Space Engineers, Aurus' secret: we got the high ground

August pressed a few buttons on the side of the circular holo-table in the bridge, the table hummed to life, the surface glowing blue, A few seconds later, the translucent blue projections of all previously mentioned Allie popped up one at a time., soon all were there and negotiations could begin. "I bet you're wondering why we called you all here." 

"Well duh." the Space Pirate commander spoke.

"Yeah, well, you see-" August was cut off by Aurora.

"Our home was invaded by the pirates, they're trying to release the Omphen, almost their entire fleet is there, we don't have jack squat against them, and we need your help to make sure we aren't destroyed." Aurora regurgitated all the bottled information in one giant sentence.

"Woa woa woa. What?" this time it was The Anomaly commander that spoke.

"We were driven from Aurus by The PirateX Expansion group. They're trying to release the Omphen, a galactic-scale parasitic threat. We need whatever ships you people can provide because the PirateX has moved most of their armada there." Isaac said slowly.

"The PirateX Expansion Group? I believe I speak for all of us when I say that because they've broken the first rule of the galactic order of war, and because you are our allies, we will help you with this fight." A rather scaly and lizard-like creature commanded, he was the friend of Rose. They all nodded in agreement and looked back at the group of friends standing together in the bridge. 

"Now we discuss tactics. We need a rally point. August, where do we unite forces?" The Space Pirate commander spoke. 

"Commander D'jun, I have a different plan." August swiped in the air and the group of commanders moved to be projected around the table, and in their place, a map of the are around Aurus fizzled into life. 

"The Space Pirates will be stationed here, at Arzona, The Anomaly will be stationed with us here, at Surus. Commander Sandar where should you go, your fleet is massive, we would need a good hiding place for you." The reptilian commander folded his arms in deep thought. He looked at the map and pointed to a spot on the other side of Aurus. 

"There. The Tentra Asteroid cluster. It's big enough to hide us, and will form our fleets into a triangle around Aurus, If we time it right, we should be able to overwhelm their fleet within minutes, we'll have the element of surprise."

"True."

"August. we could take a platoon of troopers from each side in our freighter, so when you all jump in, We could get to the surface and take out their excavator. as well as their outpost." Mist had a good plan, a ground team was crucial to this plan.

"Good idea Mist. Before we attack, Mist will Fly by each of your fleets and pick up a platoon of soldiers each." August stretched his hands into the air, cracking his knuckles and his back. 

"Alright. Call back in a couple of hours, we'll be ready then." The projections of the commanders faded out of existence, followed by the map then the blue color on the table. "You guys should get to your freighter, we need to leave as soon as possible."

"Alright dude, see ya soon." August and Mist shook hands and then parted as mist and her crew departed for their freighter.

"Aight guys to your stations," August ordered

"Yes sir." they all said. Soon the ship roared to life and took off, the inertial dampeners keeping their bodies relatively stationary.

"We've cleared the Atmosphere!" Aurora announced as the flame disappeared from the front of the ship. They looked out the side window and saw the SR-74 heavy freighter that housed their three demimon friends. Aurora flipped a few switches and pushed a lever forward, and almost immediately the ship shook as the inertial dampeners recalibrated for sub-space, and the view changed from a starry sky to a blue and orange energy tunnel that was sub-space. Aurora flopped back in her chair and spun in it from laziness. 

It was several hours before they reached the planet of Surus. The ship shook again for recalibration. As they approached the moon where they would be stationed their entire vision briefly flashed white and The Anomaly appeared, followed by Mist's ship. August held down a button which hailed Mist and, he heard a beep signaling that she was listening.

"Mist, prepare for your fly by, I'm waiting on the others." Almost as soon as this happened he heard beeps signaling the arrival of the others to the channel.

"Aight guys, listen up, Mist is on her way to do her fly by. Prepare your troops for pickup and we can begin." 

V'dam stood atop the bridge as he nervously awaited any orders, comments, anything to come from the surface. suddenly a bridge officer from his right walked up to him. 

"Sir, We intercepted a transmission from the children who killed K'tar. Their preparing to attack our fleet."

"All ships go to alert, yellow status," V'dam yelled. He was becoming more and more fragile ever since he had begun to think about if what he was doing was wrong, if he was in some way, betraying his true purpose. He looked out the window of the MSB as it turned away from the planet and towards space beyond. The fleet had formed a blockade around the planet, to stop the children and their allies from gaining control of the planet. 

"Officer, alert the High Admiral to the issue."

"Yes sir."

      V'dam looked out into space, and then from side to side, observing the massive blockade that was formed, to stop these children from attacking the planet. Children, that's what they were, the only home they knew, taken from them by the army he so fearfully commanded. He began to feel an amount of sadness and remorse towards the group of dedicated friends. V'dam questioned again whether or not he was in the right place. this time he could not hold the thoughts back, the more he thought about it, the more he was repulsed by the ruthless faction that threatened to become "All-Powerful." As he contemplated these things a naught formed in his throat and his stomach. He weakly waltzed off the bridge, telling the officers to contact him if something happened.

      August Cardinal sat in his fresh new room, at his desk which already was scattered with cartoon sketches, battle plans, and a few empty coffee mugs. He sat there, contemplating, uneasy and wary, he sat and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to clear his thoughts for the fast approaching attack on the PirateX fleet. As his mind began to settle, a short toon played on the overhead speaker, his doorbell.

"Come in." He said, feeling weak and low-spirited. The gray door to his quarters opened in the other room which was separated only by a large doorway. August heard soft footsteps, coming closer to his office. He sensed a friendly aura and looked up. Aurora was standing there, leaning on the doorway with her arms in her sweater pockets.

"Hey August, You O.K.? You seem like you're cracking a bit."

Aurora subconsciously wanted to lighten the mood but had to stop herself, for fear of further stressing her life-long friend. August sighed feeling relieved at the presence of his friend.

"No not really. I've been keeping in a lot of emotions. It's starting to break. Ou-ou-ou-our home was taken, we barely e-e-escaped. And we're about to start an attack th-th-that they probably already know about." August began to cry under the stress. His muscles began to feel limp and out of energy.  Aurora began to feel unstable and almost scared at seeing her seemingly strong and stable friend completely breakdown. She began to feel uncomfortable around her crying companion. As it continued she was compelled to comfort her friend. She walked over and knelt aside his chair and put her arm around August's shoulders. She sat there for a couple of minutes comforting him. the emotion she had been keeping in began to seep out. She didn't cry, but tears dripped from her eyes softly. They sat there for more time. letting their emotion pour out into the world. Eventually, they fell asleep of exhaustion, leaning against one another.

V'dam sat in his quarters contemplating. his uniform becoming uncomfortable with sweat. He was having very conflicting thoughts between what he had been taught and what he thought was right. He was having conversations with himself and was driving himself mad. At last, he ordered himself to obey the commands of the PirateX Expansion group. He marched his way back to the bridge of the Mobile Suber Base and stood at the window observing the fleet with determination. He had buried his treasonous thoughts for a later date. 

The High Admiral walked along the catwalks, now embedded in the side of their gargantuan hole. His Arachnid legs holding him steady and carrying him along as if he were floating. His deep, cool voice spoke to the overseer walking alongside him.

"Why are your efforts not continuing overseer? I see no reason to cease the experimentation on this 'Door to Hell'." He seemed more curious than angry.

"Sir, The metal has so far shown to be impenetrable. I almost certain there is no way to break it." The overseer was every bit as disappointed as the High Admiral was. He wanted to see the weak fall, and his home faction rise.

"Ah, I see you have been thwarted by fate. May I make a suggestion?" The High Admiral was nothing if not a good man fighting for the wrong side. Although from his perspective he was fighting for the right side and doing this to rid the universe of evil.

"By all means sir."

"Have you tried the hyperkinetic phase?"

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Hyperkinetic phase, it is a process that involves either vibrating the object passing, or the object being passed through at the molecular level, allowing any solid object to pass right through it." At this point, the High Admiral was showing off his knowledge of physical science.

"Sir, that might just work! I'll get started on the construction of the phaser immediately." The overseer rushed away to call in the request. The High admiral 180'd and headed for his shuttle, pleased with the progress they had made. His crystallin hands behind his back.

      August and Aurora were woken by an alarm sound, the time for their assault had come. August stormed into the bridge, Aurora trailing close behind. The holographic display of the various commanders was displayed. 

"All commands report in!" August sat in his commander's chair and listened for the check-in of the commanders.

"Space Pirates, standing by!"

"Swarken standing by!"

"Anomaly, standing by."

"Misty, standing by."

August breathed a breath of relief that the group was still there.

"Space Pirates, Engage!" The map that was displayed in front of august showed a sizable fleet come out of sub-space and begin to attack the blockade.

"Swarken, engage!" The Reptilian commander's fleet popped into existence on the map, and they began to attack.

"Aight, Anomaly, and Aurora ENGAGE!" There was a flash of white as the Anomaly jumped, August's ship shook and went into subspace for about two seconds before shaking again, and the PirateX blockade appeared in front of them. August had never seen such a terrible and magnificent sight. The fleets were engaged in a head-to-head battle, some of the ships engaging at point-blank range. 

August looked aside to see the Anomaly open its gargantuan front door, and out came a sea of starfighters, looking more like a swarm of bees than a fleet of fighters. Following the fighters came a ton of cruisers and dreadnoughts. The PirateX fleet was overrun. But something was missing. The MSB! 

"OH, S**T!!! Guys GO! GO QUICKLY!!!" As august screamed into the mic, the MSB de-cloaked from behind the massive fleet. All of the ships August was commanding immediately sped up to almost sublight speeds. The MSB opened fire and began picking off August's forces, one, by, one. 

"Guys, TURN AROUND! ENGAGE THE MSB!!!" All the ships turned around and began to engage the super base. 

Admiral V'dam stood aboard the cloaked MSB looking out upon the blockade from a distance. Suddenly, one by one, the entire fleet came in and the stoic admiral watched as the blockade was quickly being overtaken. 

"De-cloak. Give, them, hell." The vision in front of the admiral wavered as if in water as the cloaking shield disabled. As the ships in front of him began to speed up to run, in his surprise, every ship turned around and engaged. The MSB was not designed to destroy, it was designed to intimidate. the only weaponry on the base was very weak and designed for fighters. The MSB was quickly overtaken much like the blockade. Some of the ships in the back of the fleet remained to keep the blockade busy. V'dam finally broke, his treasonous thoughts finally took control and he immediately turned and punched the navigation officer in the head, knocking him unconscious. The weapons officer to his other side lunged at V'dam in retaliation. The communications officer sent a transmission to the high admiral.

"Sir! V'dam has turned! I repeat, V'dam has turned!"

"An unfortunate turn of events, but not unexpected. let him go, send him to the enemy. He no longer possesses knowledge valuable to us. He may go. I am a high admiral but not unreasonable."

"Acknowledged. CEASE ENGAGEMENT!!!" the officer yelled. Both V'dam and the weapons officer stopped to look back at the comms officer.

"The high admiral has ordered that we surrender you to the enemy. Let them do what they wish to you."

V'dam stood tall and straightened his uniform. Regaining his composure he walked away with one statement.

"Send the High Admiral my regards. I am leaving." V'dam marched his way to the hangar and took a small shuttle out into the fray of attacking ships, all the while emitting a surrender signal as he made his way to the dreadnought he had previously fought. He pressed a button on the console in front of him to hail August. It beeped back showing the young man was listening.

"August, I come in peace. Let me on board and I will explain everything. I know what I did to you and your friends. And I am deeply sorry for what I did." 

"Come aboard V'dam. We'll talk after this is all over."

the disowned admiral landed in the hangar, his shuttle barely fitting in with the group's custom fighters. V'dam exited his shuttle with his hands held in front of him. As he exited, he saw his enemy turned allies. August standing there with his arms crossed, Isaac and Rose standing beside him.

"Come on. We got somethin' you can do." Rose said sternly. V'dam understood fully how they felt and why they felt that way. He followed them feebly and began to talk almost immediately.

"August, I'm incredibly sorry. I stole your home from you, not knowing then what I was doing. I hurt you all and I know it was wrong. I apologize and hope you can forgive me, however, I will not pressure you."

"It's over, we have the high ground," Isaac said. V'dam understood he was speaking about the situation at hand.