War Titan Typhon impacted at Hadesheim at 00:00.15 UTC August 17th.

The explosion was large enough for debris to be thrown into space. Fire-storms are raging across north-west Eudoria. An ash cloud is quickly forming over Calypso, blocking the sun. Surface readings indicate that the global temperature is dropping, and scientists are expecting a minor ice age.

Planet Calypso has been declared a disaster area by the Federal Imperial Navy, and travel to and from the planet is restricted until further notice.

Just as the Typhon passed the orbit of Calypso’s outer moon Eris, the looming war machine accelerated despite the increasing long range barrage of the pursuing battle group. The new trajectory means that it will hit Calypso near Hadesheim.

RDI predicts massive destruction: given the mass of the War Titan, the impact crater will probably be on the order of two kilometers in diameter, there will be an area of total devastation several times bigger, and secondary effects of the impact will probably cause a small ice age. “If you’re not off the planet until then, you’re toast” as the RDI spokesman put it.

And chances are that a lot of people will be toast. In order to maximize casualties, Scylla-like robot units are threatening the routes to the evacuation hangars, wreaking havoc on colonists trying to get off the planet in time.

Since the destruction of Fleet Support Vessel Julius Caesar, Fleet Command has transferred to the new flagship, Heavy Strike Vessel Alexander, that leads the breakneck hunt for Typhon. The war-torn battle group has been further diminished as the battle of Hypnos takes its toll.

Rapid Strike Vessel Tutankhamen exploded from engine failure. Medical Support Ship Eratosthenes had to stop completely as its engines failed just inside the orbits of Janus 1 and 2.

The strangest fate of all is that of the Medium Strike Vessel Damocles, that suddenly increased speed and left the battle group behind. When hailed, the damaged warship did not respond at first, and then transmitted a powerful but garbled digital code signal. Contact with MSV Damocles was then lost.

A spokesman announced that the Federal Imperial Navy battle group intercepted the War Titan Typhon just outside the orbit of Hypnos, the sixth planet of the system. In the ensuing battle, the battle group sustained heavy losses. The flagship, Fleet Support Vessel Julius Caesar, as well as the Heavy Strike Vessels Anthony and Vercingetorix and Medium Strike Vessel Boudica were destroyed, all hands lost. Medium Strike Vessel Leonidas rammed the War Titan, temporarily disrupting its fire and allowing the rest of the fleet to disengage from combat. Several other ships have taken heavy damage and some are incapacitated.

Typhon continues unabashed on its trajectory, and it is now clear that it will reach Calypso around midnight on Sunday. The remaining ships of the battle group, among them Heavy Strike Vessels Alexander, Octavian, Rameses and Scipio, and Medium Strike Vessels Damocles and Pompey rounded Hypnos and are in pursuit of Typhon.

Left behind are Heavy Strike Vessel Xerxes, Light Support Vessel Darius, and Medium Strike Vessel Cleopatra, and several smaller incapacitated or heavily damaged ships.

The Federal Imperial Navy has a hotline for relatives of spacers in the battle.

Some weeks ago, scientists observed and started to track a moving object in the outskirts of the Omega 16 Reticuli system. The object was catalogued as Reticuli-217-0509 and given the name Typhon. On further study, they discovered that it is fast, moving through the system, and manufactured.

That prompted the Federal Imperial Navy to launch a probe. Although not coming directly from Akbal-Cimi, the object was identified as a Robot War Titan when the probe was within visual range of the object.

The Federal Imperial Navy detachment in the system is moving to intercept the War Titan. The Navy estimates that the fleet will meet Typhon on or around Tuesday.