General Taylor's warning was received with gratitude by the forces that joined the battle.
Especially when a few portals opened, and the fleets that were attacking Andrews' territory tried to pour into the system to aid their forces in defending it.
Tried was the operative word, since as soon as the portals opened, most of them got bottled up, leaving only two that unfortunately opened right next to the main Kinokian forces in the system.
Soon after that, the reinforcements from the Lantean Empire started arriving, bringing with them more defense satellites and resupply ships.
Additionally, three more star nations decided to join in on the fun and poured their forces through their own portals.
All in all, it looked like the Kinokians would lose and lose badly.
-I see no way for them to win this. If it were me, I'd retreat and let the enemy have the system already to cut my losses.
Andrew commented, watching the whole battle through on his holo-screen, and waiting for the relay he sent along with Runir's forces to scan the area surrounding the battlefield.
-Your majesty, the Kinokians are stubborn and don't care too much about their losses.
They don't retreat unless they suffer devastating losses or their fleet is needed elsewhere.
You saw it yourself when they stopped the attack on your territory, because they are on the verge of losing this system and a few more that were attacked through the FTL.
-Admiral Gezrin stated.
-Be that as it may, I thought that they were an intelligent species, and I doubt that any species with such a way of thinking could have survived to reach the battle-verse, much less survive the battle-verse itself.
Andrew said, with an expression suggesting that something was not adding up.
-From what we were able to gather and the information my people bought from the guild, we know that they only survived, thanks to having planets in their starting systems, and with their propagation rate, they were more or less impossible to eradicate.
Then they got lucky, and one of them found a chest with a shipyard blueprint in the early stages, which they used to mass-produce the shipyards and moved quickly to producing vast fleets, thanks to which they conquered their whole galaxy.
Once they arrived in the battle-verse, they used the same strategy to claim four more galaxies and are doing their best to add more to their territories.
The biggest problem with them is that once they get to the planet's surface, it is almost impossible to kick them out.
The only successful attempt involved glassing the whole planet from orbit.
The Admiral explained.
-That explains a lot, but it still does not answer the question of why no one was able to stop them for such a long time.
The emperor said.
-In the end, I very much doubt that these four galaxies just let them take over without any resistance.
He added.
-Sadly, we might never know, as there were not many survivors who managed to escape back then, and by now they are most likely dead, as it happened centuries ago.
Gezrin shook his frog-like head.
-Since then, everyone who has a border with the Kinokians keeps adequate forces on standby to repel them, but these mushroom bastards always try to find allies among the new-comming universes, and way too many beings are tempted to have a powerful ally, not understanding that they are simply becoming pawns and turning their territories into staging grounds for the Kinokian expansion.
The Pelozi explained.
-Andrew, the relay finished its scan.
Lanarine interrupted the history lesson.
-Let's see what's going on around the battlefield.
The emperor said, and his eyes went wide at what he saw, and he was not alone.
-Is this some kind of glitch?
Andrew asked, seeing hundreds of portals open across the scanned area.
-No, this is not a glitch.
It looks to me that someone is about to invade the Kinokian territory, and I think that it's one of the more powerful star nations.
Lan answered, after checking her readouts.
-I am Geron of the Ilinian Collective.
A sudden voice sounded from the speakers of all stations and ships in every territory that had a portal connected to the Kinokian territory.
-The Kinokians are my prey from this moment forth.
Anyone engaged in a battle with them has exactly one hour to disengage and retreat, or, if they feel they can take me and my forces on, stay and let's have some fun.
The choice is yours.
The voice stated and went quiet.
At the same time, tens of thousands of warships rushed into the Kinokian territory through the portals, wiping out everything in their way.
-General, take everything you can and retreat through the portal with all your forces as soon as possible.
Andrew ordered as soon as he saw the situation.
He knew what the Ilinian collective was and had no desire to face any of the first thousand anytime soon.
He was not the only one, as every force invading the Kinokian territory started pulling back in a matter of minutes after the broadcast.
-Why the hell did one of the first thousand get involved in this mess?
Teleren asked, not expecting an answer.
-Who knows, but with any luck, they will trash the Kinokians and retreat, leaving them weakened and allowing us to reclaim our territory without suffering many losses.
Gezrin said, hoping that this was the case.
In the end, the Ilinian Collectives' territories were very far away, so it was doubtful that they planned to conquer the Kinokians.
-Judging by the data we have on this Geron, it seems that he is simply bored, and the Kinokians are his new toys.
Dorothy said while still reading data on her holo-screen.
Andrew paid a lot of credits to gain the information on the Ilinian collective, a while back, since it was almost certain that his empire would become their target sooner or later.
-Whatever the case, it is better for us to avoid getting entangled with whatever he is planning.
Andrew stated while watching as Georn's forces simply devastated the Kinokian defensive fleets with ease.
This one demonstration assured him that his empire would stand no chance against an enemy as powerful as this one.
Thankfully, his forces were already pulling out and taking everything they possibly could with them through the portal.
The defensive satellites, wrecks of their own ships, and even some of the enemy ships that were close enough for them to tow.
Luckily, the collective's forces didn't attack this system directly, and the Kinokian forces pulled out the moment the Ilinian fleets attacked their core territories.
-I think it's safe to say that our war with the Kinokians is over for now.
Aelita stated, seeing as the funganoids were having a much bigger problem on their hands now.
-Yeah, you can say that, but I doubt that we are so lucky to get rid of them for good.
Andrew agreed.
-For now, let's focus on rebuilding our forces and assimilating the traitor's territories once again.
He added, omitting that the traitors they captured were going to be taken care of, too, and soon.