Graal Dominion Space
Low Orbit over Gruul

The Sufga had just finished trial runs three days prior and its completion meant that all ten planned Gnatar-class Carriers were ready for operation. They were massive, oblong vessels with a low hanging forward hangar where its compliment of Firewing-class Atmospheric Space Fighters could be jettisoned out within a reasonably short amount of time. The completion of the tn carriers meant that the Dominion's new plan was slowly coming to fruition. They were surrounded by nearly two hundred other powerful warships, and as per orders of the Gnatar of the Dominion himself, the new Firewing-class fighters were arcing back and forth through the formation in small patrols, allowing the untested pilots the chance to test the new fighters out.

The Firewing-class Fighters were very poorly armored, and not very maneuverable but was armed to the teeth. Blind fire missiles, rotary guns and electric pulse cannons were the strong suits of the Firewing-class Fighters, but shoddy auxiliary defense systems and only 14 centimeters of armor meant that it'd only take a few shots to put a Firewing into a death spin. They followed the specifications however, and the design was considered superior to that of anything the Graal Dominion had ever encountered, which wasn't much. The Lintsyian Republic, the only known enemies of the Graal did not yet possess fighter craft, at least to the knowledge of the Graal and thus no counter designs had been replicated.


[Two Firewing-class Atmospheric Space Fighters]

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Graal Dominion
Black Haven, Sorguth Prime,
Graal Dominion Secondary Headquarters

" Using Va'dum Batto, we obliterated the Lintsyian defenders and smashed their entire colony world in one day. " Gnatar Commusk appropriated, using a clawed appendage to point out several details across the strewn about papers that lay atop the table.

The battle plans were from the First Lintsyian-Graal War. They had used Va'dum Batto, or Decisive Battle, to defeat the Lintsyians in a all out, winner take all battle instead of any type of guerrilla warfare. However, the Graal Civil War allowed the Lintsyians to defeat the small vanguard of Graal defenders and retake their world within a matter of a few months. Gnatar Commusk had been a Chief during the Battle of Aliq and the very idea that the Lintsyians retained control of their planet left a very poor taste in the Gnatar's mouth. Mognosh Grash and Mognosh Surg were present, as well as accommodating military officers, such as the Head Warden of Demetoria Prison, Second in Command of the Sorguth Prime Defense Fleet, Captain of the Black Haven Irregulars, and the like.

" Can we strike again without them being able to defend themselves better? " Mognosh Surg, Commander of the Graal Navy asked.

" The Lintsyians are not a warlike people, our space probes tell us they are unprepared for combat all across Aliq. If we strike soon, we can retake Aliq and have a foothold in the Lintsyian system within the next cycle. Are your forces ready, Mognosh? " Gnatar Commusk asked.

" The last Gnatar-class Carrier was finished a few days ago, the last pilots are boarding right now. Mognosh Surg is already moving his units into transports and nearing the worm hole to prepare to jump to Black Haven. " Mognosh Surg replied.

" We are ready than. "

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-- The Graal complete their ten Gnatar-class Carriers, which will help expand their minute empire.
-- Battle plans for the second war with the Lintsyians are drawn out. 57 Destroyers, 50 Cruisers, 50 Battleships, 10 Carriers, and 50 Transports carrying 1,000 Infantry Regiments, 100 Artillery Regiments, and 150 Armor Regiments jumps to Black Haven space..

Graal Dominion
Black Haven, 43.2 degrees north, 21.3 degrees east,
Demetoria Maximum Security Prison

The solitary confinement institution on the Graal Dominion colony world of Black Haven was one of the first installations constructed after the colonization by the former Graal Confederacy. It was built with the intention of housing the undesirables, as during the Graal Formation Wars, and the much later Graal Civil War, many Graal were imprisoned, tortured, and often killed for information. It sat by itself, far away from the Prime where the settlement of Sorguth Prime lay. It was geographically surrounded by huge lakes of lava, and arid desert covered what was not already bubbling under super heated magma. Escape was meaningless, as for those few that did ever escape never made it to Sorguth Prime anyway. The prison itself was built within the walls of a huge mountainous extension made by natural means. It boasted a single starport that dropped supplies every few cycles. A small road from Sorguth Prime was built during the Graal Civil War, when during the Siege of Sorguth Prime, Loyalist controlled AA pulse batteries made it impossible to keep the Expansionist garrison there supplied and instead wheeled vehicles had to be used to keep the soldiers fed. The much smaller, but no less brutal Battle of Demetoria ended in a Loyalist victory after eighteen days of hard room-to-room fighting.

Demetoria had recently become a center of fervent activity when the Gnatar of the Dominion arrived to speak to Head Warden Gog'grodd the Black. He gave the order that the minor offenders, those responsible for single murders and manslaughter were to be reinstated into a Conscript Infantry Regiment. Called the 551st "Wild Hogs," the Regiment was to be made up of villainous killers and ex-soldiers who had fought in the Graal Civil War. After the numbers, the 551st was comprised of 9,842 soldiers. They were given equipment and unloaded weaponry and ordered onto a single transport. That transport then caught the tail end of the formation that was to jump from Black Haven into the Lintsyian Republic held system of Aliq.





Graal Dominion
Black Haven Space,
Aboard Graal Fleet Command Ship, Gnatar-class Carrier Sufga

The bridge was crowded, thick, grey skinned Graal ran to and fro while the three respective commanders of the invasion force attempted to consort with each other over a huge metallic table that was covered in various flimsi-sheets such as Aliq's capital city and it's geographic surroundings, drawings of Averi soldiers and information on their TETRA weapons. The three Graal assembled were Mil-Mognosh Frogg, Commander of the 1st Graal Assault Fleet, Mil-Mognosh Thoth of the Graal 4th Army, and Mil-Mognosh Gruggo of the Graal 7th Army. They were seasoned veterans of the Graal Civil War, and although Thoth was originally an Expansionist, he had mutinied and joined the Loyalists near the end of the war, and so Gruggo and Thoth had concerns over his station, but they held their tongue.



" The Averi may be better defended, but Va'dum Batto is how we will defeat them. " Mil-Mognosh Frogg noted, his voice coarse and thick. A clawed hand tapped at a circular speck across a photograph of Aliq. " Their capital, we will bombard it during the invasion, and clean sweep whatever remains. If they can not be swatted from the sky, we will use HOGs. "

The HOG, or High Explosive Gravitics were nuclear devices first tested and used during the Graal Civil War. The ruthlessness of the Graal knew no end, and while the majority of the known extraterrestrials in space had decided that nuclear superweapons were not worth the loss of civilian life, the Graal knew no such restrictions. The HOG was wildly indiscriminate, and it was crude, but effective. The intended use of this weapon meant fallout, and fallout was a potentially dangerous situation, especially for the Graal.

" The 4th Army will be the spearhead, the SNOG MBT's will lead the way and smash the defenders. Hmph. " Mil-Mognosh Thoth recited and Mil-Mognosh Gruggo nodded. " The 7th Army will stand in reserve and kill any Averi who will not bow. Gnatar Commusk does not want to destroy them completely, he wants their facilities and workers intact. "

" Argh. For Graal! "

" For Graal! "

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-- The 551st " Wild Hogs " Infantry Regiment (Elite Regiment) is created and shipped to the 1st Graal Assault Fleet to prepare for the invasion of Aliq.
-- Plans for the assault on Aliq are discussed and prepared. The 1st Graal Assault Fleet prepares to jump into Aliq's orbit.

Graal Dominion Space
Capital City of Gruul, Homeworld of Gruul He'a

The masses had been ordered together. Billons of Graal ordered to attend the massive ceremony at the behest of Gnatar Commusk. The harangue would take place in Ghog Square, where nearly a million Graal squeezed in. The day's industry had been ordered to a standstill, massive feasts were held for free and all around the Graal stood huge hanging banners of the Graal Dominion Flag, a menacing brown and crimson striped menace flanked by bone and blade with the skull of a Graal across it. Draped by the aforementioned ceremonial arrangement, Gnatar Commusk stepped briskly into the humid air of the huge overhanging balcony and threw a fist skyward as the crowd greeted him with a fiery cheer. He stood in silence as the cheering (some weapons going off in utter excitement) continued. As they hushed, Gnatar Commusk began.

" My brothers, my sisters, we are again at the doorstep of the Averi! " The crowd against dispelled into ranting madness, cheering and laughing for another few seconds. " Their colony world of Aliq, stolen from us by the Averi after they violated the Treaty of Aliq have been beaten back, destroyed by our weapons and brave soldiers! Aliq burns, and even now I have word from Mil-Mognosh Frogg of the Graal Navy that they are beating destroying the vanguard forces of the Republic and preparing to invade the Averi homeworld. They are beaten, and beaten they will stay under the Graal. The Graal will be the new masters of the galaxy, and the Averi under them. Our industry will flourish with Averi workers, and your hard work will finally pay off! We have worked harder in this last year than the Confederacy ever has, and we have been repaid tenfold. Our space fleets are unbeaten, our armies indomitable! I come to you with reports of new weapons, new soldiers, new ships! We have commissioned twenty-five new Battleships, twenty-five new Cruisers and increased our army by untold numbers! The Averi have no hope my brothers! No hope at all to stand against the might of the Graal! "

The crowd lost themselves in a haunting euphoria that would've made any race, even the equally tough Way-Wraithans to question the civility (which was questionable already) of the Graal. Gnatar Commusk pounded the air with a clawed fist than slowly disappeared from the balcony.

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" It was good, Gnatar, but there are issues you must address. " The adviser humbled, handing Commusk a handful of flimsies.

" Food shortages are being reported in Sectors 335, 234, 312, 357, 323, 168, 463, and 998. All three sectors on Black Haven, Sorguth Prime, the Mines, and Demetoria are reporting food shortages, but we have surpluses in every military installation on Gruul He'a and Black Haven. "

" Hmph. Get freighters to Black Haven to send extra food for the miners and citizens. The prisoners can fast a while longer. Do the same on Gruul He'a. Their bellies are tired, and if filled they will continue to ask no questions. "

" As you say, Gnatar. "

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-- Gnatar Commusk gives a rallying speech to the people of Gruul He'a about the Second Graal-Lintsyian War.
-- Military food surpluses are taken to help feed the people*

* (I'm requesting permission to spend 200 MP to feed as many Graal as possible.)