I decided to post this now, rather than waiting for the associated "Events" post, as I have been talking about this battle in other posts. Enjoy -
May, 2026
The two Reich officers stood at attention, clicked their heels, and saluted as the Kaiserine entered the room. “Oh, be seated, Uncle Florian. You know how I feel about all the pomp and circumstance.”
The senior officer, Vizeadmiral Florian Stauffer, dropped his salute with a hint of a smile lurking around his normally taciturn features. They had had this conversation many times. “Kaiserine, as requested I have brought Kapitan zur See Hannes Kahl, the chief of Naval Intelligence. He has come to an interesting conclusion concerning the situation we have been discussing lately.”
That Kaiserine turned her gaze on the other officer. The man was tall and bluff, with a square face and prominent chin. “Very well, Kapitan zur See, once Minister Adenauer joins us we will discuss your ‘interesting conclusion’.” She gestured to a couch and chairs along a nearby wall.
Kapitan Kahl took one of the chairs while the Kaiserine and Admiral Stauffer sat on the couch. As they sat the door opened and Minister Adenauer entered the room. “I’m sorry, ma’am, I was momentarily detained dealing with a minor emergency at the office.”
The Kaiserine gestured to one of the unoccupied chairs. “I hope it was nothing serious?”
Minister Adenauer shook his head as he sat in one of the chairs. “One of my assistants went into labor.” The tall, stern looking Minister smiled. “Funny how things that seem so important suddenly pale in the face of biological imperatives.”
The Kaiserine smiled as well. “Well, as long as it was an imperative, Helmut. You know the Minister of War, of course,” she gestured at Vizeadmiral Stauffer, “and this is Kapitan zur See Kahl, Chief of Raumarine Naval Intelligence. Minister Stauffer says that Kapitan Kahl has information for us that bears on our recent discussions.”
Minister Adenauer turned to the younger officer with a look of interest on his face. “Kapitan, if you can shine some light on the impending Alliance-Soviet alliance, it would be greatly appreciated. This potential alliance would be destabilizing to the balance of power, and disastrous for our position in the world, should it become a fact instead of a potential.”
Kahl glanced at Vizeadmiral Stauffer, who nodded. “Minister Adenauer, my information, and the conclusions of Naval Intelligence, have more of an indirect bearing on that situation.”
“Anything that bears on that situation is of use.” Minister Adenauer glanced at the Kaiserine, who gave a small nod. “I don’t think it is underestimating the situation to say that it is the primary focus of my Ministry, and indeed the Reich government.” The Kaiserine nodded in agreement, and both of them looked at the younger officer.
“With your permission, I will go through some of the events that led us to the current situation.” Seeing nods all around, he continued. “In September, 2024, the Russian Fleet transited out of the solar system through the warp point we have come to call the Russian Warp Point. In all sixty-two ships transited out of the system, along with four armored divisions, two shock infantry divisions, a large amount of infrastructure suitable for a colony, and two colony ships full of colonists. Twenty of the ships were Kirov Mark II class cruisers, representing the USSR’s entire offensive force. They also sent nine Sverdlov class missile frigates, but they consider those ships as support units, not primary strike units. On November 24, 2024 forty-nine Soviet ships returned to the solar system. Only seven of the ships were cruisers. Over the next month the Kremlin issued numerous official statements, some of which were mutually contradictory, however, as you all know, that is not unusual for the Soviets, who practice an extreme form of secrecy and paranoia amongst themselves as well as with other nations. In summary, the Kremlin stated that they had established a colony on an Earth-like world they had named Triumph of Socialism, in the Moskva system. Further, they implied, indirectly, that they had transported the six army divisions to Triumph to act as colonial guards, and that the missing cruisers had been left there for the same reason. Since then they have asserted that the entire Moskva system is the sovereign territory of the USSR, a position that the Reich and the Japanese Empire have opposed, but the Alliance has supported.”
Minister Adenauer nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, the Raumarine has been pushing for a similar extra-solar ‘refuge’ as well.”
Vizeadmiral Stauffer shook his head. “True, but we have come to believe that the Russians were up to something else.” He gestured for the Intelligence Chief to continue.
“We have spent quite a bit of time analyzing the movements of the Russian fleet from 2024 to the current time, with a specific focus on the events surrounding the movement of the Russian fleet out of the system through the Russian warp point, and then their return. We have also analyzed large amounts of surveillance data, both from human sources and orbital assets. All of this analysis, when combined with the central contradictions of the Soviet stance, has revealed some very interesting facts, some of them rather obvious and some only important in relation to the larger situation.”
Kapitan Kahl stood and began pacing as he spoke, obviously lost in thought. “The first contradiction is the illogical nature of the Soviet military deployments. The army units transported to the Moskva system are the core of their strategic reserve, and the Soviet government depends on those units both as their offensive striking force and as a counter-weight to the rest of their military, as these units have their most politically reliable commanders. While deploying them to Moskva might make sense if they were facing an imminent nuclear war which they were certain to lose, that is not the case. The same is true of the thirteen cruisers that were ‘deployed’ to Moskva. While it might make sense under some circumstances to preserve a ‘second-strike’ or retaliation force, a closer analysis of the situation shows this to be a deeply flawed strategy for the Soviets to adopt. The Soviet fleet, and in particular its cruisers, are optimized for close-range combat. The Raumarine has long believed that the entire Soviet fleet is optimized for combat in and around Earth orbit, not in deep space, and what is known about Russian design strategies supports this belief. Transferring two-thirds of their offensive striking force to another system doesn’t make sense, because if hostilities broke out on Earth they would have to return to Earth while enduring missile fire from a hostile nation before reaching their own engagement range, rather than beginning the engagement within range of their opponents.”
Minister Adenauer frowned. “Perhaps they transferred their ships in response to our own move to relocate the bulk of our fleet to our Venus base.”
Kapitan Kahl shook his head. “On the surface that makes sense, sir, but in reality it doesn’t. If the Russian ships were in Earth orbit at the time that hostilities broke out they would be able to defend Russia from missile strikes will attacking hostile units. They would be vulnerable to long-range missile strikes from our fleet based on Venus, once our ships got within range, but at least they would be covered by their own PDC’s, whereas they wouldn’t be covered if they were returning from the Moskva system.” Minister Adenauer nodded, conceding the point, so Kahl continued. “Further, their deployments subsequent to their fleet’s return from Moskva don’t really make sense. The Russians took four jump ships to Moskva with their fleet. That was their entire complement of one large and three small jump ships, at the time. All four jump ships returned with the fleet, and none have returned to Moskva since. In fact, no Soviet ships have returned to Moskva since November 2024. Think about that. Based on their statements the Soviets claimed to have established a colony on a planet in the Moskva system, but since they first landed colonists there they have not returned. No new colonists, no new infrastructure or industry.”
Both the Kaiserine and the Minister for Foreign Affairs frowned as they thought through the implications. The Kaiserine spoke first. “How sure are we that they haven’t returned to the Moskva system?”
The Minister for War fielded the question. “Absolutely sure, ma’am. We closely watch the activities of all foreign freighter and colony ships, and none of the Soviet colony ships have left orbit since they returned in November, 2024.”
“It gets worse, ma’am.” Kapitan Kahl paused to marshal his thoughts. “Our analysis of the equipment loaded onto the Soviet freighters in September 2024, prior to their departure for the Moskva system, shows that they took only infrastructure for a new colony, no mines, construction factories, or maintenance facilities. That means that if the Soviets are telling the truth they have stranded two-thirds of their largest ships in another system, without maintenance support and with no way to return, for eighteen months.”
The Kaiserine and Minister Adenauer looked at each other thoughtfully. “When it’s put that way it doesn’t make sense, does it?”
“There is more. Our analysis of the activities of the Soviet fleet and army subsequent to their return in November, 2024, has revealed some very interesting facts. While none of the Soviet freighters, colony ships, or troop transports were observed to unload subsequent to their return, an extensive analysis of the traffic patterns around the Soviet spaceports, and around the PDC’s known to house the Soviet strategic reserve, indicates that the six Soviet divisions that departed with the fleet in September are now back in their barracks in the PDC’s. Although we have not directly observed these units, supply and maintenance activities clearly indicate that these units are present, and these activities cannot be linked to new construction. Further, after their return, the Soviet Sverdlov missile frigates were observed to engage in activities related to reloading their magazines, and large new missile construction contracts were issued by the People’s Navy. Finally, in December, 2024, the People’s Navy began undergoing a fundamental change in its design and deployment strategy, involving an extensive change in their missile defense strategy, an area where we have suspected they were deficient in the past.” Kapitan Kahl paused and swallowed, then took the plunge. “Based on our analysis we believe that the Soviet People’s Navy was not deployed to the Moskva system as a strategic reserve, as they have implied, but rather in support of a Soviet Army invasion force. An invasion that apparently failed, costing them thirteen cruisers and forcing them to abandon the Moskva system completely.”
Both the Kaiserine and the Minister of Foreign Affairs were shocked. The Kaiserine recovered first, but kept her comments to herself as she reasoned through the implications, so it was the Minister for Foreign Affairs that spoke first. “But, who were they invading?”
Kapitan Kahl looked at Minister Stauffer, who decided to field the question. “We believe that the only logical conclusion is that the Soviets attacked an alien race located either in the Moskva system, or in a system connected to the Moskva system.”
“What are your reasons for this belief?” The Kaiserine had come to the same conclusion, and was curious as to the foundation for Military Intelligence’s similar conclusion.
Vizeadmiral Stauffer frowned in thought. “Ma’am, logically, no other conclusion is possible. First off, based on our best intelligence, aside from the Indians no other human government possessed jump-capable ships at the time. Our intelligence in this area is very good. Even so, even if we are wrong on this, we have re-examined all of our sensor data on freighter and colony ship convoys for two years prior to September 2024, and it is extremely unlikely that any human nation founded any out-system colonies during this period. In fact, there is no evidence that any human ship passed through the Russian warp point until the Russian exploration ships transited out in November of 2022, and the locations of the Russian colony ships and freighters have been continuously tracked since that time.”
Minister Adenauer looked thoughtful. “Is it possible that other warp points in our system connect to the system on the far side of the Russian warp point? In that case they could have been fighting another human nation.”
Minister Stauffer opened his mouth to reply, but before he could Minister Adenauer held up his hand. “No, no, I see the essential contradiction here. The only other nation with jump-capability at that time was the Indians, and you’ve already stated that they had not established an extra-solar colony by then, correct?” Stauffer nodded, so Adenauer continued. “That doesn’t preclude the Russians and the Indians fighting over a habitable planet, though, but it does seem unlikely. After all, the Russians and the Indians have enjoyed a fairly close relationship since the Second Sino-Soviet War and the ambush of the Indian fleet at the Comet. There is no indication that this has changed in recent years, which is assuredly would have if the two nations had engaged in a major battle, especially one that the Soviets lost.” Minister Adenauer nodded in satisfaction, having reasoned through the problem.
Minister Stauffer leaned forward to make his point. “Also, we have continuously tracked the Indian fleet, which has remained fairly close to home since the disaster at the Comet. To decide that the Russians were fighting the Indians you would also have to assume that the Indians had a secret fleet large enough to successfully engage the Russians, which is simply not possible.”
“Therefore the only possible conclusion, since no other nation had jump-capability at that time, and because relations between the Soviets and the other nations have not deteriorated in a previously unexplained manner, is that the Soviets were fighting an alien race.” The Kaiserine was thoughtful as she made the statement, as if testing it out.
The Kaiserine stated it like a fact, which gratified Vizeadmiral Stauffer, who, in spite of his family relationship to the Kaiserine had been concerned about the far-out nature of his conclusions. “As fantastic as it seems this appears to be the only tenable conclusion.”
Minister Adenauer’s mind was racing as he thought through the implications. “Why, this is incredible! If the Soviets are indeed engaged in a war with another race then this fact will have serious implications for all of humanity. Especially if they lost their bid to conquer the aliens, as you have so ably pointed out is the likely conclusion. Will we see the aliens here, in the solar system, next? It seems likely that that is the next logical step, doesn’t it?”
“That is our conclusion, yes. More importantly, and the reason I asked the Kaiserine to invite you here for this discussion, does it seem likely to you that the Soviets revealed the true nature of their activities to the Alliance, or is the Alliance merely supporting the USSR out of a perceived convergence of mutual self-interest?”
Minister Adenauer started to answer and then stopped, lost in thought. Finally he shook his head. “My initial impulse was to say that it was definitely the second, a convergence of perceived self interest, as that has been my Ministry’s conclusion from the first. Your revelations have shaken much of my perception of the international situation, but even so I stand by my initial assessment. I am almost certain that the Alliance knows nothing of the true events beyond the Russian warp point. Had the Russians told them what you are telling me now, I feel almost certain that the Alliance would have acted to eliminate the threat to the solar system, most likely through negotiations or, if those failed, through military force. And, unless I am mistaken, no Alliance ship has transited through the Russian warp point.”
“You are correct.” Seeing where the Minister was going, Stauffer was relieved yet again. It was as he had thought.
Adenauer nodded. “That fits in with our knowledge of the USSR. They undoubtedly still hope to conquer the aliens, or at least to turn them into allies that they can then use against the other nations here in the solar system.”
“What, then, would be your analysis of the likely response of the Alliance if we should reveal our information and conclusions?”
Minister Adenauer shook his head. “The Soviets would merely confuse the issue and claim that our information was fabricated. The Alliance would be ready to believe that, too, as they know that we fear a formal alliance between the two nations, and would do anything to prevent it.”
Stauffer grimaced. “That was our analysis as well. Given the threat that an alliance between the Alliance and the USSR represents, we must either disrupt the alliance or achieve a counter-veiling alliance with the Japanese Empire. I know that your office believes that an alliance can be achieved with the Japanese, however, I believe that we do have the means now to disrupt the potential alliance between the other nations, rather than entangling ourselves in an alliance of our own.”
The Kaiserine frowned. “What do you have in mind?”
Stauffer grimaced again. “It is a risk, but a calculated risk. We can mount an expedition through the Russian warp point to ascertain the true situation on the far side. The Russians currently only have a few small guard ships at the warp point, and I’m confident that we can place a superior force on the warp point before anyone else can reasonably respond. The small Russian picket force won’t dare oppose our force given the disparity in power, allowing our ships to transit through the Russian warp point and back with the information we need.”
Minister Adenauer frowned in thought. “And if we discover nothing on the far side?”
“As long as no shots have been fired, we can claim that the Russians suffered no real harm during our short incursion. If we do discover aliens, revealing the fact that the Russians tried to conquer an alien race will certainly discredit them with the Alliance.”
Now it was the Kaiserine’s turn to frown. “And if the missing Russian ships are waiting on the far side of the warp point, and they open fire?”
“I think that is very unlikely, ma’am, for all of the reasons we have discussed. I think it is far more likely that the warp point will be clear on the far side, or it is possible that the alien race that the Soviets encountered may be present.”
“Given their experience with the Russians, it may be difficult to get the aliens to talk.” Adenauer sounded concerned, as he should be. After all, they were discussing humanity’s first contact with an alien race, a race they may actually be at war with, in spite of the fact that they had never actually met them.
“That is why we should send Raumarine ships, rather than exploration ships. Naval ships are better protected, and that protection will give us time to talk to them, rather than being overwhelmed the second we appear in their system.” Stauffer realized that he had won. They were discussing the mechanics of the mission, rather than whether or not he was right.
The discussion lasted far into the night, and in the end the Kaiserine decided to authorize the mission. The participants left the meeting with the clear idea that this mission was intended to contact an alien race in the Moskva system, but as with all bureaucracies, the message got changed as it moved down the chain. By the time Kapitan zur See Deltev Zinn, commander of the Hessen and by seniority overall commander of the squadron selected to probe the Russian warp point, was briefed, the possibility that aliens might be encountered had been downplayed, and almost the entire briefing had been focused on contingency plans relating to various possible encounters with Russian ships. The possibility of encountering aliens was even less in evidence when Kapitan zur See Eduard von Eisen, commander of a Blucher class cruiser and senior officer of the squadron that would transit the warp point, was briefed. Worse, several senior officers who believed that the Raumarine should take this opportunity to humble the USSR and its navy, spoke with von Eisen both before and after his briefings, making it clear to him that they expected him to react forcefully to any aggression from the Soviets.
April 19, 2026
Two Hessen class battleships, two Blucher class cruisers, four Scharnhorst class missile frigates, and two Hamburg class jump tenders left Venus orbit, much as numerous naval squadrons had left over the preceding years. Shortly before their departure the Reich government issued a routine notification to the other nations stating that the squadron was engaging in a training cruise in the inner system.
Seventeen hours later the squadron arrived at its destination, a point in empty space that just happened to be the squadron’s point of closest approach to the Russian warp point. The squadron changed course towards the warp point while keeping its formation. The squadron’s ETA was just over six hours.
Earth was over three hundred and seventeen million kilometers away, and as a result the Russian ground based scanners missed the turn. The Russians had relocated most of their deep space tracking stations to their two mining colonies over the last several years, and while they had planned on building more, the new stations had slipped down the priority list several times.
All four of the other nations on the Earth noticed the course change, though. Not all of them reacted the same way. The Africans saw the change but ignored it as meaningless to their local defense posture. The Indian military noticed the change, and raised the alert level of their missile defense stations. The Japanese military noted the change as well, and began preparations to raise their fleet readiness level. The Alliance military notified their civil government of the course change, and its implications. After due deliberation, the Alliance government notified the Russians, with whom they enjoyed what was, if not a formal treaty, at least an informal understanding.
The Russians reacted immediately by issuing a statement denouncing the German action as unprovoked aggression, and further warning the Reich that its forces in the Moskva system would resist any aggression into that system. Kapitan zur See von Eisen noted this statement in particular, as evidence of what his ships would encounter in the Moskva system.
The Reich declined to respond, letting its fleet, which was continuing on course for the warp point, be its answer. Thirty minutes later the Russian government dispatched its fleet, under Podpolkhovnik Panin, on a course to the warp point. Its ETA was thirty-six hours. Given its reduced strength, the Russian fleet was not considered by the Reich to be a credible threat.
Five hours later, with the Reich squadron now thirteen million kilometers from the warp point and closing, the Soviet officer commanding the warp point picket group, Kapiyteyn Sorokin, demanded that the Reich squadron immediately turn back. Kapitan zur See Zinn immediately responded to both the Russian ships and the various nations of the Earth, stating that the Reich was asserting its belief in the freedom of transit throughout space, and that any force interfering with this right would be dealt with appropriately.
Both the USSR and the Alliance protested this statement and the Reich actions, and demanded that the Reich fleet turn away from the warp point. To back up its statement, the Alliance dispatched its fleet from Mars towards Earth, forcing the Reich to launch its fleet from Venus.
The Japanese Empire remained quiet while the other nations argued, but while the others blustered they raised their fleet’s readiness to its highest level, and began moving their troops to their border with the USSR.
April 20, 1450 hours, Warp Point #2 (The Russian Warp Point), Solar System
The Reich squadron sat on top of the warp point, with the Soviet picket group of three destroyers sitting 1.6 million kilometers away. Kapitan Zinn had ordered the Russian ships to retreat as his ships approached, and having no realistic option and protesting the entire way they did as Zinn had ordered. The same command was given to an Alliance scout sitting 800,000 kilometers away, however, the Alliance ship refused to acknowledge the command and Kapitan Zinn declined to follow up on his demand, at least for now.
After a few minutes the two Hamburg class jump tenders moved away from the main squadron. One of the tenders was closely escorted by two Blucher class cruisers, while the other had two Scharnhorst missile frigates in close company. Forty five seconds later both jump ships disappeared from the solar system.
April 20, 1451 hours, Novaran System
For an infinitesimal amount of time the six ships disappeared from the universe, and then they reappeared in the Novaran system, apparently none the worse for wear. One jump tender appeared in the ten o’clock position, thirty-four thousand kilometers from the warp point, while the other appeared closer in, at about seventeen thousand kilometers from the warp point in the eight o’clock position.
Kapitan zur See von Eisen shook his head as he tried to focus. He had been briefed on the transit effect, but experiencing it was something else. It was indescribable. It was obvious that it wasn’t just him as reports began coming in from around the bridge.
“Helm is down; I am attempting to regain control.”
“Sensors have been destabilized, no contacts to report.”
Kapitan von Eisen frowned in thought; they should at least have the other ships of their squadron on the monitors.
“Power systems fluctuating, but all systems are operating at a basic level.”
“Sir! Message from the Bonn! They are under attack!”
Von Eisen spun around in shock. “What!”
“The Bonn is reporting that it is taking heavy fire and has suffered serious internal damage. Messages now coming in from the Munich! They are under fire as well!”
Von Eisen settled back into his chair in shock. Both of the jump ships were taking damage, and he couldn’t even see who was doing it! The Russians had been waiting for them! “Sensors, get your systems back online and let me see what is going on!” Von Eisen turned to his comm. officer. “What is the status of the Bonn and the Munch?”
The comm. officer was hunched over his console, faced screwed up in concentration. “Both ships are reporting heavy internal damage.” The officer’s face went slack with shock, and he turned towards his commander. “Sir, they are both reporting that their jump engines are offline.”
“Damn it! I need to know what is going on! Get those scanners up!” Kapitan von Eisen thought furiously. “Message to all units: make way for the designated way-point.” As he spoke he keyed in a point approximately two million kilometers away from the warp point. “The Bonn and the Munich will move ahead of the other units, which will remain in between them and the warp point.”
The seconds crawled by, and finally the Reich ships began to move away from the warp point. Kapitan Eisen was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the Prinz Eugen began shuddering around him. “What’s happening?”
The Defense Officer turned from his station. “Incoming fire! It appears to be some sort of energy weapon, it doesn’t register on my systems. Warhead yield is approximately fifty percent that of one of our anti-ship missiles.”
Beads of sweat appeared on von Eisen’s forehead as his cruiser shook. All von Eisen could think about was his beautiful cruiser suffering at the hands of the Soviets. “Get me those scanners!”
Just as the impacts against the cruiser’s armor faded away there was a shout from the sensor officer. “Sensors are online!”
Von Eisen’s head whipped around and he could see the monitor at the front of the bridge change as the ship’s AI updated the plot. Ten blood-red icons appeared hovering around the jump point, representing two large and eight smaller ships. A malicious smile spread across von Eisen’s face, as he keyed targeting instructions into the AI. “All ships open fire using targeting plan alpha!”
Almost immediately after von Eisen spoke six missiles leapt away from the Admiral Hipper, the other Reich cruiser. The missiles crossed the space between the two groups of ships in less than three seconds and slammed into one of the large enemy ships. Cheers rang out on the Reich bridges as the sensors showed debris tumbling away from the ship and atmosphere venting through the holes in their armor.
“Sir, sensors indicate that the enemy is just now bringing up their shields!”
“We’ve caught them with their pants down! All units fire at will!”
“Sir.” Von Eisen turned towards the Defense Officer. “We can’t take another salvo like the first. If they hit us again with the same number of weapons, they’ll breach our armor.”
Von Eisen nodded and turned back to the plot. Anger at the Soviets was burning in his veins, but there was little he could do about it but watch the battle unfold. Just as he turned back one of the Reich missile frigates sprouted missile plots. “Excellent, the Gneisenau is launching!”
Twenty anti-ship missiles raced away from the small Reich ship and raced towards the enemy ships, breaking into two groups as they went. It took the missiles just three seconds to reach their targets, far too little time for the enemy to do anything in the way of defense, and then two of the smaller enemy ships disappeared in a flurry of explosions. Neither enemy ship reappeared when the explosions dissipated, leaving only a thin scattering of life pods.
The cheers on the Prinz Eugen’s bridge were cut short by the comm. officer. “Sir, the Admiral Hipper reports multiple energy weapon impacts on their armor. Approximately sixteen hits, and they report that their armor is holding.
Kapitan von Eisen’s first response was to slump in relief, because he was sure that the next enemy salvo would slam through his ship’s battered armor with ease, but, after a second, he realized that even though he had been given a reprieve, it might only be temporary. Both of his cruisers now had significant armor damage, and once his missile frigates expended their loads the cruisers would be their only hope.
Even as he thought it through the Prinz Eugen began to shake as the cruiser began launching its first salvo of anti-ship missiles. Von Eisen turned back to the plot to see that the second Reich missile frigate had launched as well, meaning that twenty-six anti-ship missiles were now on their way towards the enemy. Von Eisen watched intently as the Reich missiles raced towards the enemy. Unlike the earlier salvoes, though, this time the enemy had time to launch counter-missiles and twenty of the small missiles raced towards the big Reich ship-killers. The enemy ships didn’t have enough time to launch more than one salvo of counter-missiles, and the twenty missiles they did get off only stopped a few of the Reich missiles. Reich missiles slammed into both of the large enemy cruisers and one of the destroyers. The shields on all three ships, which had just begun to form, were overloaded immediately, and their relatively thin armor was penetrated in multiple locations. The luckless destroyer was annihilated by the salvo, while both cruisers slowed and fell behind the five remaining enemy destroyers.
Von Eisen eyed the plot for a second, trying to make sense out of what was going on. His ships were running from the warp point at 3,000 kps, with the jump ships moving slightly faster than that, while the enemy was coming up behind them at 2,675 kps and losing ground. The enemy was now 180,000 kilometers behind his force, and falling back steadily. After a second he turned to his sensor officer. “Examine the sensor and comm. logs. At what frequency did the enemy salvoes that impacted the jump ships, the Prinz Eugen, and the Admiral Hipper arrive?”
It took the comm. officer seconds to retrieve the information. “Sir, the enemy salvoes arrived separated by twenty seconds in every case.”
Von Eisen settled back into his chair, a malicious grin spreading across his face. It had been twice that since the Admiral Hipper was last hit. They were out of range of the enemy weapons!
“Sir, Fregattenkapitan Geiger is requesting permission to begin negotiations with the enemy for their surrender.”
Kapitan von Eisen’s eyes snapped to the icon for the Admiral Hipper, Geiger’s command, and then back to the icons for the five enemy ships still following them. Hatred for the Soviets smoldered in his eyes as he regarded the red icons, but then the ship’s AI highlighted the icons to indicate a status change. As von Eisen peered at them their speed increased to 3,600 kps and the enemy ships began closing on the Reich fleet. Now that they were unencumbered by their larger ships, the enemy destroyers were free to accelerate to their maximum speed.
Even as Kapitan von Eisen considered the situation the Admiral Hipper launched its second salvo at the enemy, damaging another destroying, causing it to fall back. Von Eisen didn’t want to stop firing at the Soviets, he wanted to kill them all for their temerity in attacking his squadron, and to humble the arrogant communists back home. His eyes strayed to the icons for the Reich jump ships and his determination faltered. In order to get back home he had to give the crews on those ships time to repair their jump drives, and who knew what other ships the Soviets had in this system. “Missile officer, what is our remaining missile stock, and that of the Admiral Hipper.”
The officer’s reply was immediate. “Sir, we have 80% of our missile load and the Admiral Hipper has 70%.”
Kapitan von Eisen frowned in thought. He was sure that he could destroy the enemy with the missiles they had on hand, but it would severely deplete their missile stocks, and if something else appeared before the jump drives were repaired they would be in serious trouble. He watched the icons for the four remaining enemy destroyers crawl closer and closer to his command, and then came to a sudden decision.
“Communications, inform Geiger that I will be negotiating with the enemy, then open a channel to those ships.” The comm. officer nodded and turned back to his console. After a few seconds the forward display flickered and then cleared to show the bridge of one of the enemy ships. The bridge appeared fairly familiar to von Eisen, but then his eyes were drawn to the being in the center of the display. It was bipedal and basically human-shaped, and dressed in what was obviously a black uniform. The alien was covered in grey scales and its head, and presumably its body, was covered in ridges and short, stubby, horns, that gave it the look of a predator.
Kapitan von Eisen sat back in his chair in shock. He had expected to see an arrogant Soviet officer staring back at him, not a lizard! The briefing officers had mentioned the possibility of alien contact, but he had thought that they were merely raising it because of the typical staff officer’s compulsive need to cover every possible situation. Even as he tried to assimilate this unexpected situation, the alien began to speak. The alien’s voice was deep and its speech was brutish, in von Eisen’s opinion.
“Can you make anything of that?”
The comm. officer shook his head. “No sir. Maybe after more study.”
The alien stopped speaking and von Eisen nodded at his comm. officer, who began recording for broadcast. “I am Kapitan zur See of the Reich Raumarine, and you have attacked Reich ships and caused the death of Reich citizens! Surrender now, or be destroyed!”
The message was broadcast, and although von Eisen was sure the aliens didn’t understand it, it did cause more than a little consternation among the lizard-like aliens. Finally, after discussing it amongst themselves, the aliens tried again. This time the alien’s guttural speech was overlaid by something else, something von Eisen could almost make out. “What is that?”
Sir, that is Russian.” The comm. officer looked thoughtful, and began punching commands into his console. After a few seconds the message was replayed, this time with the translator on-line.
“Soviets, you will return to your system or you will be destroyed.”
Von Eisen’s anger hadn’t diminished when he realized that they weren’t fighting the Soviets, it had merely transferred to the aliens that had attacked his ships. He wasn’t stupid, though, and he saw in a flash what had happened. Comm., translate my reply into Russian before broadcasting.” The comm. officer nodded, and he turned back to the main display. “We are not Soviets. I am Kapitan zur See of the Reich Raumarine, and you have attacked Reich ships and caused the death of Reich citizens! Surrender now, or be destroyed!”
Once again von Eisen’s message caused consternation among the aliens. After a few seconds of discussion amongst themselves, they replied. “You are human, you are Soviet! You attack us, try to attack our world. We will destroy you if you stay in our system!”
Von Eisen shook his head. “We are human, but we are not Soviet. There are several nations of humans on our home planet.” He glanced at the small tac display on his console. The enemy ships were closing steadily, but both of his cruisers had reloaded their launchers and were ready to fire. “You will retreat from this location, to a point one million kilometers from the warp point, or I will destroy your ships. All of your ships. Comply now or be destroyed.”
The aliens talked amongst themselves, and then, after a few seconds, the alien ships turned away from the Reich fleet and began moving away from the warp point. All except one destroyer which turned back towards the scattering of life pods surrounding the warp point. It too moved away after recovering the pods. After waiting for the alien ships to move away, Kapitan von Eisen ordered his ships back to the warp point. It took the crew of the Bonn three hours to repair the ship’s jump drive, and as soon as it was functional Kapitan von Eisen ordered it to return to the solar system with the heavily damaged Munich and the Gneisenau, which no longer had any missiles. The Bonn returned five minutes later with the two remaining Scharnhorst class missile frigates from the squadron on the far side of the warp point, and Kapitan zur See Zinn. Kapitan Zinn wasn’t able to bring his ship, the battleship Hessen, with him, but as mission commander he felt it necessary to come in spite of that fact.
Zinn was a competent and decisive commander, and he sized up the situation immediately. Four of the alien ships had retreated to a distance of approximately 1 million kilometers, while three others were farther away, apparently headed into the inner system after suffering damage during the recent engagement. Zinn knew that the aliens likely had their entire fleet en route to the warp point. Estimates on their ETA ranged from twenty-one days to under ten days, depending on where their ships were located in the inner system.
After some thought, Zinn dispatched the Bonn back through the warp point with a message for the Admiralty on Earth. The message gave the current situation, and requested that every available Scharnhorst class missile frigate be dispatched to the warp point immediately.
The message was received at the Admiralty shortly after it was sent, due to close proximity of the Russian warp point to the inner system. Vizeadmiral Stauffer himself authorized the dispatch of the missile frigates currently with the main fleet, and shortly thereafter twenty-three missile frigates were racing towards the Russian warp point at 6,000 kps, while the rest of the main fleet headed towards Earth.
In the meantime, Kapitan zur See Zinn began negotiations with the Novarans. For their part the Novarans were reluctant to recognize the fact that humanity was broken into nations that were actually separate and sovereign, rather than ceremonial.
While Kapitan Zinn was negotiating with the Novarans, the Reich government was doing some negotiating of its own. The Ambassador from the Alliance was called into the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for a meeting with Minister Adenauer, and at that meeting was given a recording of Kapitan von Eisen’s communications with the Novarans, and a synopsis of the events leading up to the contact. The Alliance Ambassador left the meeting a very troubled man.
Shortly after the meeting, the Alliance announced that it was sending its fleet to investigate the situation on the far side of the Russian warp point. The Alliance announcement included a warning to the USSR against interfering in its investigation of the far side of the Russian warp point.
The first ships to reach the Russian jump point would the Reich Scharnhorst missile frigates, in just under eleven hours. The next ships to arrive would be the Alliance fleet, and for a time the Alliance would have the advantage, but the Alliance had a problem. All of their jump ships were currently assigned to exploration efforts, and it was only luck that the Drake had recently returned to the solar system to refuel and resupply. The Drake was currently in the outer system, and a message was sent to divert it to the Russian warp point, but it would take fourteen days for the ship to arrive.
Upon hearing that the Alliance would have to wait for their jump ship to arrive, Kapitan zur See Zinn, after conferring with the Reich Admiralty, offered to transport a negotiating team through the warp point, however, his offer was turned down. The Alliance Navy was not about to ride into another system aboard a Reich ship to meet an alien race.
April 23, 2026, Berlin
The Kaiserine was not in a good mood. Vizeadmiral Stauffer had seen his niece in bad moods before, and it was never pleasant. She was sometimes capricious, but this time she was justified. The Raumarine had screwed up, and the situation in the Novaran System had very nearly gotten out of hand. After entering the Kaiserine’s favorite sunroom, Vizeadmiral Stauffer came to attention and clicked his booted heels together.
“Oh, uncle, do sit down. I hate it when you go all formal on me.”
“Of course you do. I seem to recall that when you are in this mood, formality is the only safe course with you.”
The Kaiserine waived her hand irritably. “Don’t be silly. And in any case, you know very well why I’m upset. What the hell happened out there? How did one of my commanders destroy three alien ships and cripple three more? When I specifically sent him there to talk to the aliens?”
Vizeadmiral Stauffer knew why he was being summoned to the Palace, and he had thought this through. “It’s the bureaucracy, Hilde, you must understand that. We designed a mission to contact aliens, but aliens didn’t fit into the framework of the reality understood by the bureaucracy, so as the mission planning went forward the bureaucracy focused on what it could understand, the threat represented by the Russians.”
“And this Eduard von Eisen? Based on the videos of his debriefing he still seems to believe that the ships he destroyed were full of Soviets, or at least that the Soviets ‘advised’ the aliens to fire upon his ships.”
“He was fired upon first, while his ships were still recovering from the jump. He was merely protecting his squadron.”
The Kaiserine shook her head. “The whole point of sending a Raumarine squadron was to ensure that they had enough time to begin talking to the aliens, if they were sitting on the warp point and if they did open fire before talking. I remember your words very well, uncle.”
Vizeadmiral Stauffer grimaced at having his words thrown back at him. “In the end things turned out well. The aliens are talking to us and the nascent alliance between the Alliance and the USSR has been disrupted.”
“But ‘in the end’ isn’t good enough! We are going to meet more aliens out there, and I’d rather have the decision to go to war resting with me, rather than a pigheaded Kapitan convinced he is humiliating the Russians!”
“What would you have me do?”
“Fire the man! Ground him! Get him off of the bridge of one of my warships!”
“Von Eisen handled his ships well, and defeated a superior force of enemy ships. And, don’t forget, he was fired on first, by enemies he couldn’t even see. Over two hundred crewers died or were seriously injured on the Bonn and the Munich when the aliens hit them. You are going to have a hard time finding anyone out there that will get upset that von Eisen killed some aliens after the aliens killed so many Reich citizens.”
The Kaiserine’s face was pinched and pale, a warning to Stauffer that she was angry and frustrated. Still, he couldn’t back down on this one. If he crucified von Eisen, the officer corps would turn on him. Worse, so would the regular citizens, whose imagination had been caught by von Eisen’s exploits in the Novaran system. Still, an angry monarch was something to be avoided at all costs. “I am very impressed with the way Kapitan zur See Zinn handled the negotiations, aren’t you?”
For a few seconds the Kaiserine sat there, focused on her anger, but then she shook her head and smiled a wan smile at her uncle. “Yes, of course. Would Kapitan Zinn be related to the Zinn family of Stuttgart?”
“Why, I believe he is.”
“I am very impressed with this young man. So far he has handled the situation over there very well, and his reports are very positive. Very positive indeed, in spite of meddling by the Alliance and threats from the Russians. Kapitan Zinn will go far.” The Kaiserine focused her gaze on her uncle and frowned. “Unlike some other Kapitans, who will not.”
Author’s Note: After this battle I have created two new awards for the Reich. The Monarch’s Regard, and the Monarch’s Displeasure. The first will do good things for an officer’s career, the other, well, not so much.
Officer traits:
Eduard von Eisen: Distant, follows orders without question, malicious, poor judge of character
Deltev Zinn: Optimistic, resourceful, wealthy family
