all ships with them, move to weapons range and fire at will transphasic torpedoes on these coordinates I am sending," 60 Galaxy class, 30 Sovereign class moved forwards, pushing auxiliary power to their prow shields as they made a micro jump forward into firing range, then began firing a massive volley of transphasic torpedoes onto the target provided. Within seconds, a hole opened up in the defensive shields, though the laser drills were wasting no time in firing on the attacking fleet. But they were so focussed on the fleet, that they ignored the hole, allowing the Liberator the time needed to dart through it before the fleet had to retreat once more, with the final detonations perfectly covering their entry.

Of course, the sensors picked the ship up as soon as they weren't overloaded with energy, but by that time, the Stingray-class gunship was already diving like a bird of prey to the attack. With the new and improved systems, the Liberator was faster by half than anything else in the sky and able to hit far harder than an enemy could handle. Moving at incredible speeds, the ship screamed over the city, dropping terajoules of energy perfectly onto one of the laser drills, demolishing it in such a way that it simply collapsed in on itself, leaving the rest of the city intact.

Malkira watched intently, taking in every detail of the surrounding area so she could create the portkeys safely and accurately. Meanwhile, the Liberator twirled, effortlessly shrugging off the desperate fire that was beginning to be thrown at her. The laser drills kept trying to establish locks to shoot the pesky ship down, but they were slow to turn and acquire, the weakness Jason had realised earlier, and the pocket powerhouse of a ship had no trouble staying ahead.

Malkira watched with a steely eye as she gathered all the information she needed before casting her spells left and right. Triggering the teleportation charmed devices until all of them were ready for sending. "Right, it's time for this half-Dragon to show why you don't mess with Draconia… I'm going in. To the palace, I'll bring down the Emperor myself," Malkira said to Jason and Nova.

"I'd say you're crazy, but I already know that. There's no way I'm going to talk you out of this, is there?" Jason asked.

"Not really, Arcturus pissed me off and he's going to find out why you DON'T piss off a half-Dragon, especially not one that has a name like Manaweaver," she growled.

"Then we can at least give you a lift." With startling speed, the Liberator swung around, aiming directly at the palace, and Mengsk's fortified office in particular.

"Thanks, I was planning on doing this the Dragon way… brutally and with liberal application of deadly magic."

"Nothing saying you can't." Jason commented as they bore directly in on the palace with increasing speed. "But as bad as he's been to you, it's nothing compared to what he's done to us. If you're going to take the final duel from us, then I at least want to scare the ever living shit out of him first."

"Jason it'll be my genuine pleasure," with that Malkira seemed to change, from the friendly woman into the terrifying hybrid she was holding back. Sharpened claws gleamed, fangs glistened and her eyes burned with magical buildup. The whole image was enough to make Jason shiver in fear for a second, before a feral gleam lit his own eyes. Opening a channel, he cut directly into Mengsk's feed, appearing on the massive viewscreen within the office. Mengsk's fear was instantly apparent and it only increased as he beheld Malkira. Jason's grin lit up his face.

"Greetings from Tarsonis, Arcturus." With that, the Liberator cut apart the outer defenses, setting the palace ablaze and, above all, distracting the hell out of Mengsk as Malkira teleported across with the fleet blinking into existence overhead. With all that had just happened, Mengsk completely missed the alarming reports that were starting to come in from the palace guards.

Malkira landed on the outer wall of the palace, her hands glowing green as she twirled them in a circle. The wall blocking her collapsed into powder as she strode down the hallway before turning into a sprint. She ripped apart every marine she came across with magic and claws, flinging spells left and right ntil she came to a crossroads where an entire group of marines combined with Goliaths opened fire on her with everything they had. Once the smoke cleared, Malkira stood there completely unharmed with flattened bullets and depleted missiles all around her feet.

"Ah ah ah," she said while wagging her finger in a mock remonstrating gesture.

To a man, the Dominion soldiers turned and fled.

Or at least, they tried to. Malkira twisted her right wrist until her palm was filled with a net of red and white lines before she flung it down the hallway after them. Once the spell ended, the hallway resembled a charnel house with gore and body parts everywhere.

"Huh, evisceration hex worked better than expected… I owe Dris 10 Dragons," Malkira grumbled. With that she strode down the hall towards Mengsk's office. She slammed her claws into the door and with a roar she ripped it apart. Once done, she entered the office.

"Emperor Arcturus Mengsk," she greeted him.

Mengsk turned from his displays, panic on his face which drained of all colour as he saw the Draconian Princess in her battle glory, complete with the blood of his soldiers dripping from her claws. For once, the arrogant Emperor was speechless.

"I should not have to say how annoyed my father is with you Emperor," she said rhetorically. "Now order your forces to stand down. You have lost."

Mengsk's eyes darted around the room as he realized that he had nothing. No troops, no backup, no escape plan. Malkira terrified him in a way that no one else had ever managed. Whatever honeyed words and useless fight that had remained within him vanished and he slumped, nodding. He knew he should have fled before the Draconians arrived, but it was far too late for that now. Typing in the command to surrender, he turned to the princess before him. "Now, what?" He asked quietly.

"Now, your son can take over the reins and make something good of this Empire rather than the debacle it would have ended up," Malkira said.

"How?"

"Not your concern," Malkira snapped as she teleported him out of the palace.

Two weeks later

Prison ship Blackhawk

Arcturus Mengsk sat down in shackles; he had been well treated and groomed by the Draconian forces as they took him prisoner and sentenced him to jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Communication logs had shown he had been the one to deploy psi emitters on various worlds and especially doing the same to Tarsonis. The evidence had been overwhelming and his court appointed defendant did do a good job in fighting the charges but the verdict was clear as day. He had been sentenced in a fit of irony to New Fulsom which was under brand new non-Dominion leadership and occupation.

A noise outside his cell caught his attention before the door opened. A ghost stepped inside and released him from his shackles.

"Who are you?"

"A friend Emperor."

"Am I still an Emperor?" Mengsk asked.

"We shall see," the mysterious ghost replied as he led Arcturus out of his cell.

"What's your name then?"

"Duran, Samir Duran."

A/N: And that's 28. Done and done.