It didn't feel right ending where I did when I first wrote Chapter 2, so I wrote up Chapter 3 and rolled it into Chapter 2. Hope yall enjoy and that you think the extra time was worth it!

Birthright

Chapter 2 - Once More Into the Breech

Captain's Log - October 1, 2022

The Caroline has been in spacedock for about a week now and all repairs have been completed. Recent events in Congress have made keeping my rank in Starfleet impossible, so over the past week, my wife and I have fully assumed the role of King and Queen of America. The Caroline has been given to us, at a price, by Starfleet, and only those willing to serve have been assigned to the ship. Wedge is not staying. He was given command of the USS Patton, whose captain had died in combat against the Borg. All is not bad, though. At his request, the Patton is staying with the Caroline as a permanent guard ship, and Saphyra has risen to the post of first officer with no problems at all.

Aside from Wedge the crew has, to a man, elected to continue serving aboard the royal flagship. They have repaired the ship in conjunction with spacedock personnel, and have been given two days' leave to relax. Saphyra, David, and I have taken time to go to Hawaii and I have had all my communications directed to the home answering machine so we may have peace. Only the most urgent communications will come through to my badge, but if I know Starfleet, they'll contact me about every little thing.

Davis was enjoying himself on the beach with nothing to do but lie on a towel and soak up the sun's rays. He was able to forget about the eggs that were incubating in the star and all the science of it. He was even able to ignore the dragons swimming out in the sea in their natural forms. He was loving just being on the sands and hearing the waves, smelling the salt water, just enjoying himself. "Mmmm, how are you doing, my King?" Saphyra asks, rolling over onto her back and resting her arm on Davis'.

"I swear you had something to do with this whole damned thing of me being forced into the role of King." He says, not turning his head to face her. She giggles a bit, trying to sound innocent. "I have no idea what you're talking about, though it is good that you've finally assumed your role."

"Dad!" yells his son, David, coming over dripping wet and kicking a little bit of sand onto him. "Saved by the boy." Davis murmurs, looking to his son as he rolls onto his side. "Dad, come on! Let's go swimming!" He says as Davis sits up, rubbing sand off his arm. "Well, considering there's sand all over me..." He says, giving his boy a look and a grin. David rubs the back of his head and grins right back, then takes off for the water when his father jumps up, father chasing son towards the sparkling sea. Before Saphyra can even sit up, the two are in the water and playing around.

Saphyra smiles, it had been too long since she was able to relax like this, and even longer still since she had seen her Bonded relax like this. It was heartening to see. As she watches, a shadow passes overhead, drawing her attention as a sparkling red dragon flies overhead. He has on a lifesaving raft, the raft just as red as his scales with a white plus on it, signifying the dragon as a lifeguard. The perfect lifeguard: someone big enough to swoop down and scoop you out of the waves, fly you to shore over the surf, and take you directly to the hospital if need be. Not only that, the dragon lifeguards had already proven their worth by saving several dozen people from rip tides over the last few months alone.

Further adding to her absolute lack of worry were the dragons swimming out in the deep waters. Those dragons swimming out in the deeper waters also meant that sharks, the scourge of any beach, would be staying far away. She lies back down and sighs, her sunglasses covering her eyes again, only to hear someone walk up. She opens her eyes and looks up, only to see a slightly familiar face looking back down at her.

"Eragon?" She asks, sitting up, a bit surprised to see the young Alagaesian here on the beach. "How are you? When did you get here? And how did you get here?" She asks, looking around, seeing Saphira at a hot dog vender.

"We arrived a little bit ago." He says, smiling to her and sitting down next to her. "We decided to after everything calmed down. We found the Rock of Cuthian, it was a virtual treasure trove: Hundreds of eggs and as many Eldunari, space eggs as you call them..." Saphyra waves that off. "I like Eldunari better. Space Egg was always such a bland term."

Eragon nods, smiling, and continues. "We were trying to think of a safe place they might be raised, when the ambassador recommended we keep them at the US base. There are a couple dozen dragons there and they took to filling them all in on what they need to know about your society with enthusiasm. Since we were suddenly free from obligations, Saphira and I decided we'd come here to Earth and learn all we could, then go back and help Roran and Katrina in Carvahal."

"And Eragon would not stop jabbering unless we did." Saphira says, sitting down with a huff, eating one of the three hot dogs she got, not seeming to be in the sharing mood. Eragon sees Saphyra's eyes dart to Saphira's belly and blushes a bit. "Problem?" She snaps at him, seeing and feeling him blushing. Eragon stiffens up and shakes his head, and by the look on his face and the fluster, Saphyra immediately seems to understand what's going on. "I see you two didn't waste time." She says, eyeing Saphira's stomach and smiling. "When are they due?" She asks Saphira, who snorts.

"Not soon enough." She grumps. "They have made me hungrier than ever before, the two of them, and they are ruining my figure. I do not like having my belly sticking out a bit as if I had eaten too much for too long."

Eragon rubs that belly. "It's not sticking out much at all." He says, smiling, his tone gentle.

"And Eragon won't stop doing that!" She says, bopping him on the head. Even though she liked the feeling it gave her, she wouldn't let him do it in public; too embarrassing. Her belly was just barely showing at all, but she was her harshest critic and couldn't let it go.

Saphyra can only smile. "Eragon, why don't you go say hello to my husband and son?" She asks. "They are out there making fools of themselves in the waves. Let us ladies talk amongst ourselves." She motions in that general direction, where father and son are literally throwing themselves at the waves as they crash, diving underneath them and emerging on the other side, or simply tackling into the smaller ones that won't roll them. Eragon leaps at the opportunity and goes out to have fun with the other guys, leaving Saphyra and Saphira to talk.

"When did it happen?" Saphyra asks the instant Eragon is out of earshot. "Were he not my Bonded I would wring his neck for this." Saphira says, slightly annoyed but softening by a whole lot as she puts a hand on her belly. "As soon as we were set to leave, he dove into the ship's library. He wanted to read about your history. In it, he found the Dragon War, and how you and the survivors of El Paso brought it to an end. Then he learned you were the first dragon to ever Bond to a human. From there, he discovered the Bond's true meaning, in all its detail. The Elves' magic hid the purpose of the Bond well enough while we were there and their spell could remain charged, but once we got out of orbit, the spell faded and the true Bond hit like a gale." She says, blushing a little bit at telling this. "I was so hot blooded, and he so irresistible. We did not leave our room for three days." She is blushing brighter, remembering the details, and Saphyra is also blushing a bit, remembering her heat with her Bonded.

"Soon after we arrived here on Earth, I felt I was pregnant and told him. He has been insufferable ever since. He's even forgotten about Arya, which I suppose I should be grateful for. If she were to come, both of us love her to death. And polygamy is against the law, not to mention..." She stops there, unable to think about what Arya would think of this.

Saphyra blinks and shakes her head. "Some dragon pairs do have polygamous relationships, but they are few and generally have some extenuating circumstance to explain it. Don't worry, I..." Saphyra is cut short as the communicator on the towel beeps. "Hold on." She says to Saphira and picks up the communicator as it chirps again. "We're on vacation." She says after squeezing it.

"Yes ma'am." The woman on the other end says. "This is Starfleet's Pearl Harbor HQ, Captain Janson speaking. We urgently need your Highnesses to come to Command as soon as you can make it." She says. "Priority one urgency." Saphyra sighs. "Alright, let me go fish him out of the ocean. Saphyra out." With that, the blue dragoness stands, Saphira gaping for a second at the speckles on her back, the darker blue spots somehow making her more beautiful. "Are those..." She asks, to which Saphyra nods. "Yes, they are from when my Bonded strafed me during the war." She wastes no more time and heads out to get her family.

"So Eragon, what happened to your ears?" Davis asks. "Last time I saw them they were pointed. Now they're round, and even your face is human once again." Eragon laughs a bit. "It was part of the Elves' spell." He says. "When we left Alagaesia behind, the Elven spell about the Bond left us and I reverted to my original appearance inside two days." All of them were in the shallows now, the waves gently lapping against them. "I'm kind of glad of it. I'm not the odd man out, as it were."

"Honey..." Saphyra says, coming over with the other blue dragoness, who sits next to Eragon and sighs, leaning against him, no longer pissy now that she had eaten. "Pearl Harbor called, said you need to come in. Priority one." Davis sighs and nods, David loudly whining about it, but it couldn't be helped. Davis says his goodbye to Eragon and Saphira and heads towards his towel. A few minutes later, they are in their rental car and driving to Starfleet's Pearl Harbor Headquarters building.

"King Davis, how are you?" The admiral in charge of the naval base asks, shaking Davis' hand.

"I'm good, thank you admiral." Davis says back. He doesn't like being called King, but it can't be helped anymore. He had been pushed up to it by the public already, and Congress was putting him into the chain of command right next to his wife, the Queen. There was nothing to be done but suck it up. "Tell me, why have you called us from our much deserved and God given vacation?" He asks. The admiral doesn't miss a step. "Events are unfolding that you must be made aware of. Your crew is also being recalled from their leave and told to report to the Caroline immediately."

This didn't sound too good, and as they pass by a display, Davis stops dead. The ticker reads 'Elves at War with Orcs' and the video being shown was a battle being covered by a news crew near Allileiya. The Elves were fighting against the Orcs, whose ships were more familiar than they ought to have been, the familiar shapes of Star Destroyers firing upon the elegant shapes of the Elven ships defending the world.

"At this rate, Allileiya will have Orc troops roaming around on its surface before long. The Orc Empire has also sent us a list of demands. They want us to not offer any aid to the Elves at all, and to cede Schanxi over to them immediately, with final borders to be negotiated. They also issued some demands to the Raptor, similar to the ones we got. The Trolls and Goblins are mobilizing their forces to aid the Orcs. Now, the President already held an emergency session with Congress and he wants to talk to you." The admiral clearly wants to know why, but also knows better than to ask.

Davis actually needs a few minutes for this to soak in and, in an effort to buy time and organize his thoughts, he asks, "How did this happen? What led to the attack?"

"The battle with the Borg weakened the Elven fleet. They lost a battle group and a half. The Orcs seem to be using this as an opportunity to take back territory the Elves took from them a long time ago. The GU has tried to start up talks and stop the whole thing, but the Orcs refuse to come to the table. They don't even send representatives to respond to the sanctions put on them."

Davis nods, rubbing his chin. He is thinking a bit more clearly now, the initial shock gone. "Sounds like the GU is just as worthless as the UN was." He says. "Alright, I'll need to talk to the President." The admiral nods and leads him to a nearby room, where a comm system was waiting for him to talk to the President. Saphyra goes in with him, leaving David outside the room with the admiral, both of them cooling their heels as Davis and Saphyra address the most powerful man on Earth in nothing but their swimsuits.

Four hours later

"Stop moving around so much." Saphyra says, scolding Davis as she fixes up his uniform to look the best it possibly can. This was the first time that Davis had put on the royal uniform they had tailor made for him. It was a standard Starfleet dress uniform, except it had golden embroidery, the royal seal in place of a combadge, and had real gold instead of shiny bronze covered in gold. Davis just can't get himself to hold still, though. He was nervous about addressing so many people.

"There." Saphyra says. "Now, remember, stay calm. Think of this as addressing just your crew, and ignore the cameras in the back." She says, and straightens up her own uniform. "Why do I have to make the announcement again?" he asks, wanting to hear Saph give him the reason why again. Saphyra chuckles a bit as she fixes herself up. "The President is putting you in control of the fleet going to relieve Allileiya. Of course he'd want you to make the speech. It also establishes your position. Now, how do I look?" She asks finally, taking a step back.

"Lovely." Davis says, feeling butterflies as he sees how she looks in hers. It fits her form perfectly, the medals perfectly sized, the whole elegant piece seeming to fit her just right. A tech pokes his head in and Davis steels himself, then steps out, Saphyra right with him, onto the main stage. His entire crew was in the stadium, all dressed and polished in dress uniforms, and all rise as he comes out. The cameras are all too visible, especially the one right in front of the podium. Unlike the President, who had a teleprompter in his camera when he makes his speeches, he would be doing this from memory, based off what feels right.

"Please be seated." He says, looking out over his men as they sit down. "Crew of the Caroline, men and women around the Earth and her colonies..." He says, and looks down at his papers. "Today, we have received terrible news. The Orc Empire has launched a full scale assault on the Elven Federation. Their goal: The recapture of their former territories, lost centuries ago to the Elves."

Murmurs start to surface in the crowd, low murmurs, obviously trying to keep to themselves as Davis pauses to allow this information to sink in. He looks to the camera, and in countless houses across the world on several worlds, people are watching him, ignoring the news tickers of the channels they are watching as they gaze upon the King and Queen, hoping to understand what exactly is going on. A broadcast of this was even being shown on Raptor networks.

"The Orcs, along with their allies, including the Trolls and Goblins, have issued demands to us. They have promised not to attack us should we hand over Schanxi to them and withdraw from an area extending five light years out from the planet. They have issued similar demands for planets to the Raptor for the same. They have also stated that formal borders will be negotiated after the war with the Elves is over." More murmuring, an angry undercurrent.

Davis looks at the camera, letting all the anger for the Orcs at making such outrageous demands go into his face and voice, his gaze getting stern and serious. "I have already talked with the President, who has got the full support of Congress behind him. We will not give in to these demands." Some clapping starts up in the crowd, one dragoness in the back shouting 'Hell no!' "We will not give over our planets to these jackasses who think force will get them what they want." More people clapping, a few men cheer. "Congress has already had their vote, and their vote was unanimous for war!"

The men were silent now, all of them realizing the stark truth. This wasn't announcing the news. This would be their orders, being broadcast to everyone. But why? "I tell you now: We're gonna have a big fight on our hands. This enemy is tough. They are a warrior race. They have been well trained and are battle hardened, but so are we! The Raptor, the Dwarves, the Elves, they all whisper about us being a warrior race, well now we'll prove it! Anything the Orcs can dish out to us, we can take, and we can serve it right back!" Some of the people are cheering again, but not all.

"Now the President has sent the entirety of the Washington battle group to assist the Elves in fighting back the Orcs. Our group helped them against the Borg, now we'll help them against the Orcs. He has assigned me command of the battle group. As we go into battle, I want you all to know that I will not bow. I will not break. I will figure out what the Orcs want and how they're going to try to get it, then stop them and defeat them. I expect you all to think and act the same! We will not rest until we have thrown the Orcs out of Allileiya!" A few shouts of 'that's right!' coming up, even a few calls of 'Fuck Yeah!' coming up. Davis can't help but feel pride. The attitude of the crowd had entirely changed. They no longer seemed to have a cloud hovering over them. He glares directly at the camera. "To any Orcs watching, don't you dare underestimate us. We will not fall. We will not fade. We will take your breath away with the speed and power of our attacks against you. We will hit you, and keep hitting you, over and over until there is nothing left of your forces but broken machinery."

Davis brings his attention up and looks at his crew. "Crew of the Caroline, this time tomorrow, we will show the Orcs just who exactly they're fucking with!" Everyone starts cheering, even some people at home were cheering. Apparently the censors were cheering too, since Davis' last words came through in the clear, uncensored. Davis looks at his men. "That is all." He says with finality, then backs up and looks to his wife.

Saphyra steps up to the podium and looks at the crowd, the entire crew of the Caroline. "All crew, report to transporter sites immediately." She orders. People start getting up and heading out of the stadium. "Once aboard ship, report to stations immediately and prepare for launch."

Captain's Log

Supplemental

October 2, 2022

The Task Force I have been asked to lead is only three hours away from Allileiya. The Orcs responded just about as well as could be expected. They immediately declared war on us, but with most of their ships busy in Elven space, they didn't have the manpower to launch an effective attack, and the third fleet intercepted their attacking force and drove it back at the border. The Orcs' allies have declared war on us, but our allies, the Raptors and Dwarves, have risen to stand beside us, seeing what this is turning into.

I'm amazed at how the more things change the more they stay the same. All our time on Earth, our countries acted much the same way these powers are acting here in space. The Galactic Union has completely broken apart. The forces that made up their peacekeeping force divided along lines their nations decided upon and started shooting each other in the GU's own peacekeeping ships.

All the crews in the Task Force are at the ready, and the Marines in the transport cruisers are chomping at the bit, ready to go down and show the Orcs, the self proclaimed 'best warriors in the galaxy,' just exactly how Marines fight. McLintock is just as eager. He told me, shortly after the speech, he never thought I could be so good with words and that he was surprised at how motivating I could be.

I think it's just the position helping what otherwise would have been a standard political speech.

Davis had only a few hours to plan how the fleets would jump in, but he's fairly confident in his plan and its ability to adapt and succeed. "Ten seconds to warp out." His helm officer reports over the intercom. A short countdown later and they were out of warp, and Davis looks down at his display.

The ships had dropped out of warp in formation. The caroline was in the lead, her two close escorts, the Patton and the Bradley in close. Spread out in a wedge with these ships at the tips were a conglomerate of Akiras, Excelsiors, and Ambassadors, with Sabres, Mirandas, and Defiants all around them. The fleet had gathered up large, more than just the battle group they had been expecting. Two carriers, the George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, were in the back, watching protectively over the half dozen Marine ships. Almost immediately, fighters start to launch as the fleet makes its way into the solar system, heading towards the fourth planet: Allileiya.

"Marine dropships report ready to launch." Operations announces. "All fighter squadrons launched." Saphyra reports from the bridge, ready to maneuver the ship in conjunction with the helm. She was at tactical. "Dragons and AAU report ready to drop." She says. Davis nods. All was going well, made even better as the ships turn green on his secondary display, showing their troops, if they had any, were ready to go.

A half hour later, the fourth planet comes into view. Allileiya was a sparkling blue jewel from a distance, much like Earth, but when they drew closer, the flares of explosions could be seen. "The Orc fleet is trying to defeat the Elven fleet in orbit." Davis says urgently. "Outer wedge, flank speed. Get in there and support those Elves. Patton, Bradley, spread formation a bit when they go. Carrier group, push it up to top speed allowed by the dropships. Have the bombers target those Star Destroyers." He gets conformations all around.

The wedge breaks apart, the lighter ships, from Akira on down, break and spread out, kicking to maximum impulse and rushing towards the planet. A Star Destroyer and it's escorts, two Victory class Destroyers and four Acclamators, turn to engage them, fighters streaming out from them. The space between the two groups fills with light as the fighter groups engage each other, F22s firing off torpedoes at passing Orc fighters who do the same, phaser shots from the small craft reaching out and slamming against the shields of their targets. Four Orc fighters explode during the pass, along with two F22s, a third trailing plasma, turning to retreat back to the carrier group.

Then the ships come into range. The fighters peel away like a dandelion being blown on as the larger weapons open up. The Orcs only have high powered blasters, but they have a lot of them, going for cheap firepower that can overwhelm enemy defenses. Green bolts of concentrated plasma leap out from the ships, as the orange phasers and photon torpedoes from the lighter American vessels reach out to slam against the shields of the Orc ships.

The ships all break and start engaging in smaller engagements. One poor Victory class Destroyer finds itself targeted by nearly all of the American frigates. The Miranda, Saber, and Defiant class ships don't have the same punch as the weapons onboard the Victory, but what they lack in punch, they make up for in speed and number. The ships keep moving, dividing the Victory's firepower, pumping phasers into the ship along with torpedoes. After a minute, the ship's hull seems to lose some of its luster. Explosions rip through the hull wherever phaser or torpedo hits at, and the frigates break away as the ship explodes brilliantly.

The Star Destroyer arrives on the scene and targets the closest ship in the frigate group. Heavy turbolasers reach out and slam into the Miranda class nearest the ship. The shields hold for a few seconds, then fail, the Star Destroyer cruelly raking the ship, exploding it after a few more seconds. An Intrepid flies over the top of the Star Destroyer, pumping a volley of ten torpedoes into it amidships, the last two making it through the shields and slamming into the hull armor, not causing much damage. They didn't have enough of a punch, but they had the desired effect, as the frigates are able to move on to more suitable targets, targets their own size.

The Intrepid makes a few drastic and sharp turns, avoiding most of the turbolaser fire, its shields staving off what does hit it, all the while returning fire, but it's a losing fight. The Star Destroyer manages to keep guns focused on it, concentrating on it to the exclusion of other ships. The Intrepid takes another turn and then takes five direct hits. Its shields fail and the last bolt slams into the main saucer and right pylon, the nacelle just barely staying connected to the ship. Then the Patton and Bradley arrive. The two Galaxy class ships start firing on the Star Destroyer, flying towards it a bare 50 feet apart, their phasers lighting up the Star Destroyer's shields, getting the ship to turn and engage them. They then split, the Star Destroyer dividing it's firepower evenly among them. It did not count on the much more powerful Caroline being right behind them, her signature masked by the two heavy cruisers.

The Caroline flies directly over the Star Destroyer, a full salvo of twenty five torpedoes bombarding the Star Destroyer's shields, along with all the phaser fire that can be brought to bear. The Star Destroyer redirects its fire onto the Caroline, but it's already too late. The shields fail under the torpedo barrage and half the torpedoes slam into the ship, gutting it. The phaser fire tears through the rest of the ship, actually coming out of the bottom, and as the Caroline completes her pass, the Star Destroyer explodes brilliantly behind her. The two Galaxies form up on the flanks of the Caroline as she drives towards the main battle, the carriers following just after, the troop ships right behind, and the smaller ships, including the wounded Intrepid, forming a loose back arch, engaging the remaining Orc escorts as they move with the group.

By then, the Elves have gotten in contact with Davis. Their ships shift in formation as soon as the Caroline breaks through the Star Destroyer guarding the way. The Elves put out a tremendous amount of fire, not aiming to damage, merely to suppress. Several explosions crop up as Orc fighters and bombers are caught by the fire and explode. A few frigates on the Orc side explode, as do a few Elven as the Orcs return fire. The Caroline and her group drop in right behind the Elves and the Galaxies on down get into battle formation, adding their firepower to the field, torpedoes streaking out to Orc targets, Orc missiles streaking back at them. Point defense cannons on both sides start firing, the blue darts of the Elven and American defenses doing their best to shoot down the Orc missiles while the small green bolts on the Orc side do the same. The Caroline, Washington, and Lincoln, on the other hand, duck into a low orbit, the troop ships underneath the Caroline. Immediately, dropships start launching from the Caroline and all six of the troop ships, the Marines and Army soldiers heading down to the planet.

Davis sighs. They had made it in time. Their arrival had stopped the Orcs from pushing back the Elves, thus keeping the capital city from being bombarded from orbit. The only thing they had to worry about was the ground forces and atmospheric fighters the Orcs had attacking the city. "Captain, Imperial troops have about half the city and most of it is ablaze." His science officer reports.

"Imperial?" He asks. The officer grins sheepishly and Davis understands at once, this was every nerd's dream made real. And they did belong to an Empire after all! "Alright then, fine, how many Imperials on the ground, Mr. Carver?"

"We've got about six thousand attacking the city, and roughly four thousand defenders. They appear to be an advance attack unit. The rest of the Imps are spread along the line between the two fleets, where neither side can help their ground troops."

Davis nods. Unless they could push the Orcs...the Imperials...back in orbit, their ships would be unable to accurately bombard the troops on the surface without being attacked, and with an enemy fleet in orbit, it would be suicide to send a starship into the atmosphere to give close fire support. He looks up as Saphyra's voice sounds on the intercom. "Now hear this, now hear this. All AAU units disembark immediately. Dragon squadron, provide close cover and when the troops are on the ground, provide close air support. CAS contact is Cynder."

That was what McLintock was waiting for. He gives the thumbs up to the drop ship pilot, and he slams the throttle to the stops. All around him, other drop ships are launching, heading down to the planet's surface and landing at an assembly area on the other side of the capital city, imaginatively called Allileiya City. Once they land, the groups all assemble. "Alright, listen up!" McLintock calls, getting the attention of the men. "We'll be sharing the Marine's comms on this mission. Their Intel guys will be directing us on where to go and what to do. We'll be going through their chain to get artillery, and they're going through ours to get air support. CAS officers, perform your duty correctly, don't want to hear of ANYONE getting preferential treatment, hooah? Good. Rest of you, do what you've always done and we'll make it through this! Now get to your units and get out there!" The troops respond with a loud hooah!

Soon, the troops, Army and Marines, are split into their combat units and are boarding helicopters. McLintock boards his Chinook as the rotors start turning and sighs. This was what he does and he was good at it. He's not too worried either. The way he sees it, if he can survive a full on war with the Dragons, and has managed to escape injury having one as his wife, he should be fine. ~Ha ha ha, beloved.~ He hears Cynder in his mind. ~Just don't get hurt, or I'll give you something to REALLY be scared of.~

He looks up to see Cynder and two other dragons circling overhead, escorted by some Elven fighters. Three more Elven fighters fly overhead. He knows, at this moment, that the Elves were finishing catching his commanding officer up on the situation. As his helicopter gets up into the air, he hears the radio crackle to life. "All stations, this net. All stations, this net, this is Actual, stand by for SitRep, over." He pays attention to the radio, ignoring the small talk by his troops about how they'll beat these guys' asses. A couple are looking out of the back ramp and cheering as a platoon of M1AAA's drive towards the city. Two Orcas come up on their wing, the new gunships a replacement of the venerable Apache. These had no rotors at all, rather a set of four engines, two on each side, which could direct horizontally or vertically. This made them faster than Apaches. They were armed better too, with rocket pods, new hellfire missiles stored internally, a gatling pulse phaser cannon, and the ability to carry even more weapons under their fixed wings. These two were going to lay down some pain.

"Enemy forces have advanced nearly halfway to the palace and number in the five thousand range with some reinforcements flowing in from outside the city." McLintock could already see the artillery starting to fire on those troops outside the city. Fortunately, their line of fire was nowhere near the flight path of the helicopters. Those arty shells may be standard projectiles, but they'd hurt the shields just the same, and were still murder to exposed infantry and buildings alike. "

Air support will be sporadic, airspace over battle space Allileiya City has not yet been secured..."

That was an understatement. Looking up, he could see Elven fighters and even a few American fighters mixing it up with some Orc fighters. They were strange. They had a nearly clear ball in the center as the main hull of the fighter, where he could see the Orc almost. This gave great visibility. Surrounding that central ball were three dagger shaped pylons, each one tipped with a blaster, and the lower two pylons holding missile launchers. One of them dives at the helicopters, only to have an F-18 blow it out of the sky with a torpedo shot. For a moment, McLintock is distracted by the F-18, wondering where the F-22s are, but then realizes it's only to be expected, the Marines would have their own fighters up.

The popping sound of explosions starts to get closer, which brings McLintock's focus back from the sky. "...and now the Elven lines are holding. The Elves are waiting for us, let's show them how we fight. Semper Fi, Actual out." McLintock readies his weapon and makes sure his shield is operational.

The helicopters sure were flying into hell. The city they were flying over was burning from bombings that had happened earlier from Orc bombers. One bomber had crashed into a skyscraper and knocked it down into the top floors of a building nearby, where it now rests precariously, black smoke billowing out from where the bomber had hit. The streets below are hazy with smoke, explosions occasionally tearing through at lower altitudes as the Orc gunners try to pick off attacking gunships before they get into range. The explosions start to get closer, then a massive one rocks the Chinook, sending some of the soldiers into their seatmates.

"Hold on boys, things are gonna get rough." The pilot says, his copilot putting more power into the shields. Another shot just barely misses, hitting right below the helicopter. McLintock has to hold on for dear life at this point.

The helicopters are flying over a probing battle now, and right before McLintock's eyes, the explosions really pick up, tracers flying up from both sides to try swatting the buzzing gunships out of the sky. The haze of smoke in the streets is blown apart in places by the vehicles shooting at each other. One round bounces off a shield and hits the building behind it, the return fire exploding against the opponent's shield. An Elven tank pulls up and fires a round, the tracer disappearing in the smoke, and a split second later another explosion parts the smoke farther down the street as the target is destroyed. As if on cue, two Elven strike fighters swoop in low and strafe the street in front of the tank, three more explosions cropping up in the sea of haze, the street briefly clear before the haze floods back in. A missile races up from a nearby rooftop, swatting one of the Elven attackers from the sky, only for one of the Orcas to turn and loose a single missile, the Hellfire flying straight and true, detonating inside the top floor of the building the missile had come from, killing the anti air crew inside and blowing chunks of the building out onto the street below.

Then the helicopters are clear and coming in for a landing at the park the Elves had asked them to set down in. Once down, McLintock waves. "Let's go! Let's go!" He says, and rushes out, his men right behind him. Above, the fight continues, an Orc fighter swooping low, chased by an Elven interceptor. The interceptor doesn't fall for the trick and waits until the Orc pulls out of the dive towards the friendlies before firing the fatal shots off. McLintock rushes to the officer assembly point and meets with his Elven counterpart. "Alright, here's how things are going." The elf says in a no nonsense tone. "The Orcs are pushing hard against our lines here. Just before you landed, we lost our shield unit here." He says, pointing to a spot on the map. "We need a platoon to reinforce. The rest, we need for you to push up to our lines evenly, and when you join up, we will all attack together once the Orc OP has been destroyed." McLintock nods, as does his Marine counterpart. Together with the elf, they look over the map and come up with the best way to do this, sharing radio frequencies and troop strengths, all the while tanks and other reinforcements flood in. The Elf has his direct subordinate get on the radio and call for an airstrike on the location they knew the Orc regimental commander was leading from.

Within five minutes, McLintock has rejoined his troops. Together with four Abrams, they advance towards the weakened Elven line. Cynder flies overhead with two other dragons and they unleash a fiery inferno on a building the Elf had called in air support on. Just behind her, two Apaches fly over and unleash a rocket barrage just behind the building, killing the command group that was hiding behind it. The effect is almost immediate. Four Orc gunships lift off, trying to get away from the barrage the Apaches were laying down. Cynder lands on the side of one and breaths her fire into an open door. As the gunship sputters and begins falling from the sky in a flat spin, she lets go and gains altitude, smoke trailing from the open door before it explodes on the ground. Another gunship is felled by a missile shot from an American SAM team, and the last two are pursued a short way by the Apaches before they break off, staying near friendly lines.

In a few minutes, McLintock finds the Elven lines, fighting tooth and nail against the Orcs as they try to advance. As his IFV pulls up, he dismounts with his troops, an Abrams firing off a shot. The shot races downrange and slams into an Orc shield unit. The shell explodes on impact, covering the shield in plasma. The plasma is only hot for a few seconds, but the shield almost collapses by the added strain. It had been stopping rounds almost constantly. Another shot from another Abrams and the shield fails entirely. A third shot comes in from yet another and destroys the unit. The Orcs that had been hiding under it get up and run, only to be mowed down by fire from the Elves. Then the American infantry arrives, led by McLintock.

They rush towards the line, braving fire coming from the Orcs, phaser pulses racing over their heads from the Abrams as they lay down cover fire with their heavy pulse phasers. McLintock has a few rounds hit his shields, causing them to flare for a second. Then he drops down into an Elven foxhole. A young private on his right advances towards another foxhole, shouldering his weapon and firing a burst of phaser bolts downrange, hitting an Orc seven times. The first four shots are absorbed by the Orc's own shields. The next two bury into his armor and send him down to the ground, the final shot hits the already dead Orc on the jaw as he falls over. The private drops down into a foxhole, the Elf in the hole dropping down to welcome the human, the Elf having been trying to suppress the enemy.

McLintock looks back. Five of his men lay dead where they had been hit, and that was only those he could see. He curses and turns his attention back to the fight. Artillery from the Orcs was starting to detonate around them, the foxholes the only thing keeping their shields from being overwhelmed by the fragments. It was right on their lines and continuous, but he is calm. He knows that on his right flank, Marines were fighting their way into the large apartment-like building that the Orcs were using as an observation point. The Marines are doing extremely well. They had charged into the building and faced minor resistance. There were plenty of Orcs, but they were completely unprepared for the experience the US Marines had with clearing buildings.

They had been told the humans were pathetically weak fighters with no fighting experience. Their superiors did not know just how much the humans had fought themselves. Nor did their superiors tell their soldiers about flash bangs. Before entering a room, the soldiers would drop in a grenade and a flash bang. The grenades would kill a few orcs while drawing the attention of the rest to the door, just in time to see the flash bang, which would then detonate and disorient them all, allowing the Marines to enter the room, kill the Orcs quickly, and move on. The Marines, using this methodology, quickly clear the building all the way to the roof, and once there, fire off a green flare.

"That's the signal! All units, advance!" McLintock orders into his radio. He then pops up and unloads with his Phaser Rifle, a stream of phaser bolts racing downrange. The soldiers were all throwing up a hell of a lot of fire, making the Orc infantry keep their heads down, but the tanks are what stop the Americans from advancing. The phaser rifles don't have the punch to penetrate the tank armor. However, they were ready for that. An Abrams pulls up, its main gun aligned on an enemy tank. The Orc tank fires first, the shot flying straight and true, slamming into the armor on the Abrams. The Abrams is only pissed off, however, its return shot fires out and slams into the Orc tank, penetrating just under the turret and superheating the inside of the vehicle, killing the crew instantly and detonating the ammo rack, the turret of the Orc tank ripping off the vehicle as the explosion rockets upwards through the weakness in the vehicle. As the turret comes down, an A-10 from the Lincoln dives in low between the buildings, its heavy phaser strafing along the line of defense the Orcs had hastily set up. Three tanks are cut in half and explode brightly, allowing the infantry to advance.

In orbit, Davis smiles as the last Imperial ships pull back to their own fleet rendezvous. They were just far enough away to be out of effective weapon's range, but close enough to quickly respond should any ship dart forward to fire on the troops on the battle line on the ground. Davis was well pleased. He watches a second display, seeing that the Orcs are starting to pull back that probing attack. They had achieved air superiority over the city and even as he watched, A-10s and F-18s swoop in with their attack runs, decimating the Orcs as they flee from the advancing soldiers, both Elven and Human. Some dragons were perched on the tops of buildings, and Davis could only imagine the taunts they were shouting at the running Orcs.

"Congratulations sir, the Imperial fleet is withdrawing from the combat zone to regroup." His Operations officer says. "Shall we pursue?" Davis shakes his head. "Not yet." He says. "Wait until the Elves have regrouped, then we'll press our advantage." Davis smiles. When the Elves were regrouped, they'd wipe out this Imperial fleet. Then they would bomb the Orcs on the surface into surrender, then move to take the fight to the orcs.