---CONTINUING TRANSMISSION---

---PAX IMPERIA, PT IV---
R.S.S. INSURRECTION
HIGH ORBIT ABOVE PLANET CERINE, YENIN SYSTEM, DOMINION UNIVERSE
1553 HOURS, JUNE 25, 3564 A.D.

Akasi's Ensign wandered the halls near the bridge. The invasion was lost, and his master knew it. With two Omegas destroyed, and a third likely on its way, a retreat seemed to be the only option that was left.

There had to be a way – some miracle, perhaps, that would allow them to take the planet. Forces on Cerine were reporting that there were almost no civilians left in the capital city they had besieged, while their main target, located in the mountains in the opposite atmosphere, was too heavily fortified for any real assault. If it weren't for the fact that the Dominion had been alerted, they probably would have wiped the Dominion out of existence.

Suddenly, a flaming orb of darkness appeared out of nowhere in front of the Ensign – one of Satan's Infernal Messengers! Knowing his place in the presence of his master, he instantly got down on one knee.

“I live to serve you, Lucifer,” the Ensign stated.
“Ensign,” the Dark Prince began, “I have important news that your master must receive immediately.”
“And what would that be, Satan?”
“I have discovered who it was who alerted the Phoenix Dominion to your arrival. The entity known as Twilight Phoenix, a God either in this dimension or between them, sent them a letter naught but three days prior. With this letter, they had evacuated the planet, its emperor, and all other important figures, in addition to preparing themselves for the fight. I am afraid your invasion was a lost cause before it even began.”
“Great Lord of Darkness, I would never challenge your methods,” the Ensign pleaded, “but if you knew that Lord Akasi's plan was doomed from the start, then why didn't you inform him of such matters?”

The orb slightly swelled in size.

“There is another matter altogether to explain that reason. This information, however, must be given only to Lord Akasi himself, and only him. No one else may know of it...yet.”
The Ensign looked up, eagerness in his eyes. “Well, what is it, Master?”
“I will tell you...”

Meanwhile...

The fight on Cerine was steadily intensifying. Even with three of their mightiest heroes, the Dominion was unable to do anything against the rushing onslaught of the JR/VA. While the enemy had few qualms in destroying buildings that held any Dominion forces, the Dominion seemed reluctant to destroy any garrisoned buildings held by the enemy.

A group of Dominion troops were being attacked by the JR/VA when a dropship landed behind them. More enemy forces?

No – that was not the enemy's insignia emblazoned on the side. It was an inverted red triangle, with a “C” and a pair of crossed swords covering it, topped by a cross of some sort.

A shot suddenly rang out as the hatch opened, in the direction of the enemy. Out came a group of soldiers of various races; two looked distinctly alien, one was felinoid, three resembled upright-walking beasts, one was lizard-like with a spiked shell, while the rest (about 4) were human.

The enemy suddenly became emboldened and attacked even more fiercely. “Imperial scum!” one shouted.
“RENEGADE SCOURGE!” one of the humans shouted back, opening fire with a rifle of unknown make.

The beast-humans raced forward, raking the enemy soldiers with their claws and teeth, only pausing to let out some occasional gunfire. The human with the staff began firing bolts of lightning, then fire, then...earth? It was unlike anything they'd ever seen. The lizard-man spun up his silver-colored gauntlets, boring through his enemies and grinding their internal organs and bones into a messy pulp, blood splattering onto his face. He paused every now and again, torching an assailant with his flame breath.

The green-skinned alien attacked with alarming speed; all the while he seemed to enjoy the thrill of the fight. The other alien, a yellow-skinned alien with somewhat bulbous eyes, silently and grimly executed his attackers, impaling one with his lance as the foe attempted to attack from behind. The other humans also participated, one wielding a massive war-hammer as tall as he was, while the other swung a battle-axe with a blade almost double the width of a man's chest, cleaving his opponents in two.

After 10 minutes, the scene that lay around their new arrivals was a scene of unimaginable gore, splattered against the walls and in the street. The one wielding the staff spun it a few times before striking the ground with the base, turning to face the Dominion troopers. “Are you alright?” he asked.

The others nodded.

“Well met,” he remarked. “I am Brigadier Chief Commander Michael E. Thompson, of the Commandarian Empire. These are my comrades – Bowser, Isaac, Samuel, Kurana, Oren, Krid, Kalo, Olaf, Justin, and Tanner,” motioning to the lizard, two humans, the felinoid, the yellow and green aliens, another human, and the beast-men, respectively.

“So, you're the guys who just popped into our system?” the leader asked.
“Correct. What's your name and rank, soldier?” Mike asked.
“Major Anthony Paine, Commander. This is my team.”
“Where are you and your men headed, Major?”
“Just trying to fight off the enemy, sir. We haven't ever encountered forces like these before.”
“That's what you can expect from the JR/VA,” Krid, the Azdgari, remarked. “If they have an objective, they won't stop until they succeed.”

Mike then looked skyward.

“Bowser, we need a better vantage point. Let's get topside.”
“Right, boss. Major, you'd better come with us.”
“It would be an honor, Bowser.”

The tallest building nearby was about three blocks away – about 30 stories, but it would do. As they approached the skyscraper, however, a shot whizzed by Kalo's ear, forcing him to take shelter against a nearby building. Snipers again.

Mike looked to Justin, a were-fox, and nodded. Justin then reached for his Centurion, and activated the cloaking device. He then dashed for the building, which the others had to go on faith; the new cloaking devices made it impossible to see where he was.

Soon, though, they saw Renegade troops falling out of windows; clearly, he was inside and making a house-call. Mike smiled, and motioned to the others to follow.

The jaunt to the vantage point was now a little less hectic; bullets and laser fire still came towards them, but now it was a bit more manageable. As they were dashing along, Mike's focus was suddenly interrupted by the beeping of his wrist-com, which he answered.

“Yes?”
“This is Insurgent One,” rasped a voice on the other end.
“Go ahead, Insurgent One,” Mike replied.
“Is your Agent almost to my floor?”
“Just about, Insurgent One. Be ready for him,” he cautioned.
“Understood. Insurgent out.”

The connection terminated.

“Now what was that all about, Mike?” Bowser questioned, still running.
“We have a defector in that building who's about to give Justin a hand.”
“Always a welcome surprise when one of the JR/VA decides to turn on their own,” the Koopa King replied smugly.

Suddenly, Mike saw several flashes of gunfire coming from about halfway up the structure. Looks like Justin and the defector had met.

They entered the building, noting the carnage the were-fox had left in his wake. Clawed, bullet-riddled bodies littered the floors, and some bite marks were seen on a few victims; some weres liked to feast on their enemies, but Mike couldn't stand the thought of chewing on enemy soldiers, even if the bastards deserved it.

Eventually, they caught up with Justin and Insurgent One, a now Ex-Renegade named Emilio Kristoff. Having been a double-agent for close to 5 months, now, Kristoff told the team that they were planning an invasion of the other capital city on the other side of the planet.

Once they got to the roof, Mike looked about for the enemy's staging area. If Akasi was staying true to his tactics, he would avoid putting his men in a position that wasn't easily defended. While the flat land of the city made for easy targeting, there would have to be hundreds of defensive emplacements at their makeshift garrison.

That was the scene Mike saw through a pair of binoculars, about 10 miles off to the East of the city. A small storm was brewing overhead as the rest of the team made its way to the rooftop.

“Should we send in a bombardment, Mike?” Kalo asked.
“No, they've got too many guns for that to be effective. We need to think of something else,” Mike said, as he drew the binoculars back to his eyes, scanning them more thoroughly. Almost any direct attack on that force would be next to suicidal. Still, there had to be something he could do.

A thought then crossed his mind. There was one weapon available to him that could do the job...but it would set the already tense Dominion even more on edge. He then ran through his brain again, trying to see if there was anything else other than the weapon he had in mind, but to no avail.

He had no choice.

“Bowser...bring out...” he paused, withdrawing the binoculars.
“The Titan.”

A crash of thunder sounded overhead as the Imperials suddenly were aghast at the statement.

“Mike, you can't be serious!” Bowser protested.
“We're out of options, Bowser; you better believe I'm serious.”
Bowser could only sigh as he had no choice but to do as instructed. “Yes, sir.”

He then reached into his shell, pulled out his bag, and drug a four-foot long metal tube, looking similar to an advanced missile launcher with an octahedral energy cell on the back. The cell was glowing a deep crimson as Mike hefted the weapon over his right shoulder.

“What IS that?” one of the Dominion Troopers asked.
“This, gentlemen, is the Titan AEX-4 Fusion Cannon. It is the single most powerful weapon available to the Imperial Ground Forces, capable of unleashing the power of a 5-megaton thermonuclear blast.”

The Troopers just gave confused expressions.

“In plain English, this weapon could flatten a city the size of San Francisco – that's about everything within a five-mile radius.”
“Correct, Bowser – and now if you'll please, give me my readings.”

Bowser nodded, then took out a small scanner, and read off the conditions of their situation:

Wind Speed: E 3.48 mph
Gravitational Pull: 1.13 G
Range: 9.62 miles
Firing Status: CLEAR

“Fire when ready, Mike.”

Mike then moved to a switch a few inches from the trigger. “Switching to Pulsed Fusionic Disruption mode,” he commented to himself. He looked through the enhanced viewfinder as the targeting reticule was focused on the center of the base. As he did so, Bowser and the others then began putting on polarizing goggles, to prevent being blinded by the blast, informing the Dominion troopers to either do the same, or look away.

Mike squeezed the trigger, holding his finger there. Shortly thereafter, the last 8 inches or so of the barrel began to rotate in a counterclockwise fashion, and a high-pitched whirring sound also came from the weapon. About a half-second later, a small white ball began forming at the emitter. After five seconds had elapsed, the white energy sphere had become a deep red, and there were visible streams of energy about 3 feet long streaming into it from nearly all directions, save the part covered by the barrel.

Then he released the trigger.

(FSHH-SCHEAAAOOOW!)

The recoil from the gun was so massive that Mike was thrust back almost 2 feet, nearly knocking him off balance. The emitter itself shot back to soften the recoil, but it was still a powerful jolt. A solid beam of red rocketed towards the target point of the makeshift base, beginning to fuse elements together.

In 3 seconds, it had finished.

*insert titanic atomic explosion here*

Bowser leveled his hand towards the blast. “Behold, warriors – a second sun! The fury of the Empire's Titan revealed!”

The familiar mushroom cloud that had resulted from the blast was now dim enough that the goggles came off. To Mike, it was eerily beautiful to see such destruction from a weapon so small. Yet, it also reminded him that these weapons were a last resort. A very last resort.

“Well, I guess we'd better head back to the ship,” Mike commented nonchalantly.
“Indeed, but before we do that,” Bowser stated, “we have a few things to discuss with our comrades here,” indicating the Dominion.

Aboard the Insurrection...

Akasi again slammed his fist hard on his chair upon hearing of the base's destruction.

“DAMN THEM ALL! My plans of invasion, gone up in smoke!” he raved. “This mission is all but lost now!”

Just then, the Ensign walked in.

“Lord Akasi, I have urgent news for you.”
“What is it, Ensign?” he asked, annoyed.

The Ensign leaned towards him, and whispered something in his ear. He listened intently to all the details his second-in-command spoke to him. None of the other crew could hear what was being said, but an evil smile broke across the Dark Lord's face a few moments later.

“...Really?” Akasi inquired.
“Yes, milord,” the Ensign affirmed.
“Hmm...” he mused, rubbing his chin with his right index finger. “Then, perhaps...our mission here was not a complete failure, after all...”

Akasi then turned his attention to his officers.

“Order all craft to retreat at once,” the Dark Lord ordered. “We're done here.”
“YES, LORD AKASI!” came several replies.

Meanwhile...

Commander and the others in the Imperial Fleet watched with stunned amazement as Akasi retreated from the system. Granted, they had destroyed several of his ships, but Akasi's fleet was still mostly intact. It was very unlike him to run away from a fight of this magnitude, especially considering the tactical advantages presented. Perhaps, Commander reasoned, he simply knew he couldn't make any further headway, and therefore would try again some other time.

He signaled the Dominion Flagship immediately.

“Admiral Zet, come in!”
“Yes, Commander?”
“It seems we've successfully driven Akasi from your planet; he is likely retreating to our Universe. We shall handle him there.”
“Acknowledged. Out.”
“Now, wait, Admiral...”
“Yes?”
“There are few details we'd like to discuss with you. Because Akasi now knows of this Universe and how to enter it, there is little doubt in my mind that he'll try again at some point. He's rather persistent.”
“I see...”
“Perhaps, to be better prepared for such an incursion, we should consider an alliance between our two governments?”

---TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED---

---

NOTES N' STUFF:

Well. I guess the theme of the Empire's pretty clear now, innit? There is no kill like overkill. =P

The Titan is actually pretty old for an idea – I had it in the works before I even put words on my scripts, believe it or not. I never realized just how big a boom 5 megatons makes, though.

If you're curious yourself, this link will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about nuclear blast radii. ^_^

Well, that said, I'm done for tonight, kids. Tomorrow, we wrap up Book I, and set things in place for Book II.

Ah, but before I trot off, I'd like to show you two songs I intended to use in the next post. “Intended” being the working word, here. (NOTE: You'll have to register on IMEEM (which is free, by the way) to listen to "Summon the Heroes")
John Williams - Summon the Heroes
John Williams – Olympic Fanfare

G'night, all! ^_^

The Cerine Universe, JoshTigerHeart, Twilight Phoenix, and all charcters w/in are © their creator
Bowser is © Nintendo
The Empire, JR/VA, and all characters w/in are © me