Battle for Metropolitan City

The Battle for Metropolitan City was a major battle for the city of Metropolitan during the Second Dark War. The city was fought primarily between the human residents & the Imperials that had been dispatched from the Imperial War Factory on it's way to the Dark Nest to defend against an enemy assault.

Invasion & siege
On it's way to the Dark Nest, the Imperial War Factory passed over Metropolitan City & began attacking it. 90% of the city was defeated before the day was over, but a small section of the city still remained. The Alliance relocated to the Academic Military Research Institute after the destruction of the Great Lakes Citadel & they fought the Imperials back. However, to forestall any attempts at advancing their lines, the Imperials set up a barrier surrounding the Alliance's controlled area to trap them in a circle.

Attempts to seize the Institute
With the Great Lakes Citadel destroyed, the Alliance was forced to relocate to Metropolitan City, where they teamed up with the scientists researching warfare tactics at the Academic Military Research Institute. Because the Alliance was in exile after the Imperials destroying their base, they were able to set up the Institute as their base of operations while buying out certain houses as other minor bases for their soldiers. However, when the Imperials invaded, the Alliance relocated to the Institute to fend off the attacks that would take the city. The Imperials then created barriers that cut off them from the Institute, leaving only the Imperials able to advance while the Institute was trapped in a circle. Those who were left outside the barrier, the "safe bubble" the Institute was inside, were trapped in Imperial territory & were forced to fight for themselves. Luke & Maureen Anderson then founded the Underground Alliance to lead missions to subdue the Imperials & escort civilians out of the city.

Battles in the Imperial territory
James Anderson, who was separated from the troops at the Great Lakes Citadel, arrived in Metropolitan City via prison transport, which he cleverly escaped before the Imperials could take him prisoner. James then fought his way to the Imperial barrier, where he found Emily & Eddie Smith waiting for him. Eddie then told James to go find the base for the soldiers who, like him, got locked in the Imperial section of the city. Upon arriving at his cousin Maureen's house, James helped Luke defend the area from Imperial Blast Bots.

Excavations of the Catacombs
To get into Logan Square with the barrier up, James was told by Luke about the entrances to secret passageways that ran below the city called the Metropolitan Catacombs & then he was told that Imperials were busy excavating some in mining operations to find ways to sneak attack the Institute & find ways around the city. James then cleared the Catacombs & destroyed the Mine Bridge, which seemed to be an Imperial cargo trading market for the shadowghosts. After blowing up the Bridge, James descended once more into the Catacombs through the basement of his cousin's house & followed them to a small port where he rode the subrails to the area around Logan Square. After excavating more, he found his way into the Metropolitan Cathedral & was in the safe zone of the Institute. Before exiting, he made sure to blow up the entrance to the Catacombs in order to ensure the Imperials don't find their way in.

Aerial warfare
Draco, who oversaw the invasion plan, began to realize how serious the Institute was in defending the city. To assure their ultimate destruction, Draco approached Cyber Erol & requested to have a new sketch of the battle plan. Erol, furious that his plans weren't working, sent Draco to the front line to see to it that the Imperials captured the city. Part of the plan was to speed up production of Imperial robots to send to the Metropolitan front & more to protect the Dark Nest, production of more air trains to hastily send the troopers to the front & provide aerial warfare. Another major part of the plan was to produce a zeppelin as a secondary base for the Imperials, such as using it as a docking point for the air trains & as base for Draco's operations over the Institute.

Air train attacks
Imperial air trains transported cargo & robots to the Imperial front. The Institute caught this & to assure that the Imperials did not get their hands on the necessitys they ordered, the Institute began using heavy artillery to gun down the air trains to stop them from reaching the Imperial lines.

Zeppelin's appearance
The Imperial dirigible appeared in Metropolitan City after the fighting & served as the docking bay for air trains being transported to & from the front lines & the Imperial War Factory. Draco manned the zeppelin's controls for 2 months. Cyber Erol contacted Draco & decided to take over control of the battle lines by arriving on the zeppelin & sending Draco into the action on the ground.

Raid on the Imperial Fortress
After the attack on the Institute in Time Tower, James Anderson rode the Catacombs underneath the Institute to the Imperial Fortress. From there, the subrail was destroyed & James raided the Fortress & returned to the Underground Alliance headquarters. Luke, who was running all the operations, currently had plans to lead an army of Underground fighters to the barriers to link up with the trapped Alliance in Logan Square. James & Luke then commanded two armys, doubling their forces. James took the western side of the center city on the way to the square while Luke took the eastern side & blew open a hole into the barriers on the northeastern end of the square, allowing for a corridor to be opened. Draco & Hereson, who commanded the Imperial & shadowghost armys respectively, fled upon hearing the approach.

Raid on the Zeppelin
James Anderson was finally sent on an air train that was hijacked & docked in the Skylab to make a team raid on the zeppelin. Most of James' friends left before things got too serious while James pressed on into the heart of the zeppelin, finally meeting Cyber Erol in person for first time ever since the Battle for the Battery. Cyber Erol fled as part of the interior of the zeppelin collapsed.

Battle over the city
With the internal areas of the zeppelin destroyed, Cyber Erol returned to another section of the zeppelin as headquarters & immediately began dispensing more robots as well as arming the artillery for a full-scale aerial assault on the Institute. James Anderson, however, quickly charged up the Sky Destroyer in the Skylab in time to shoot down the zeppelin once & for all, but unable to defeat Cyber Erol, who escaped again, this time back to the War Factory.

Final stand against the Imperials
However, while the zeppelin's destruction was a major victory, the Imperials began to take the offensive again & pressed back towards the square & they finally invaded the Institute. Their numbers overwhelmed everyone, leading most of them to abandon the Institute & warp away to safety. Cyber Erol then returned & took direct control by setting up the War Factory over the city now that the Dark Nest invasion had ended. This also marked the first appearance of Grievous & the Imperial Guards.

Formal surrender
Those who remained behind in the Institute admitted defeat & surrendered. Cyber Erol then took complete control of the city & threatened to destroy it completely if he was defyed again.

Decimation of the city
While the Alliance claimed it surrendered in the battle, the troops hadn't & they led a massive revolt against the Imperials, ending in vicious slaughters that took many soldiers & civilians. The entire city rebelled against the Imperials & in fury, Draco returned to the Imperial War Factory with Cyber Erol in time to drop an atomic bomb on the city, completely obliterating the entire city & wiping out all life still trapped inside. Some who had not surrendered escaped in time before the killings began to evade this predictable fate.