Mars, high orbit.
A human dressed in a dark grey uniform walked slightly behind a humanoid wolf, and next to him on his right a humanoid dragon with silver skin. "Lord.. are we sure we don’t have a choice?" spoke the human. The wolf just glanced back at him, "We have proof the Deltan’s have landed on the earth of this dimension, contact must be done now for there own safety…. Besides," He handed the human a datapad, "Aliens are nothing new to them according to this report." They walked through a doorway on in to a large command center, with crew pits in the forward section, and the wolf barked out, "Best speed for earth, all ships with jammers off, where going in visible." With that the 10 mile ship with it’s 2 smaller 5 mile escorts began there journey to the earth, leaving the artificial station the size of a small moon behind..
Back in orbit over the earth, the Demon Hunter was making preparations for departure.
Commodore Neylsaic, ran her fingers through her graying hair, and looked at the orders…
To command of the Demon Hunter Assault Group
From Military Council of Lords
Your assault group is here by ordered to the Gathian Nebula in dimension 249.
Once there you are to engage in silent patrol and recon.
She sighed a bit and thought to herself, ‘Boring deep recon… in a nebula as well.. well at least it will be quiet and give my command some needed rest.’ She looked at the reptilian next to her, "Sssithar, has the fighters and there pilots been rotated as instructed?" Sssithar nodded, "Yes madam, and supply loading is complete, only minor repairs are left… to be simple just some touching up on the paint job." Neylsiac leaned back in her command chair, and said out loud, "Crews make the announcement, we leave in 5 minutes."
In a lower orbit over the earth, the ducks brought K’an up in there AeroWing to watch the ISN Demon Hunter leave. K’an admitted to the ducks that the Demon Hunter, was where he not only earned his squadron command, but his first time assigned to a starship. He saluted it, with hand over his chest, as the Demon Hunter’s engines glowed and then as it moved out, was enveloped in a soft blue light, then gone. Tanya was excited to see it, because it gave her a chance to scan a new kind of dimensional gateway technology, not to mention see how there portables system worked first hand. They waited about a half a hour before the glow faded out of sight, and headed back to the pond, which had been converted in to a temporally covert GGE base of operations.
All of NYC gathered to watch as they saw he huge spacecraft settle over there city. It was so large it all but blocked out the sun. Then a small 3-winged shuttle could be seen descending down to the city. Immediately people began to panic, luckily police had already set themselves up just in case. The shuttle landed outside the UN building, and out walked a wolfish human, dressed formally in a dark grey uniform, with medals, and a red cape. He walked calmly in to the UN and the meeting hall where the representatives where gathered. He then spoke in nearly perfect english to them, "I am Corith, Imperial Prince of the Grand Galactic Empire, and High Lord commander in chief of the imperial military…. I come to you on a mission of importance to your world."
It was about 9pm when practice finally let up, Dive made his way to the rec room of the Pond, hoping to find a way to relax, but with K’an’s squadron held up in the Pond, it was hard to find someplace to relax. He found the old tube free and plopped himself down in front of it and turned it on, he then blinked at what he saw, "Yo guys come in and check this out!" The other ducks came in, and looked.
On the screen was the GGE national symbol in the upper left corner as the anchorman stated, "And for those of you just tuning in to the news tonight the big news is the aliens that landed at the UN building in NYC today in the name of peace. A temporary treaty has already been signed forming the United Earth Government as a result, removing all national borders world wide. Talks with the aliens, known simply as the Empire, are said to begin tomorrow at the UN now the Earth Council. Talk will include possible technology exchange programs, and peace treaties. When the representative of the Empire was approached to ask why he choose now to make contact, with what he called a primitive culture, he mearly commented, circumstances deem it be needed." K’an turned it off, as Wildwing looked at him, "Now what?" K’an looked at Wildwing, "The war begins."
In the raptor Draganous looked at the news report. Wraith stood next to him, "This doesn’t bode well m’lord." Draganous just tapped his claw tips on the armrest, "For once Wraith I agree, but there must be some way to take advantage of this… Contact Viper, see if he can purchase some of there propulsion technology for me, and watch them closely, see if there is a way we can contact there underground, surely a empire as large as there’s must have a black market, or a criminal syndicate we can take advantage of."
Back on the Imperial Flagship, the Monolith in orbit over the earth, Corith looked over his reports. "The scans show that this is where the ducks encountered the Deltan’s and freed there friend?" A human next to him nodded, "Yes prince.. and the American military command of this earth, has agreed to let us bombard the area, as under the Ducks advise they did try to attack the them, only to get wiped out." Corith nodded, "Charge the main gun, and take aim, make sure all civilians are out of the area."
News of the attack on a mysterious hill in Nevada spread like wildfire, the Empire had attacked and destroyed a force bent on conjuring and enslaving the earth with a single blast. They allowed native military, as they called it, to examine the site as assurance. While all that was left was a 5 mile crater, some evidence of aliens using organic based technology was found.
Wildwing had taken the recent events as a excuse to take some time off form hockey, to spend with the now deformed Canard. He found Canard buy the lake in a local park, looking at his reflection. Wildwing peered over and saw how it distorted his own face, it made Canards look normal again. "I’ll be a monster forever won’t I?" Wildwing patted Canard on the shoulder, "Hey your alive buddy, that’s a good thing." Canard winces slightly at the touch, the rippling flesh making Wildwing remove his hand, "What’s the use Wildwing, you can go back to puckworld, I can’t.. not like this." Wildwing sighed, "What about those alternatives that K’an mentioned his people could do." Canard just placed a finger in the water, "Have what’s left of my brain moved in to a cybernetic body… no thanks.." Wildwing sat down next to him, he knew from K’an that the trauma was hard on victims like Canard, most that where deprogrammed buy the Empire’s psychics committed suicide in less then a year, the others only managed to live a few years before doing something to end there life. The few, less then one percent, that did make it also never managed to live a normal life, and usually became hermits taking up life on some remote mining colony. "Look Canard…." Wildwing looked at him, "K’an told me the odds, and I’ll see you through to the end, where friends, and the rest are more then a team, we are all friends. That’s how we surveyed on earth for so long, by relying on each others friendship, and that is how you are to." Canard moved his finger enough so he could no longer see his reflection, "Well see what happens then… but something tells me this whole thing isn’t over yet."
Place --- a unknown dimension.
Several red robed figures stood looking a some huge blob of flesh, with some eyes, teeth and about 6 tentacles. One spoke up, "Oh great god-king, we pray to you, the situation on one of the many earth’s haunts our visions and dreams." The blob of flesh then spoke in there minds, "I to have seen visions of a great battle there, one that will lead us to ultimate victory over the humans that infest the realms of existence." They bowed to the thing and it then projected with it’s mind to all, "Move Ragnorrock to that earth, I myself shall settle this once and for all."
Only 4 weeks had passed since the treaty between earth and the GGE, as a result the Ducks got something that Phil apparently forgot to get them, green cards. Also the squadron moved out of the pond and in to a orbital staging platform that the GGE set up as a gift to the Earth. So things where finally turning back to normal, although the changes made two things harder for Draganous. One was the unified earth government, this would make conjuring the earth harder, and the other was some relative ease, they could operate with out having to worry about being seen, most of the time, due to the aliens that seemed to stop buy the fledgling stellar power, offering there wares for sale, and more.
A pair of fighters from earth’s newly formed space defense forces where patrolling a trade route set up, between Earth and the colonists that left for Mars, when there sensors deteced something strange. "Beta 1, are you reading this? Looks like a gravity well is forming out here." "Beta 2, I read you, angle to course 090-p020 relative, lets check it out." The two narrow shaped fighters angled over and applied some thrust to make the change in course take effect. It wasn’t long till there sensors went crazy.
Back at the space station, a comm officer was yawning as his 6 hour watch was about up, when he got the call form the long range patrol, "Mayday, mayday, this is Beta 1 calling, may….zzzzzzzzzzttttttttttt" The comm officer perked up and hit a switch next to him, "Commander to C&C, we have a situation, repeat, we have a situation, red alert in effect."
The commander walked in ducking under the door frame, cursing a bit, "human architecture…." He then lifted his reptilian head up as he sat in the command chair, "Report!" The comm officer spoke up, "Sir, we have a distress call from long range patrol beta, it was cut off before transmission could be repeated." The scans officer then spoke, "Detecting a massive d-jump signature in that area, the gravity well probably killed them. Sir something is forming there. In our dimension in 4 minutes…..my god, it’s huge, easily twice the size of our moon!" The commander then stood up, and gapped, "What is that thing?" The Scans Officer shook his head, "Sir I have no…getting a basic ID signature now….. sir what ever it is it’s from DAM." "Alert the MABS station around Mars stat! Send word to Earth, and the GGE command, NOW!" yelled the commander, as he sat back down.
It wasn’t long till all the fighters where launched, it was estimated that the target was earth, due to the fact it was the closer of the two planets. As the fighters arrived they got a look at the Deltan craft. The Deltan ship’s centers as the size and shape of a medium moon, easily 10,000 miles in diameter, it at least 200 tentacle stalks shooting out of it, attached to smaller moons around 400 miles in diameter each. It was clearly a monster.
The MABS station broke orbit and was making full speed to earth, when it got the visuals. A officer, with a eye in a triangle patch on his shoulder blinked, and looked at the base commander, "Sir, that’s Ragnorrock, the Deltan Capital, the Over-King, there god is here himself!" The commander blinked, "Double the power to the engines, charge the main gun, and damn the safeties!"
The battle wasn’t going well, in fact the earth fighters where either being destroyed buy the deltan defending fighters, or where being forced to crash in to the central sphere. Ragnorrock was rapidly approaching the earth and the commander gave K’an and his troopers some special orders. It was in the landing bay, as K’an was addressing his troops when the AeroWing landed. K’an growled, "Just a minute," and headed to the AeroWing.
"What are you civilians doing here! Go back to a shelter!" K’an snapped at them, his teeth bared, and ears flat back. Wildwing stood in front of the group, "No K’an.. look Canard insisted that he come here to help out, and we aren’t leaving him behind." K’an growled then sighed a bit, as one of his troopers put a hand on his shoulder and spoke softly, "Sir, this would help with the mission, being what Canard is now…" K’an grumbled, "Fine, we’ll take the AeroWing, it’s faster and more maneuverable then the troop shuttles." They then boarded and K’an gave them the low down on the mission, "Basically it’s a surgical strike, we get onboard the central sphere of that thing, find the central pyramid, and place our charges and leave as we blow it up." Duke blinked a bit and gripped Cali’s hand, "This sounds like a suicide mission." K’an nodded, "That’s why I didn’t want you here… but Canard might help the odds in our favor." Seline blinked, "How so?" Canard spoke slowly, "They think I can probably tap in to the defense net of that base we are going, so we have less to fight." K’an looked at him, "Can you?" Canard shrugged as best he could, "Won’t know till I try."
Suprisingly with the fighters all concentrating on once side of Ragnorrock, finding a place to land and let the hatch lasers under the AeroWing cut in to the station was easy, with nothing shooting at them at all. Once inside they all where surprised to see that there was a blue sky, and a sprawling city before them. K’an barked at them, "Remember we are in a space station, look ahead see that huge glowing pyramid? That’s the target, okay lets book!"
It wasn’t long till they encountered some of the locals, most looked young and fled, others attacked with what ever they where holding. K’an and his troopers fought as if this was not there first time doing this, in fact Wildwing got the impression that they might like killing there enemy. Canard backed up to a organic looking wall, then turned to look at it, he placed his hand in a orifice, and then some squid like things floated through the streets scooping up the Deltan’s and taking them away. Tanya looked at Canard, "What did you do?" Canard pulled his hand out and stared at it, "I don’t know… I know that is some kind of drone control terminal… some how… and I guess I know how to operate it… it just seemed so…. Natural."
After that it was pretty easy going, and fortunately for them they only had to place charges at some power plants they found around the pyramid. Wildwing flicked the switch on one charge, "All set, but why does a magic using race, have fusion power generators?" K’an just looked at him, "I don’t know… we know so little about the Deltan’s that it’s ridiculous… still lets not press our luck with answers lets get out of here."
As they ran down the streets back to the AeroWing, Canard stopped and fell to his knees grasping his belly. Wildwing stopped and tried to help him up, "What’s wrong?" Canard just said, "He’s here…." One of the troopers spoke up next, "Who’s…." he then turned and saw some tentacles ending with fanged mouths, form out of the ground in front of them, followed but the blob of flesh they where attached to, "crap." The thing then spoke to them, "So you are the intruders that dare desecrate my domain, and make my will on this small world so difficult." K’an raised a blaster and fired at the thing, "It’s there god-king!"
Everyone started firing pucks and blaster bolts at it like crazy, but it laughed at them… Canard managed to stand, but was shaky as he looked at the god-king, he then charged it. Wildwing stood up from the cover, reaching for Canard, "No!" Canard yelled back, "Have to do it, get out of here!" K’an pulled Wildwing back, with Grin’s help, "He’s right, lets book while it’s distracted." Wildwing was being dragged off in protest, this was the second time he had to leave his best friend behind. And all he saw was Canard ripping at tentacles, and chucks of what was left of him being ripped out as well. As Canard and the thing fought.
They took off quickly from the AeroWing, and once the other fighters retreated, set off the explosives. The central sphere of Ragnorrock glowed white, then the stalked and outer spheres… then in a flash of light it disappeared, only a few asteroids, most of which burned up in Earth’s atmosphere remained. While the GGE celebrated there victory, Wildwing stood over a tombstone in Arlington Va.
The tombstone simple said, ‘Placed on this grave sight in memory of Canard Ducaine, the Earth’s and Puckworld’s hero in it’s greatest time of need.’ Wildwing placed some roses down on it, and wiped a tear, "Well get Draganous for you one day Canard, then well get home."