Lupin Prime, High Orbit, before the attack

Saril yawned for the third time as he and his wing altered course, precisely executing the maneuver in spite of his breath briefly fogging the visor of his flight suit's atmospheric helmet. Normally he preferred to have it just rapidly deploy when needed, but maximum stealth meant his tiny star-fighter's life support was offline - it simply generated too big a heat signature. A large and rather blocky Lupin Defense Force Cruiser filled his cockpit's view as his wing began their flyby. "Are they even trying???" He muttered to himself after he confirmed his comms were off, his console one again beeping as the stealth system indicated it was redirecting passive scanning, "This is the 10th close pass, it's like they're not even taking this training exercise seriously." Not that detecting them would be easy - Yotan Gust class fighters not only had the best stealth systems in known space, but also utilized some sort of reaction-less drive to perform impossibility tight maneuvers with none of the particle trails normal thrusters and ion drives produced. Of course, the how of their functionality was well beyond the young Tigrin pilot - all he knew was what they were supposed to do, and what he was supposed to do if they were not functioning correctly.

A different beep sounded from the fighter's console, bringing up a holographic projection of a familiar white-furred arctic fox like Vulpin - his wing-man. "Icebox!" Saril growled, rolling his eyes, "our orders are to maintain radio silence for this exercise."

"Well then," the annoyingly cheerful, high pitched voice of Icebox replied with a grin visible behind his faceplate, "it's a good thing I'm using direct quantum comms and not a radio! Besides, I'd think by now it would be obvious to you that this isn't a 'joint exercise' like the mission briefing claimed. The Lupin are boring, formal, and know exactly what they're doing when it comes to defensive operations. If this was a real exercise, they'd be pulsing active sensors on a regular basis."

"Monk reviews the flight recorders you know," groaned Saril, "he's going to chew us both out when we get back for breaching protocol."

"Protocol smotocol... listen Stripes," the Vulpin mocked using Saril's call-sign and sticking his tongue out before his tone went completely serious, "you know I'm right, there's a lot more to this mission, and I think you deserve to find out what's going on. I'm pretty sure this is it - the attack that the Leonin are planning with that Nexus Port they got working."

Saril was caught without a response for a moment; he thought back to just how strongly Treeline, or Monk as they called him on missions, had emphasized that this mission may be more risky than the briefing made out, and that anyone who didn't want to could decline it with no consequences. That alone had actually been very out of character for Monk, who was a master in the art of volun-telling people when something needed to happen. Whatever it was, Monk had himself accepted the risk, as he was flying at the tip of their formation. Finally, Saril swallowed, and asked "... why did you accept the mission then?"

"Really now, kid," Icebox snickered, "I'd have thought you knew me by now. I'm not gonna live forever, and being part of the defense of the Lupin Home-world is one of the most exciting things I can think of. If I survive, it'll be one blizzard of a memory. If I die... well, at least it won't have been doing something mundane or pointless. Oh and in case you haven't figured them out yet, both Princess and Creampuff are more than good with going down fighting Leonin. You however... you have friends, a family, a life waiting for you back on the New Dawn. Do you really want to throw it away for people you don't even know?"

"You're such a Vulpin tail-hole..." Saril muttered, with a good natured chuckle, "but do you really think I'd walk away from what I pledged to do when I joined the New Alliance Unified Forces? Not a chance."

"Glaciers no! I'm saying you should get on quantum comms with Monk, tell him you've figured this out, and you wanna know what our **real** orders are!"

"I'm gonna be on KP for a month for this, but alright." With a quick gesture Saril disconnected his comms with Icebox, and opened his quantum channel with Monk.

A holographic projection of the fully suited Ragerian Colonel Markus Treeline was in a meditative pose with his eyes closed - the source of his call-sign, and only opened his eyes after several moments of silence. "Ah Strips, I was wondering how long it would be before you commed me about the mission. I take it Icebox has already shared his suspicious with you? He is, of course, correct."

"Uh... sir?" Stripes knew that Ragerians could sense emotions, and even read minds with uninsulated physical contact, but... the Colonel never took off his gloves when on duty, and never around those he commanded. Also, that ability most certainly did not work outside of the same room, or one nearby. "How did you know?"

Treeline's tan furred muzzle lifted into a soft, unexpected friendly smile as he answered. "I've been around for over 400 years, son. I'm good at understanding those who I serve with. Nonetheless, should I be wrong about your intentions, and you wish to return to the New Dawn, I'll permit you to leave before the inevitable engagement."

"No sir," Saril replied, "what are our actual objectives?"

Snowlit Dawn, current time

Sabre couldn't help but pace impatiently around the mess hall, his once concealed quantum pair transmitter openly sitting on the table as he sipped fangbloom tea in one hand and held a tablet in another. The tea usually helped keep his emotions in check - but this time, it wasn't working. Behind the counter, Dorrin was preparing snow rabbit - a food that Sabre knew would soon become hard to come by.

Before Sabre could remark on this, Ellia entered the room, getting some of the coffee she'd made earlier. And looking over at him. "You need to relax, Sabre..." she sighed, sitting down at the table.

"Ellia, what in the void?!" Exclaimed Dorrin from the kitchen as he put the snow rabbit on plates. "His home system was just invaded!"

"What do you, think my talks were about?" Ellia shrugged then sighed. "I'm not supposed to say anything but, at this point you deserve to know. The Lupin Council agreed to join the New Alliance. Your have more than just your military defending your system."

"And you are just now revealing this why?" Sabre practically snapped, leaning over the ambassador and causing her to gulp.

"L-like I said," Ellia began, scooting back out of her chair, "I wasn't supposed to tell you this yet, or anyone really."

"But why?" Dorrin asked, setting the plates of snow rabbit on the table. "It's not like we're going to tell anyone about it."

"Well..." She sighed, shaking her head, "I wasn't actually supposed to be aboard for one. Secondly, we're not exactly in a place where being captured isn't a risk... and finally... honestly you'd have to ask Hack why he didn't want this announced. He wasn't very forthcoming on the reasons, but I know he has some sort of plan."

"Pardon me if I do not find this particularly reassuring," Sabre groaned, looking down at the formerly secret communications device, "I do not know him and therefore I cannot blindly trust him."

"Not to mention thus far we've only met his imprints," Marla interjected as her projection appeared in the room, "no respectable Ragerian makes multiple imprints and has them operational whilst they're alive. Honestly, I didn't even like the idea of there being a reserve imprint made of myself when I was alive; it's controversial, but I felt like it was... unnecessary."

"Until it wasn't?" Ellia asked, her ears straight up in surprise. "You wouldn't be here if our ships didn't automatically make one when death is imminent. I've asked Hack about his reasons, but he just says something about it being the only contingency he can count on."

Just before anyone else could speak Sabre heard a familiar high pitched whine, twitching his ears as he picked up the comms unit and read the output to himself.

-[CODE ECLIPSE HAS BEEN RESOLVED - STANDBY FOR NEW ORDER/ASSIGNMENTS. CONFIRMATION CODES FOLLOW...]-

Sabre turned the display to show everyone present, letting out a sigh of relief... and got back a confused look from Ellia.

"I appreciate the confidence," Ellia shrugged, "but I'm afraid I don't actually know much Lupin."

"If I'm understanding this right," said Marla, acting as though she was squinting at it, "which given the awkward camera angle is potentially in question, it sounds like they've survived the attack, if not repelled it?"

"Repelled," Sabre clarified, still panting heavily somewhat, "there is another code for a successful evacuation, or establishment of entrenched defenses. That phrasing means the invasion is no longer ongoing... but how?"

Ellia once again shrugged, sipping coffee. "Why don't you ask your chain of command? Like I said, I don't know everything."

"Speaking of things we don't know," Marla interjected, shaking her head, "it's been a while since the infiltration party went out... I don't like that we're relying on an active duty Leonin to carry this reckless plan out, not even if she is Gerard's sister."

"They are not overdue yet," Sabre noted, drinking more tea, "and we would know very quickly if they had caught them; too quickly to do anything about it. As uncomfortable as it is, we must wait."

LDFCV Steel Claw, Lupin Prime lunar lagrange point, 3 hours prior

"Status report!" The shout from Commander, Beta class Valk Stormworn cut through the repetitive din of the alert klaxons. She couldn't help but snarl as her carrier shook from weapons fire that was only partially attenuated by the Claw's massive shield generators, and her traditional snow rabbit bone teacup slipped off her seat's armrest, clattering to the deck plates. A shame to be sure, but the least of her or anyone else's issues. Just moments before, she was reviewing duty reports and idly contemplating shore leave on the home world... so much for that.

"Readings are inconclusive, radiation appears to indicate the presence of a wormhole, stand by... Commander, we are being engaged by a standard Leonin annexation fleet - 3 battlecruisers, 5 troop carriers, 10 destroyers and 20 frigates!" The sensor officer answered, panting in shock and anxiety in the dim emergency lighting. "4 of the destroyers have already engaged us, and two battlecruisers are targeting us with their main batteries.. void damn, where did they come from?"

"And the others?" Stormworn demanded, gripping her armrests.

"On course for various hab-stations... Commander, the other battlecruiser and their destroyer escorts are targeting the hab-stations with long range missiles!"

Bastards! she snarled inwardly, trying her hardest to project a calm and in control appearance before her next order. "All hands, battle stations, scramble everything we have got with thrust and armaments out in the black. Weaponsmaster..." she paused for a moment, most of her crew was already planet-side and she wasn't the most familiar with some of the auxiliary crew, a fault she noted she would have to rectify, "Tallonbearer, get us a firing solution for the spine cannons on the battlecruiser targeting our habitats." Even if we cannot survive this, she thought, I will make them pay for cowardly attacking civilians!

With no more than a nod, the weaponsmaster quickly coordinated with the helm to bring the carrier's spine-spanning mass drivers to bear on the projected course of the offending battlecruiser, as point defense turrets squealed and made the entire hull of the mammoth star-ship vibrate. All the while, the deck thrummed and lights dimmed as all energy that could be spared from the ship's primary and secondary power plants poured into capacitors near the ship's center. The spine cannons of her Forbearer class carrier had never been used against active capital ships, but testing and simulations asserted that any but the most glancing of hits would cripple or pulverize even the strongest capital ship, if not bisect it cleanly. Moments dragged on, the vessel rocking with impact after impact from missiles and directed plasma bursts, statuses of various systems flashing yellow, then red. Finally, the capacitor indicator hit full, a with a nod from her weaponsmaster, she took it upon herself to put those simulations to the test. "Fire!"

The Claw lurched as a massive, high density dart shot forward from its fore, speeding at near liminal speed with a vengeance, and everything but the emergency lights went out.

Lupin Prime high orbit

A barrage of missiles streaked towards Hab-Station 34C - one of Lupin Prime's newer orbital habitats. The station's few point defenses were already overwhelmed, as were all Lupin forces in the area. Alpha Lance Warmcavern, the administrator of the station, could barely keep his hands steady and from gripping his seat in shock. No, I must keep my composure... he commanded himself sternly, clearing his throat as he enabled the station-wide intercom. "Attention residents, code Black Eclipse, repeat, code Black Eclipse; this is not a drill, proceed to your designated life pods in an orderly fash-!"

Before he could finish the announcement, a notice flashed in his display. "Outworld Affairs override?" He gasped in disbelief, as a priority connection to another Lupin Alpha he knew well established.

"Major Scythe, what is the meaning of this? We must evacuate!"

"No Administrator, you must not," she replied calmly, seemingly with better control than Warmcavern could hope for, "get them into their pods, but hold the launch unless ordered. We have..." Scythe paused for a moment, her mask of calm fracturing for just a moment, "allies who stand ready to assist. If your residents evacuate, we run the risk of getting them caught in the crossfire."

"Very well..." the administrator grumbled, "but let the record affirm any casualties of this indecent shall be your responsibility, along with any consequences."

With a flat tone and gaze, her reply was merely "Naturally" and the call disconnected. Before Warmcavern could react, 5 blurs shot past on the sensors, and towards the missiles.

LDFCV Steel Claw, near-space

Voidguard Mace Northpass' Packfighter jinked just in time to dodge a burst of plasma weapons fire, which had been aimed squarely at the launch tube his vessel has been speedily ejected from moments before. Too close... he thought as he quickly scanned for targets of opportunity, what the blizzard is going on? Just moments before, he'd been waiting on the next shuttle going planet-side, having finally received permission to take his long awaited shore leave. That hope was dashed the moment the ship was rocked by... weapons fire? He'd then been abruptly ushered into his void-suit and the nearest fighter in a launch tube. A sudden flash caught his eye and he gasped, watching as the Claw's spinal cannon blasted an imperceptibly fast slug at a point across his home-world's horizon. It had been a long running joke among his military that those fantastically over-engineered cannons Lupin carriers were built around were merely a deterrent - a big stick to make other powers decide that no, it was not worth the risk poking around their borders, but one that would never be used. As he locked his own rail auto-cannons onto the nearest Leonin bomber, well drilled muscle memory from his intense training taking over, he released that they had never been a joke, and the threat they were meant to address was anything but funny.

The young Lupin pilot quickly lost track of time and his position in the ensuing furball, continually dodging incoming plasma bursts, targeting and destroying Leonin fighter craft and then repeating the process ad-nauseum... until a bolt of plasma cut through his weakening shields and made contact with on of the blocky fighter's primary thrusters. Alarms squealed in the cockpit and the the craft refused to respond to his controls. This is it he thought, hearing his own heartbeat in his suit's helmet, I go to join the ancestors. He squeezed his eyes shut as seconds passed, then minutes... finally, he opened his eyes... to see not only was his ship still there, but it was seemingly flying itself, and his shields were recharging. "What in the name of the ancestors?"

He's been in enough engagements; although all of them had been against poorly equipped and untrained Gnoll pirates, admittedly nothing in his experience or training had prepared him for this situation. Finally regaining enough head-space, he checked his sensors - almost in physical contact with his fighter was a ship of a design he'd never expected to see in his whole career - a Ragerian support corvette. What was even more confusing was that his ship, as well as several of his comrade's in arms, were having their shields, hulls, and consumables somehow replenished as they were held at a consistent safe distance from the star-boat by an invisible beam his sensors could barely detect. "H-how, wh-why?" he stammered as he watched the slug count for his cannons steadily increase, as well as the missiles he'd long since expended.

"Sorry, can't tell ya how." His head nearly went through the diamond coated transparent titanium cockpit at the sudden reply, and he noticed that there was a uniformed female Ragerian on the display. "We're just here to provide support, per our agreement to aide New Alliance members should major threats arise. You're almost topped off, Voidguard, ready to save your home-world?"

Hab-station 34C near-space

59! 60! 61! 62! Saril counted mentally as his anti-missile lasers safely detonated or disabled the incoming ordinance his wing was chasing. An overlay on his cockpit's HUD highlighted targets he'd been designated by New Alliance Tactical Command, and he was not about to let a single. Damn. Missile hit the station. As the last of his targets blew up, his shields defecting the debris with only minor drain, he pumped his fist and cheered. "Yeeesss! Take that Leonin bastards!" His celebration was cut short, however, as a lock warning tone sounded. "Aw shiiiit! Princess? Creampuff? A little help here!"

"Aww, is widdle Stwipes in twouble?" Princess mocked as he saw from his sensors she was already engaging the fighter that had targeted him, and the lock tone silenced.

"Thanks Princess..." he groaned and rolled his eyes, knowing full well she'd be mocking him all week now. In truth, they'd been doing quite well, the first salvo of missiles had been shot down, and both Princess and Creampuff had kept any fighters from locking on to Icebox, Monk, or himself for much of the engagement... which of course meant the universe was about to slap them down hard, at least in Saril's estimation.

"Excellent work people," Monk praised over the comms, "we've taken care of their first salvo, and the Steel Claw has blasted the offending battlecruiser into dust. Unfortunately, the destroyers are now focusing on military targets. LDFCL Snowfall is under heavy attack and requesting any assistance - that's us, get burning!"

Somewhere on Lupin Prime

"You cannot be serious!" The commander of one of the Home-guard's patrol cruisers snarled on one split of the comms display, making the Yotan officer on a different split practically jump. "We do not scorn your aide, however, it is quite... difficult... for me to believe that our military has placed you in command of Home-world Defense!"

"Reality does not require your belief," Scythe snarled, causing the out of line commander to lower his ears and shrink slightly, "either respect the new chain of command, or you shall be removed from it immediately. Now... everyone who is not under heavy engagement and combat effective is being forwarded new orders. Execute them immediately, that is all." She cut the comms before any of the officers could reply, then slumped back into her seat. This had not been as bad as she had feared, and yet it was still pretty much a disaster. Even if it didn't look like it right away, things were still going mostly as the Leonin had planned. All they needed do to disrupt a coordinated offense was lob more missiles at the Hab-stations. Sure, the New Alliance assets meant they were holding their own but... The closest of the perimeter fleet was a week out, and the full force would take up to a month to reach the system. It made her sick to think about but... this was war now, they could either protect every Hab-station and lose, or let civilians die and save the home-world.

"I've seen your orders," Hack muttered from his console, still tapping and typing away, but the enthusiasm in his voice was gone, "and I cannot support them."

"Then we will lose Lupin prime!" Scythe snapped, spinning his chair to face her, with a snarling maw and bloodshot eyes. "I will **not** allow that to happen, at any cost. You have even said yourself, without the Lupin, you cannot hope to beat back the Leonin around the sector."

Hack lowered his ears, shaking his head. "Illoria, if I don't get back to my work you will lose, even if you continue to insist on sacrificing much of your population."

"I am sorry," she sighed after a few moments, letting go of his chair, "but I do not see another way to destroy this fleet. They are not going to just leave, no matter what we do."

Hack sighed as he turned back to his console, "I have one last trick I can pull, give me 15 minutes, then get me system-wide comms; I hope you're wrong but fear you're not."