Times had become harsh and worrisome. Lord Srox and her Admirals stood within the war room. "As you see here my lord, three Asmodian Armadas have been detected in three different sectors of the Northern Galaxy. They all begun to move on certain systems but all going to one point, us" Gordon Malik said as he pointed over the 3D Galactic Map. Lord Srox stood firm but a look of annoyance covered her face. The strategy hadn't changed one bit. It is the same style Anu Mau used when he controlled the Black Spade Empire. "How many ships?" Lord Srox asked.Her gaze never moved from the 3D map. Gordon Malik cleared his throat," Each Armada has 10,000 ships." The entire room scoffed at it. "The Asmodians plan on invading us all!" Vice Admiral Koff chimed in. Rear Admiral Melz Akiem said nothing but the look on her face said it all. "Patience, we must have patience. We still out number them 30,000 to a few billion. However, our scans cant get a full read out on their ships. We have no idea of the ships size and what they hold. I recommend we mobilize immediately." even at how respected Grand Admiral Gordon Malik is, the room erupted in argument.

Lord Srox raised her hand and the room feel silent. "You're correct. Our inaction's with the Demonic Crusade are dishonorable at best. We are letting people fight a war against a larger foe. Even though, we fight the Shadow Kin, we still are doing things on our own terms. For once, the Senate need not know of our plans. We must act. I will not stand bye and let people die. I am issuing a direct order for all of our military. We seek out the enemy and wipe them out, all of them." Lord Srox had been distracted and cut off by a Warrant Officer. "Sirs and my Lord, I am deeply sorry for the intrusion but there is someone requesting our lord by her old name." everyone had been taken back by the sudden news. Lord Srox narrowed her eyes and knew who it was,"Send him in, unharmed."

As Elias meditated, tingling feeling not dissimilar to the one he had before his previous meeting with Lord Srox studdered down his spine. Numbers and an image flashed through Elias' mind. The first were easily recognized as coordinates to a place far in the galactic northwest. The image, however, could be akin to frightening. A gigantic starship larger than the planet it orbited hovered in what appeared to be a small solar system surrounded by hundreds of thousands of ships looming about, filling the space with a sense of unrelenting dread and might. Elias recognized it's architecture to be similar to the ships Lord Srox had commanded back at the Void Temple in deep space. Something within his rational mind told him it was suicidal to go. After Elias' painfully obvious attempt to kill Lord Srox, there was no way her forces would behave kindly. Yet something told Elias that Srox would let him through, or maybe she just wanted to try and talk some sense into him after being a firsthand witness to the existence of the Asmodians.

Not that it mattered anyway, Elias had already found himself readying for the journey. He donned a set of stolen UNSC marine armor and loaded up his wizardly equipment: The Darkstaff, Aiwenor, shield amulet, and his worn leather satchel filled with his personal spellbook, two wands, and a handful of other simple materials integral for casting certain magics. Elias wasted no time boarding his sleek alliance corvette and setting a course for the place brought to him through meditation.

It took several weeks to make it all the way to the edge of the system he'd placed in his coordinates. Red warning lights lit up immediately upon exiting warp, the ships magical observers had pinpointed a number of weapons from nearby ships pointing towards the tiny golden corvette.

I have come to visit Lord Srox. Elias desperately typed into a keyboard. He sent it out on all channels and hoped he wouldn't get blown up within the following ten seconds.

His ship had been escorted by 20 Nypherian fighters, all watching him intently. They escorted him towards the large Mothership. The hangar opened and waiting for him were hundreds of Nypherians. They were all different kinds, from the special forces to the H01 series. There were even Warrant Officers present and they too were watching him. Everyone held the attitude like they wanted to kill him. He would be the first outsider that had stepped on the ship. Once he left his ship, he was then escorted by six Nypherian soldiers and one Warrant Officer. He went through many hallways and corridors. He soon entered a chamber where Lord Srox and three Admirals waited for him.

Grand Admiral Gordon Malik looked sternly at Elias. "So, the boy shows after trying to kill our Lord. You have balls, kid. I will give you that." Lord Srox glanced at Malik and he bowed his head in apologies. "Even for the rude outburst, he isn't wrong. What do you want? Though, I assume something more pleasant since you dont have your shadow with you." she said as the other Admirals never took their eyes off Elias. The Nypherian soldiers stood at the doorway and they never took their eyes of him as well. Probably not the most comfortable feeling.

Elias' welcoming was intimidating to say the least. He watched as twenty angular black starfighters guided his relatively microscopic corvette through the system and into a gigantic and sleek hangar bay. It was empty save for the few thousand robotic soldiers standing inside as if they were attempting to scare the wizard off. He shoved the tension away by taking a relaxed stance and loosening the grip he had on his staff. Six of the soldiers and an alien stepped out from the crowd and silently led Elias through dozens of corridors until he reached what appeared to be a meeting room. Inside was, of course, Lord Srox, though she was surrounded by a number of human-looking people, but their bodies lacked any of the life energy that usually came with being organic. The exception was a single alien sitting nearby the doorway.

One of the humanlike beings greeted Elias, complimenting on his balls for attacking Srox, the alien quickly followed up with an apology only to turn around and reiterate what the first one said.

"I got a feeling I should be here," Elias said with a shrug as he approached the head opposite of Lord Srox, "and I should apologize for lashing out back at the temple. I shouldn't have doubted the prophecy of Anu Mau's return." The wizard shifted and leaned slightly on his staff, "Besides, I consider Lord Srox a friend, I'd like to help fight the Asmodians and regain whatever trust Srox lost in me."

Lord Srox and the Officers listened to Elias, they all glanced at Lord Srox. Her stare seemed to drill through Elias. Like how a mother would stare at her child if they did something wrong. She placed her hands on the outside of the device that revealed the 3D map. "Fill him in." she said after thinking about it for a few seconds. Gordon Malik and the rest looked confused as they expected her to toss the boy out. "Now!" a stern tone came from Lord Srox. Gordon Malik sighed," We have detected 3 armada's. Each houses 10,000 ships. In total, if my basic addition is correct, there are 30,000 enemy ships. However the issue is that this is a small force and not enough to threaten our forces." Rear Admiral Melz Akiem walked up and highlighted the armada's. "There is another issue, we can't tell specifically what kinds of ships we will be facing or what kinds of troops to expect. Void Lord Anu Mau is using technology or magic to block our scanners." "It's most likely Void Magic, there are many ways to hide from technology using the ancient arts" Lord Srox chimed in. "We're also currently dominating another world and placing technology that can help us fight magic and detect its specific source. They're a civilian colony but also a hidden research facility. A Needed facility for the upcoming Galactic War. We also have reasons to believe Anu Mau will strike at the UNSC and Alliance because of their magic users. He needs them to stay alive. He aims to eat them."Vice Admiral Kof added.

A lot of information had been tossed at Elias. "These look like Black Spade tactic. Admiral Malik, could there be waves? The first waves are small and with each wave the fleets get larger and larger. Knowing this,we can do some damage and calculations on how to counter these tactics." Admiral Malik looked closer and realized that Lord Srox is correct. "These are Black Spade tactics, indeed the fool hasn't changed is strategy in over millions of cycles. I know their strategies and I can help building countering techniques ."

Elias listened carefully as the situation was laid out before him. Three Asmodian fleets, each packed with ten-thousand ships was headed towards Nypherian space. A massive force in Elias' eyes, yet the Nypherian admirals practically scoffed at it. Even if they had zero idea what their enemy was capable of. Elias frowned. There was dreadfully little information on the enemy, and the Nypherians were clearly basing their tactics off of old information. Surely no one would be stupid enough to use the same tactic for millions of years, no matter how effective it was.

"I'm no military expert," Elias commented when Srox and the Admirals finished filling him in, "but I think it's a bad idea to count on your enemy to use old and familiar tactics. Especially if they're millions of years old." He studied the holograms more closely. The Asmodian armadas were heading towards planets just outside the Nypherian Empire. "What if we assumed for a moment that the Asmodians aren't going to use these Black Spade tactics and decided to switch it up a bit." Elias turned a few thoughts over in his head before continuing, "If I were a commander up against a force with millions of more troops than me, I would need a way to rival that number quickly. Fortunately for the Asmodians, they have the perfect weapon to do such a thing: The Seobsevians. If they ditched the whole wave strategy and flew as many ships as possible right into the population centers, the Seobsevians would easily be able to infect a large number of civilians and possibly increase the size of their armies exponentially until they have more bodies than you have guns. The Asmodians could then tear down the useless infrastructure and mass produce cheap ships to fly through your defenses and into your own population centers. Once again vastly boosting the size of their army and fleet. Rinse and repeat until they have such a weight in body count that you can't hope to shoot them all down until the Asmodians get too close."

In all honesty, Elias was just spitballing. He thought it to be a good idea to question whether or not the Asmodians would continue using outdated tactics after being proven they don't work.

The officers listened to Elias, especially Gordon Malik. He eyed him and looked back at the map. “You’re right. The Asmodians could have changed their tactics, however Anu Mau isn’t a tactical thinker. He is impatient, angry, and always looking for supernatural power to eat. He would keep to something he knows and the Asmodians have a more primitive method of attack. We have been making more weapons to defend our homes. With the growing Demonic war effort and the Asmodians. We are planning to seek out the place called Haven. After this meeting, Lord Srox will seek them out for an alliance.” Gordon Malik said as the rest of the officers nodded in approval. They respected his knowledge and his ability to think outside the box.

“We’re also working on new ship technology. The largest we have ever created. The planned size will be 3,000 meters in length. It will be our greatest weapon against the Demonic Crusade. At the same time, we are also relaying information to our current ally, the Kyodain Clan. We will make sure to work with our ally or possible allies.” Lord Srox looked towards Elias,” You’re wasting your talents with the Alliance of Kings. You should expand your knowledge with magic and military strategy. In these dark times, the loss to the Demonic Forces is evidence enough. You have a better chance in learning outside the Alliance.” She said as she turned away and walked out the room. The rest of the officers walked out but Gordon Malik stayed.
“Follow me, Elias.”

They left the room and walked into the hallways. Passing through many doors and finally entering a large room. In the room stood a very large ship in 3D form. Everyone surrounded the 3D module and began to talk amongst themselves. “Master Elias, this is the newest ship we are currently are developing. The MC 501S Elite Assault Cruiser, our new weapon for the Empire.” Gordon Malik said as Lord Srox stood next to him.

In all honesty, Elias hadn't been doing anything more than spitballing ideas. He had zero concept of how the Nypherian Empire worked or fought. All he really planned on doing was sounding useful. Not to mention, the Nypherian generals knew more about Anu Mau than Elias did. He knew that the being was a power hungry maniac, but he hadn't considered that Anu Mau was so egotistical that he would sacrifice a potential victory for pride in a strategy he had been using for millennia. 

The Nypherians switched the screen to what appeared to be a large ship. The diagram read three-thousand meters long. Elias' eyes widened in surprise at the sheer scale of the ship they planned on constructing. Though Elias figured he shouldn't have been surprised given the immense size of the mothership he was aboard. Lord Srox popped in, stating he was wasting his talents with the Alliance of Kings.

"I'd honestly hoped the Alliance was more creative with their magic," Elias replied, "It sucks that they have to overcomplicate every little spell as if every wizard were in competition with one another." He motioned towards Aiwenor sitting in it's sheath. "This sword is the only somewhat useful thing to come out of Phoenix Spire, and I still simplified the rituals for making it." Lord Srox left the room quickly afterwords. He quickly followed a Nypherian general as he motioned for Elias to follow. He found himself in a room with an even larger and more precise diagram of the ship. Elias continued to be awestruck by the sheer size of such a ship. The General from earlier introduced it as the MC 501S Elite Assault Cruiser.

"Well that's cool," Elias responded dumbly as he stared at the diagrams.

"There is one thing I need you to do. Whatever the Alliance has planned, I need you to help them with the Demons. I will do my part in fighting them on the left flank. Striking their territories. We're also getting ready for our conflict with the Asmodians. Sooner or later, their full force will be here. I expect you to be with me on the front lines, where ever they my be. Just be wary, things are going to be getting dark, very soon. " Lord Srox said to Elias.


She stopped as a new officer had walked into the middle of the room. His name is Grand Marshal Wyatt Graydon. He went on about the plans and efforts the Empire will be engaging in. Gordon Malik leaned into Lord Srox and whispered enough for Elias to hear. "My Lord, reports are saying there is an upcoming meeting between the UNSC and the Alliance, possible talks about forming the GSU." Lord Srox fully looked at Gordon Malik with concern. She knew that this could be an issue, however a possible positive outcome. "Elias, when you get the time. I would like you to go there. Listen in, add your input, and help them out."

Elias nodded in agreement once Lord Srox finished speaking. He had every intention of helping Atir as best he could. After all, it seemed like a far more fun and productive use of his time than sitting around in an undeveloped tower reading books all day. Otherwise it would make the pile of magical knowledge Elias had compiled rather useless. A new officer entered the room, stating that the UNSC and the Alliance of Kings were going to start a meeting. Just as the officer finished speaking, a white light flashed into existence next to Elias' head.

"I didn't do that," Elias said hastily as the light reformed into a formal letter, inviting Elias as Kitty Youngblood's +1 to the meeting of the GSU. "As it turns out," Elias said, "I have the perfect way in. I'll tell Jaya and the UNSC leader about some of your plans if that's alright."

A light flashed and everyone glanced towards the direction of the light. Everyone stopped and then looked at Elias. Lord Srox motioned with her head to carry on. Everyone turned around and went back to the discussion. "Well, you have a way in now. Do what you can and try not to die." She patted him on the back but glanced back. A tall 10 foot man stood in the background. He eyes Elias and then looks back at Srox. He motions his head in the direction of the hallways.

Lord Srox nodded her head and looked back at Elias.

"I have to go for now, apologies for making this short. When you get back, we have work to do in thinning out Asmodian forces before the main forces arrive. I have a meeting with Void Lord Taelonso Grim. I will see you when you get back and try not dying, right?"

she laughed to herself and walked to the hallway. The tall being eyed Elias again and followed Lord Srox.

Elias nodded and smiled in response. The war against the Asmodians was certainly going to be tough, especially when they arrived in force. Even Elias' own magic would have a difficult time dealing with their soldiers. Which meant a lot of creativity or dabbling further into void magic. That latter of which still made Elias feel unnerved. He nodded in response to Srox.

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," Elias responded with a smirk as he watched his friend leave. Elias spun around and exited the door, asking a warrant officer to show him where he could get armor and a set of new, more dramatic clothes before borrowing a frigate for transport all the way to Mytheria on the other side of the galaxy.

[END THREAD]